born Nov. 23, 1876, Cádiz, Spain
died Nov. 14, 1946, Alta Gracia, Arg.
Spanish composer.
He studied with Felipe Pedrell and conceived a powerful musical nationalism. His first major work was the opera La vida breve (1905). He lived in Paris (1907–14), where he absorbed the music of Claude Debussy , Maurice Ravel , and others. The intensely Spanish ballet El amor brujo (1915) gained him further acclaim. The Spanish Civil War caused him to leave Spain for Argentina с 1938, and he never returned. His other works include Nights in the Gardens of Spain (1915), The Three-Cornered Hat (1919), the puppet opera El retablo de maese Pedro (1923; with Federico García Lorca ), a harpsichord concerto (1926), and the huge unfinished oratorio L'Atlántida . He is regarded as the greatest Spanish composer of the 20th century.