Ricardo Viñes

Who was Ricardo Viñes?

Ricardo Viñes y Roda was a Spanish pianist. He first publicly performed many important works by Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, Manuel de Falla, Déodat de Séverac and Isaac Albéniz. He was also the piano teacher of composer Francis Poulenc and pianist Léo-Pol Morin.

He was born in Lleida, Catalonia. He studied piano at the Paris Conservatoire under Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot, and composition and harmony with Benjamin Godard and Albert Lavignac. He was influential with Ravel supplying him many readings and was a member of the group known as Les Apaches.

Viñes premiered works including Ravel's Menuet antique, Jeux d'eau, Pavane pour une infante défunte, Miroirs, and Gaspard de la nuit. Menuet antique and the second movement of Miroirs, "Oiseaux tristes", were dedicated to Viñes. Ravel felt it was fun to dedicate such an unpianistic work to a pianist. Viñes was effeminate, and both he and Ravel were lifelong bachelors. These facts have led many to suspect that there was more to their friendship, although Viñes's ten-year diary of their times together fails to confirm this.