Pablo Sorozábal

Who was Pablo Sorozábal?

Pablo Sorozábal Mariezcurrena was a Basque-Spanish composer.

Trained in San Sebastián, Madrid and Leipzig; then in Berlin, where he preferred Friedrich Koch as composition teacher to Arnold Schönberg, whose theories he disliked. It was in Germany that he made his conducting debut, and the rostrum remained at the centre of his working life. His Leipzig concert works include the choral Suite vasca; Dos apuntes Vascos and Symphonic Variations on a Basque Theme; of later works the funeral march Gernika for chorus and orchestra is outstanding. The Siete Lieder, 1929 settings of Heinrich Heine for mezzo-soprano and orchestra, are perhaps the finest works he produced in Germany. Two short but powerful compositions for chorus and orchestra, Maite and ¡Ay, tierra vasca! retain their place in the hearts of his Basque countrymen.

Katiuska was his stage debut, and the twenty or so zarzuelas which followed combine lyric fire and inimitable orchestration with an unfailing sense of theatre. Best-loved are his classic madrileño comedy La del manojo de rosas and the “nautical romance” set on the Atlantic Coast La tabernera del puerto of 1936.