Jaume Pahissa There are 2 products.

Moved by the modernist ambiance, Jaume Pahissa i Jo took an early interest in lyrique works, opera and symphonic music in general. He collaborated with the Espectacles-audicions Graner in the Teatre Principal, where he premiered La presó de Lleida (1906) (Lleida prison), based on the homonim popular song, which brought him recognition as a composer. Earlier, in 1903, he had premiered the music illustrations for Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, within the framework of the Teatre Íntim d’Adrià Gual, and the Trio in G for string orchestra (1905).

Some of his compositions were inspired by the Catalan popular repertoire: Pahissa would develop the themes and give them a new treatment by playing with the orchestration. This is the case of La princesa Margarida (1928), the opera version of the lyric work La presó de Lleida, with a text by Adrià Gual, which was premiered in the Gran Teatre del Liceu in 1928; Canigó (1910), a poem conceived from the songs Muntanyes del Canigó and Muntanyes regalades; and the Obertura sobre un tema català: El rabadà (1917).
Along with these pieces inspired by Catalan popular themes, there are other works which stand out, including the operas Gal·la Placídia (1913), Marianela, premiered in the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona Opera House) in 1923 and performed in the Colon Theatre in Buenos Aires in 1946; the symphonic works Estudi simfònic (1898), the ouverture A les costes mediterrànies (1906) and Sinfonietta (1921), premiered by the Orquestra Pau Casals; and the symphonic poems De sota terra els aires (1906), El combat (1901) and El camí, premiered by the Associació Musical de Barcelona in 1909 under the baton of the composer. In addition, he wrote chamber music and choral music.
Motivated by the avangarde that was arriving from Europe, Pahissa changed his harmonic conception and moved towards completely new innovative and experimental tracks. He started a theory on intertonality which he did not finish. Pieces from this period include Monòdia (1925) and Suite intertonal (1926). Both pieces were premiered in the Palau de la Música Catalana; both are governed by the intertonal system of the pure dissonance and are characterized by a risky harmony, full of homophonic effects and chromatisms.

At the age of 50, he started to accept different posts within the academic world. The first was the chair of Culture and Music Aesthetics of the Consevatori del Liceu. In 1935, he took up the vacant position as a composition professor of the Escola Municipal de Música de Barcelona substituting Enric Morera. Two years later, he became the director.

In 1937 he went to Argentina in exile. There, his main preocupation was to achieve a professional stability that would allow him, among other things, to disseminate his compositions. His work as an orchestra conductor made it possible for him to achieve this objective. During those first years, he managed to programme his own compositions amongst works by Wagner, Beethoven and Borodin, among others, with great success. Despite his function as conductor, he never abandoned his facet as composer. He wrote a great deal of scenic music and Pau Casals premiered his Nocturn for cello and piano at the Colon Theatre.

In these last years in Argentina, his valuable pedagogic and musical work culminated a lifetime of development as a critic, journalist and lecturer. He wrote the first biography of Manuel de Falla, collaborated in different radio stations and he became one of the pillars of the Catalan culture in exile. In 1941 he presided the first Jocs Florals (Catalan poetry competition) to be celebrated outside Catalonia.

Unfortunately, the importance of Jaume Pahissa i Jo has faded into oblivion, and nowadays, many of his compositions are inexplicably in unpublished manuscript.