Born in Bilbao, Jan 27, 1806
Died in Paris, Jan 17, 1826
- Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga (pronunciation) was a precocious Spanish violinist and composer whose life was cut tragically short.
- His father was an organist, and his older brother was a violinist and guitarist. Together, these two family members groomed Arriaga for a life in music.
- Arriaga began composing at age 11, and in his mid-teens, he went abroad to study at the Paris Conservatory. After only a year or two, Arriaga won prizes in counterpoint and fugue, after which he was offered a role at the institution as a teaching assistant.
- According to a letter written to the composer’s father, Arriaga died from “exhaustion and a pulmonary infection.”
- As a composer, Arriaga’s music straddled the bridge between classical and romantic. You’ll hear influences of Mozart and Haydn as well as Schubert and Beethoven.
The Mozart Connection
- Arriaga’s nickname, “The Spanish Mozart,” was first only ascribed to the composer several decades after his death because he, like Mozart, was a child prodigy who died at a young age.
- Fun fact – Arriaga was born on (what would have been) Mozart’s 50th birthday. Moreover, they shared their first names – Juan Crisostomo and Johannes Chrysostomus.1
Learn More
Short biography from Wise Music Classical
Sources
- Willem de Waal, “Arriaga (y Balzola), Juan Crisóstomo (Jacobo Antonio) de,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed May 4, 2023, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000001342.