1936: Antonio José, forgotten composer
1 comment October 11th, 2008 Headsman
On this date in 1936, the Spanish composer Antonio José was shot by Falangists during the Spanish Civil War.
The 33-year-old Burgos native (English Wikipedia page | the more detailed Spanish) was a rising young star, a writer, teacher and “folklorist” who had only that April earned plaudits for a paper on popular songs at an international musicology conference.
That July, the Spanish Civil War erupted … and the fascists clapped him in irons and shot him in the marshes near Estepar, Spain. I have not been able to find any clear documentation as to specifically how he earned the death sentence — which is not to say that the Spanish Falange deserves the benefit of the doubt for the regularity of its judicial procedures.
Despite Maurice Ravel’s (pre-Civil War) opinion that Jose would become “the Spanish composer of our century,” Jose’s work vanished into obscurity after his untimely death. Pieces like this Sonata Para Guitarra have only recently been widely rediscovered.
Possibly Related Executions
- 1945: Albrecht Haushofer, German Resistance intellectual
- 1922: Robert Erskine Childers, for carrying the gun of Michael Collins
- 1945: Benito Mussolini, his mistress, and his aides
Entry Filed under: 20th Century, Artists, Capital Punishment, Death Penalty, Execution, History, Intellectuals, Shot, Spain, Wartime Executions
Tags: 1936, antonio jose, burgos, estepar, falange, falangists, Fascism, maurice ravel, music, musicians, october 11, spanish civil war
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