José Comellas
José Comellas was a Cuban pianist and composer who was born in Matanzas in 1842 and died in Havana in 1888. For many years he was a music professor in Baltimore, and it is from an article published there in 1876 gives the following biography: At the age of seven Comellas commenced his musical studies with his father, and though the piano was selected as the primary instrument, the violin was also assiduously cultivated. When Comellas senior saw that he had nothing else to teach his son he took him to London and later to Leipzig, where after an examination he was admitted into the Conservatory of Music. After returning to Cuba and not finding himself at home in that culture, Comellas moved to New York and then to Baltimore. The article goes on to say that Comellas’s compositions possess the merit of combining originality and beauty of construction. His style is reminiscent of Chopin and is characterized by its delicate, poetic and intellectual qualities. A number of his works were published by Breitkopf & Hartel.
Maestro Comellas’s Compositions
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