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Artist
Orfeón Donostiarra
12+ albums
Clasica
about
The founding group of the Orfeón Donostiarra was formed in Donostia-San Sebastian in 1897. Its first conductors, Luzuriaga and Oñate, were succeeded in 1902 by the great musician Secundino Esnaola (Maixu) who was to conduct the choir until his death in 1929. One day in June 1896, twenty singers from the Choral Society took the train to Mondragón where the Basque Festival was being held. This group was the precursor to the Orfeón Donostiarra, which was officially founded on 21 January 1897, and it was from these twenty enterprising singers that an idea emerged which still occupies a central place in the choir to this day: "To conserve and share Basque Music". During its first five years, the repertoire of the Orfeón Donostiarra was very limited, including among others: "Jota Navarra" by Brull, "The Blue Danube" by Strauss, "Oh Pepita" by Muller and the folk song "Boga Boga". But although the artistic range was somewhat narrow, the organisers nevertheless carried out a significant organisational task. This is clearly illustrated by the fact that during those first five years, while the choir gave only twenty or so concerts, there was an astounding ninety six organisational meetings and twenty nine assemblies. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
