Monument to Maestro Tarridas

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Art · Subcategory: Sculpture · Year: 2003

The monument erected to the musician and composer, among other works of the famous Pasodoble Islas Canarias , José María Tarridas outside the Municipal School of Music, in the Tío Pino neighbourhood, was a gift made by a Catalan gastronomic society to the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Municipal Band.

Installed there on 3 October 2003, the sculptural ensemble consists of a bronze bust of the honouree, placed on a red marble pedestal, where a plaque bears the inscription: Santa Cruz de Tenerife to the Maestro composer of the pasodoble Islas Canarias José María Tarridas.

Born in Sant Pol de Mar (Barcelona) in 1903, Maestro Tarridas was a composer noted for his versatility in various musical genres. His work ranged from sardanas and zarzuelas to film music and symphonic compositions, although he is especially recognised for his famous pasodoble “Islas Canarias”, composed in 1935. This work became a musical symbol of the Archipelago, despite Tarridas having composed the piece without having visited the Islands. When he had finished it, he sent the score to his good friend, the poet Joan Picot i Bernabé, to add lyrics. The piece was recorded in Barcelona by the Odeón Gramophone Company, under the direction of Francisco Casanovas Tallardá. It became a classic.

Tarridas moved to live in Madrid after the Civil War. He visited the Canary Islands for the first time in 1950, when the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council awarded him the City Medal. The Casa de Canarias, in Madrid, had already honoured him by presenting a reproduction of the Drago of Icod de los Vinos.

Maestro Tarridas died in the Spanish capital on Epiphany 1992. His memory, as the author of one of the musical masterpieces written about the Archipelago, is immortalised in this monument in Tío Pino.

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