Pere Rabassa

Who was Pere Rabassa?

Pere Rabassa was a Catalan composer and musicologist.

He received early music lessons from his uncle, Ramon Rabassa, an organist, and voice training at the choir of the Cathedral of Santa Eulalia, Barcelona. The maestro de capilla till he was 13 was Joan Barter, and then the more famous Francisco Valls. During this period music in Barcelona was Italianized due to the presence of the court of Archduke Charles of Austria for the duration of the War of the Spanish Succession.

Rabassa took holy orders and in 1713 was appointed maestro de capilla at the Cathedral of Vic, though, perhaps as punishment for Austrian sympathies, he moved on to the Cathedral of Valencia and Cathedral of Seville. During his long tenure in Seville he enlarged the capilla with addition of 4 violins, 2 violas, 2 oboes and 1 flute.