José Brocá


José Brocá y Codina was a Spanish guitarist and composer of the Romantic period.

Life and music

Brocá was born in Reus, province of Tarragona. Mainly self-taught on the guitar, he also studied briefly with Dionisio Aguado. He was reputed to have been an excellent performer on his instrument. As a teacher based in Barcelona, his best-known pupils included Felipe Pedrell and José Ferrer who both dedicated compositions to him. He was a friend to Julián Arcas.
In his teaching, Brocá used Aguado's method. Brocá died in Barcelona.
Brocá composed around twenty works for the guitar; Bone singles out his opus 19 as his "principal guitar composition". Brocá's music was praised for its elegance and its stylistic proximity to Tárrega's, despite being several decades older.

Compositions for guitar

Dates after online catalogue of Biblioteca Nacional de España.