CHRONOLOGY

1931 9 February
Born in Barcelona, son of writer Xavier Benguerel Llobet and Rosa Godó Gabarró.

1940
The Benguerel family head into exile in Chile, alongside other Catalan intellectuals fleeing the Spanish Civil War.

1950
He begins his musical education.

1953
He debuts his first piece, a Sonata for violin and piano.

1954
The Benguerel family returns to Barcelona after forty years in exile.

1955
He wins first prize in the Joventuts Musicals de Barcelona’s Composition Competition with his Divertimento for flute, clarinet and bassoon. The entries were judged by a panel made up of Joan Massià, Xavier Montsalvatge, Eduard Toldrà and Joaquim Homs.

1957
He marries Marta García Figueras, by whom he had three children: Marta, Mónica and Marc.

1958
He receives private tuition from the maestro Cristòfor Taltabull.

1959
He composes Cantata D’Amic i Amat (Cantata of Friend and Beloved), a piece which incorporates serial techniques and procedures, performed for the first time in 1960 at the SIMC International Festival in Cologne.

1960
He joins the board of directors of Joventuts Musicals de Barcelona, an organisation then chaired by Dr. Jordi Roch and which would play a key role in promoting works by the majority of Catalan composers and performers.

1963
The birth of the International Music Festival, which would establish itself for the next twelve years as one of the most important music-related activities in Catalonia. Benguerel was part of its management team from its creation.

1965
Launch of his first record, featuring his Concerto for two flutes and strings, as recorded by Jean Pierre Rampal and Salvador Gratacós and sponsored by Joventuts Musicals.

1970
In Baden-Baden he meets Prof. Dr. Heinrich Ströbel, a keen promotor of contemporary music, who commissions him to compose what would come to be known as his Concerto for organ and orchestra, which was performed for the first time in 1971 in Baden-Baden.

1971
He meets two German players, Prof. Siegfried Fink and Prof. Siegfried Behrend, who inspire the composition of various pieces for percussion and for guitar.

1972
Monographic concert at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona.

1975
He debuts his Concerto for percussion and orchestra in Frankfurt with the Radio Symphony Orchestra, led by Eliahu Inbal.

1977
He receives the Luigi Dallapiccola Prize, awarded by Club Master 77 by a judges panel made up of Xavier Montsalvatge, Joan Guinjoan, Montserrat Albet and Tomás Marco.

1979
Heinrich Schiff debuts the Concerto for cello, commissioned by Südwestfunk of Baden-Baden.

1983
He meets Silvia Gasset, then President of the Chamber Opera of Catalonia. He debuts his chamber opera Spleen with this ensemble in 1984. Benguerel separates from his wife and becomes romantically involved with Silvia. Various musical projects emerge from this relationship, including the suggestion that would eventually lead to one of his most important and well-known works, Llibre vermell.

1986
Premiere performance of Spleen at Frankfurt Opera House.

1988
His piece Llibre Vermell is debuted at the Gran Teatre del Liceu. It would later return to the Liceu during the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. It is one of the composer’s most well-known scores, both in concert and in recordings.

1990
He debuts Réquiem a la memoria de Salvador Espriu (Requiem to the memory of Salvador Espriu) at the Torroella de Montgrí Music Festival, which commissioned the piece.
He meets orchestra conductor Leo Krämer, one of the most enthusiastic promotors of his choral symphonies.

1991
He is commissioned to write a piece to commemorate a thousand years of the Catalan nation (Catalonia). He composes Dos poemas de Charles Baudelaire (Two poems by Charles Baudelaire) based on the translation into Catalan by his father. It is performed for the first time at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.
The Generalitat of Catalonia publishes the first volume of its Collection of Catalan Composers, dedicated to his works and written by Carles Guinovart and Tomás Marco.

1993
He composes a Te Deum in honour of the sculptor Josep Maria Subirachs.

1995
He writes and debuts 7 Fábulas de La Fontaine (7 Fables by La Fontaine), also based on the Catalan version produced by his father.

2000
The Madrid Ministry of Culture commissions him to compose an opera to mark the centenary of the birth of Salvador Dalí, which would fall in the year 2004. The opera, with the title “Yo, Dalí” (‘I, Dalí’), will be performed for the first time in Madrid in 2011, and later in Barcelona.

2001
Idea Books publishing house publishes a book by Jesús Rodríguez Picó with the title Xavier Benguerel, obra y estilo (‘Xavier Benguerel, works and style’).

2002
The Barcelona and National Symphony Orchestra of Catalonia commissions him to create his Concerto for piano and orchestra. It was performed for the first time the following year, with Albert Atenelle as soloist.

2005
He is named Honorary Patron of the Fundación Orfeó Català-Palau de la Música.

2006
His 75th birthday is commemorated with various concerts.
He donates all of his manuscripts and material to the Biblioteca de Catalunya national archives.
SGAE launches a book to mark this event, which was written by Jorge de Persia and published with the title Xavier Benguerel, búsqueda e intuición (‘Xavier Benguerel, search and intuition’).

2007
The recording (by Columna Música) of Réquiem is released, and is set to win the 2007 CD Compact Award in the choir music category.

2017
Died in Barcelona on August 10, 2017.