Henri Enrique Miro (13 November 1879 – 19 July 1950) was a Canadian
music critic of Catalan birth. He was a pioneering conductor for Canadian radio and his works were performed in all of Montreal's major performance venues of the day. He is best known for his operas, although the Montreal Symphony Orchestra did perform some of his symphonic music.[1]
Early life and education
Born in
Barcelona Conservatory where he was a pupil of Bienvenido Socias y Mercadé. After earning his diploma, he moved to France in 1898 where he was director of an opera troupe for four years.[1]
Career
In 1902 Miro immigrated to Montreal where he was active as a composer/arranger, conductor, pianist, and pedagogue. His notable students included
Princess Theatre. The latter worked was revived several times up through the late 1920s; including by the Société canadienne d'opérette in November 1925. In May 1915 his operaA Million Dollar Girl was mounted for the first time in Montreal. He wrote a second operetta, Lolita, which premiered on CBC Radio on 9 January 1944.[1]
On 6 November 1928 Jean Goulet conducted the premiere of Miro's cantataVox populi, which was based on 14 French-Canadian themes, at the Monument-National. Goulet also conducted the premiere of Miro's Symphonie canadienne on 27 Oct 1931. His compositions also included suites, two cello concertos, works for solo violin, and several ballads, chansons, and songs for solo voice and for choir. Many of his works were published in La Lyre for which he also worked as a music critic for several years.[1]
From 1916 to 1921 Miro served as music director of the
Apex Records in addition to his work as a radio conductor. He died in Montreal at the age of 70.[1]
