Santiago Masarnau Fernández
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Santiago Masarnau y Fernández (9 December 1805 – 14 December 1882; also known as Santiago Fernández de Masarnau or Santiago [de] Masarnau) was a Spanish pianist, composer and religious activist for the poor. He established the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, an organization composed of laymen dedicated to serving the poor, in Spain. A cause for his canonization has been opened by that society.
Early life
Masarnau was born in
Following the family’s eviction from the court, Masarnau abandoned his original intentions of a career in engineering, and went to study music in Paris. He may have been influenced in the decision to leave Spain by political sympathies with the liberal insurgency that sought to depose the king in these years. For twenty years Masarnau divided his life between Paris, London and Madrid. In both Paris and London he was close to the Spanish composer
As a consequence of his studies and work in Paris and London (1825), Masarnau became acquainted with
I love you, less for the incredible variety of your knowledge, than for yourself, for the goodness of your soul; which is perhaps the fruit of your unusual learning. I love you, but with a friendship that admits no sharing - a friendship which resembles constantly the fleeting love that an impassioned woman may have for you for a moment.
Alkan dedicated to Masarnau his Trois études de bravoure op. 16 of 1837. While in Paris again from 1837 to 1843,[5] Masarnau became, at Rossini’s recommendation, the music teacher of the daughters of the Infante Prince Francisco de Paula.
Musical legacy
Masarnau's music is not well known today. In 2021 it was revived in a piano recital by Josep Colom at the Fundacion Juan March in Madrid. The concert, which was broadcast on Radio Clásica (RTVE), presented Masarnau's music in the context of his European contemporaries.[6]
Dedication to religion
In 1838 Masarnau had a profound religious experience which was to transform his life. As a consequence he determined to devote himself to the poor. In 1839 he came into contact with the
"The rules adopted were very simple; it was forbidden to discuss politics or personal concerns at the meetings, and it was settled that the work should be the service of God in the persons of the poor, whom the members were to visit at their own dwellings and assist by every means in their power. The service of the members was to embrace, without distinction of creed or race, the poor, the sick, the infirm, and the unemployed".[7]
Masarnau devoted himself to the Society and became treasurer of the St. Louis d'Antin chapter. During this period he turned more to the composition of church music than of salon items.
When Masarnau returned permanently to Spain in 1843 he remained active in music, teaching in his brother's school, and contributing to a number of critical and artistic journals. But his main work was the establishment of the Society in his own country. This proved however not to be straightforward—the Spaniards were suspicious of this "foreign" organisation and of its apparently "secular" nature. Eventually in 1850 the Society in Spain was formally founded with the support of Pope Gregory XVI, after which it grew dramatically. Its success apparently aroused some political opposition—in 1868 the Society was forcibly dissolved by the Spanish state and its property seized. In 1874 the Society in Spain was allowed to re-establish itself, and Masarnau continued to lead it until his death.
Masarnau died in Madrid in 1882 and was buried in the Cemetery of the Sacramental of San Justo in Madrid.
Veneration
On 13 May 1996, Masarnau's remains were exhumed and transferred to the National Church of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul for Spain. To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Society in Spain, on 11 November 1999 the
Sources
- Quadrado, José María. "Biografía de D. Santiago Masarnau". Madrid, 1905
- Federico Suárez, Santiago Masarnau y las Conferencias de San Vicente de Paúl, 1994. (un Googlebooks)
- Catholic Encyclopaedia, Society of St. Vincent de Paul
- Andres Ruiz Tarazona, Masarnau Fernandez, Santiago de, on Fundacion Juan March website (in Spanish). Madrid 1981
- The Alkan Society, Bulletins, Starting No.88, December 2012, Alkan's letters to Masanau
- Flores Auñón, Juan Carlos. "Semblanza Biográfica de Santiago Masarnau Fernández". Madrid, 1998
- "Positio super vita, virtutibus et fama santitatis Servi Dei Iacobi Masarnau Fernández. Christifidelis laici. Fundador y Primer presidente de la Sociedad de San Vicente de Paúl (1805–1882)" Madrid, 2006
Notes
- ^ a b Candelas Antequera, María Teresa, H.d.l.C., Sor. "Santiago Masarnau, Primer Presidente". La Sociedad de San Vicente de Paúl en España (in Spanish).
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Now in the Spanish Historical Archives
- ^ a b Alkan Society Bulletin
- ^ Alkan, Charles-Valentin. "Letter to Santiago de Masarnau, 3.1.1835 (Autograph)". PARES. Retrieved 2023-01-22.
- ISSN 1136-5536.
- ^ "Fila cero". RTVE. 13 January 2021.
- ^ Catholic Encyclopaedia, Society of St. Vincent de Paul