Background
Óscar Esplá was born on 5 August 1886 in Alicante, at that time in the Kingdom of Castile. His early musical studies were with his father, Trino Esplá, and with Fernando Lloret and Juan Latorre.:399 In 1903 he went to Barcelona to study industrial engineering, but later changed to study philosophy.
Education
He studied composition with Francisco Sánchez Gavagnac.
Career
The Conservatorio Superior de Música (conservatory) of the city of Alicante is dedicated to him. The Premio internacional de composición Óscar Esplá (Óscar Esplá international prize for composition) was created in 1955 and is awarded by the city of Alicante. In 1911, after winning an international prize, he went to Austria and Germany.
He met Ferdinand Löwe in Vienna, and Max Reger in Meiningen.:51 In 1912-1913 he was in Paris.
He met Saint-Saëns, but there is no evidence that he studied with him.:399:52 In 1936 Esplá was appointed director of the Conservatorio Nacional de Música y Declamación in Madrid, but did not take up the position. Instead, because of the Spanish Civil War, he left Spain and went with his family to Belgium, where he worked for Le Soir, which at that time was under Nazi control.
He was not permitted to return to Spain until 1950.:399 With Roberto Gerhard, Frederic Mompou and Adolfo Salazar, he was a part of the Spanish Grupo de los cuatro.:389 He died in Madrid on 6 January 1976.
Membership
Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.