Biography
Pablo Martín Melitón de Sarasate y Navascues (March 1844 – September 28, 1908) was a Spanish violinist and composer. He was one of the most famous violin virtuosi of his time.
Sarasate was born in Pamplona, the son of a military bandmaster, from his early years he displayed his aptitude for the violin. He gave his public debut at the age of eight, studied first in Madrid, and at the age of 12 he began to study under Delfín Alard at the Paris Conservatoire.
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A number of pieces were dedicated to Sarasate, including Henryk Wieniawski's Violin Concerto No. 2, Édouard Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole, Camille Saint-Saëns' Violin Concerto No. 3 and Introduction and rondo capriccioso and Max Bruch's Scottish Fantasy.
Sarasate's own compositions are mainly flashy show-pieces designed to demonstrate his exemplary technique. Perhaps the best known of his works is Zigeunerweisen (1878), a work for violin and orchestra. Another piece, the Carmen Fantasy (1883), also for violin and orchestra, makes use of themes from Georges Bizet's opera Carmen. Probably his most performed encores are his two books of Spanish Dances, short little pieces designed to please the listener's ear and show off the performer's talent. He also made arrangements of a number of other composers' work for violin. In 1904 he made a small number of recordings.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.