Ruperto Chapí y Lorento was born in Villena (Alicante), Spain, on March 27, 1851. After studying at the Madrid Conservatory, he conducted the band in Alicante in 1865, and spent the year 1870 as a military bandmaster in Spain. He was one of Spain’s leading composers of zarzuelas, of which he composed over 150, and composed operas and orchestral works. When he died in Madrid on March 25, 1909, he was mourned throughout Spain and was given a state funeral.

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