El Genio de Chapí y el Ingenio de Sinesio o la feliz conjunción para la liberación de los autores españoles

Abstract

March 25, 2009 marked the centenary of the death of Ruperto Chapí, while the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sinesio Delgado will also take place on 12 December this year. Thus, the relationship between these two men even extends to their commemorations. The prime example of their intense and productive partnership was the foundation of the Sociedad de Autores Españoles (SAE; Spanish Author’s Society), the precedent of the SGAE and a means of freeing authors (composers and writers) from the clutches of publishing houses at the end of the nineteenth century. But they also worked together on a series of zarzuelas, which met with uneven success with audiences. This article examines both aspects of their relationship.