ARRIAGA, Juan Cristostomo
b Bilbao, 27 January 1806
d Paris, 17 January 1826, aged nineteen

He played violin and composed from a very early age. Before he was fifteen his only opera, Los esclavos felices, was performed in Bilbao. In 1821 he entered the Paris Conservatory, studying violin, harmony and counterpoint, and winning the second prix in 1823. In 1824 he was appointed repetiteur in a classe de repetition in harmony and counterpoint and issued the only work he published, the three string quartets on which his reputation mainly rests. In Bilbao a theatre has been named after him and a statue erected.
1817 (11)
Octet
1818 (12)
Two Overtures
Symphony in D
1820 (14)
Los esclavos felices, opera
Theme and Variations for string quartet
1822 (16)
La Hungara, variations for string quartet
1824 (18)
Three String Quartets
Undated Three Character Studies, for piano
Agar, for soprano and orchestra
Ermina, for soprano and orchestra
Ou vais-je malheureuse?, for tenor and piano
Hymen, for soprano and piano
All'aurora, for bass, tenor and orchestra
O Salutaris, for three voices and string quintet
Stabat Mater, for three voices and small orchestra
Mass for four voices (lost)
Salva regina (lost)
Et vitam venturi, fugue for eight voices (lost)