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José María Ramón Gomis

José María Ramón Gomis was born in Novelda (Alicante) on May 5, 1856. After completing his primary education and feeling a strong musical calling, he learned the fundamentals of this art for two years in his hometown. He later moved to Madrid, where he pursued a music degree specializing in the organ at the Royal Conservatory. Upon finishing his studies, he returned to Novelda and taught music for a while from his private residence. However, he realized that Madrid offered a broader canvas for his creative talents and decided to make the capital his permanent residence, pursuing his career as a musician. He held positions in various Madrid institutions and carried them out with great merit. For nearly thirty years, he served as a singing teacher and organist at the Asylum of Our Lady of Mercedes. Simultaneously, he worked as a music teacher and choir director at the former girls’ school in Leganés for about twenty years, in addition to being the director of the San José Orfeón. He also worked as a music critic for the newspaper El Siglo Futuro, allowing him to immerse himself in the intellectual circles of the era. At the time of his passing, Maestro Gomis left behind more than a hundred diverse works, generally comprising short pieces of high quality and romantic inspiration. These compositions were primarily written for solo organ or piano, with solo voice or choir, including songs, caprices, seguidillas, pavanes, jotas, romances, waltzes, ballads, nocturnes, and even a one-act, three-scene zarzuela titled Los magos de Rubens, among others. However, his most renowned and popular genre was religious music, as his masses, carols, prayers, hymns, chants and requiems were widely performed in numerous Spanish churches.