La biblioteca personal de Abelardo Jaén Machuca (1894-1972): huellas literarias en la vida de un compositor

Abstract

The figure of the musician and composer Abelardo Jaén Machuca (1894-1972) left his musical mark on Elche (Alicante, Spain) in the first half of the 20th century. His legacy includes a private library that houses a collection of more than 150 books. The aim of this research is to show the interrelationship between the composer and his books, both personally and professionally. To this end, methodologies analogue to similar studies of private libraries are used, drawing up an inventory of books and their classification by subject, and determining the evidence found by using qualitative methods. The results show a special interest in contemporary music, sometimes present in his mostly traditionalist compositions, and an intimate relationship between the different subjects and the composer's biographical stages, which helps in the reconstruction of his musical career.