Santiago Lope was born in a small village in the province of Logrono, Spain, on May 23, 1871. His father, a handkerchief weaver, along with his mother, discovered his natural talent for music at a very early age. They engaged Don Angel de Miguel, the plaza organist, to give him instruction on piano and the basics of music. At the age of six, Santiago joined the village band, playing piccolo, and also learning much about other instruments. One day a military band appeared in the village, and the director took notice of young Santiago. He advised his parents of his great talent and suggested further training. Santiago was sent to Madrid to live with relatives, who enrolled him in the Royal Conservatory of Music. There he studied violin, harmony and composition.
At age 15, he joined Madrid’s famous Apollo Theater orchestra. In a short time, he moved up to principal violinist with the concert orchestra of the Sociedad Artistico Musicale. At 20, he conducted the Romeo Theatre Orchestra, premiering several zarzuelas. Besides being an accomplished violinist, conductror, and composer, he was a recognized authority on instrumentation. Many celebrated composers, among them Frederico chueca, had Lope orchestrate their works.
Lope went to Valencia in 1902 to direct and conduct at the Ruzofa Theatre. Soon he was busy organizing the now famous Banda Municipale de Valencia, which held its premiere performance on December 8, 1902. The program featured two of his compositions, the pasodoble Valencia ant the march L’Entra de la Murta. The local newspaper requested that Lope compose a pasodoble for a feature bullfight to be held at the Plaza de Toros de Valencia on June 29, 1905. He wrote not one, but four, one for each matador featured: Gallito (for Ferdinand Gomez), Dauder (for Augistin Dauder) Angelillo (for Angel Gonzales) and Vito (for Manuel Perez). The titles are indicative of the fact that bullfighters often use nicknames.
Lope died on September 25, 1906 at the age of 35.
