Pena y Goni, Antonio

1846-1896

 

Popular Spanish critic and writer on musical subjects. Born at San Sebastian, and studied under Manterola. He was a friend of Gounod and many of the contemporary French musicians, as well as Wagner, whose cause he championed at Madrid through the Imparcial, a paper on which he was musical critic for more than thirty years. He is the author of a History of Opera in Spain, and has composed some music, including the national hymn, Vida Hernani; a mass; and piano-pieces.