Manuel Borgunyó Pla was a Spanish musician who dedicated his entire life to fight for Music Education. In the present work we try to review his career. From the study of his work we take in consideration the following questions:
- What was the significance of the pedagogical action of M.B.?
- What were his proposals in this field (Music Education)?
- Were his methodological contributions innovative?
Prior to the start of his almost exclusive dedication to the field of music pedagogy, he got acquainted with European music educational currents, so he became familiar with different musicians’ proposals as the ones of the Frenchman Maurice Chevais (1880-1943). The teaching work of Manuel Borgunyó began in Catalonia, in the 1920s and took place in a period of great concern in the field of education, time in which converge various movements of pedagogical renewal, resulting in substantial changes in the curriculum of these, based on pedagogical principles focused on a holistic view of education in which the arts, including music, formed an essential part of it. This is the environment that Manuel Borgunyó found when he began his journey in the field of music education. In 1921 he was directly involved in the creation of the Conservatory attached to the “Escola del Ateneu Igualadí”, which was established as a section of the school and worked closely with it, which is why music education formed part of the curriculum of the school. During 10 years, Borgunyó himself was the Conservatory’s director and its highest person in charge. During this period he intensified his personal fight for music education. In the 1930s, already in Barcelona, immersed in the world of education, he launched a campaign “Pro educación musical” involving personalities in it. He made conferences, spread his pedagogical beliefs through writings, activities and musical pedagogy courses. In 1931 he founded the “Agrupación de amigos de la educación musical” and participated very actively in the educational work developed by the Generalitat de Catalunya, specifically in the Sub-paper of music of the “Consell de l’Escola Nova Unificada (C.E.N.U.)”(1936), where he exposed both his proposals concerning music in schools, and about the training specialized teachers should receive. In 1942, after the civil war, he moved to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, to reorganized the “Schola Cantorum” and years later, in 1944, he founded the “Instituto de pedagogía musical”. For many years he prompted the coral activities in the island’s life, organizing choral and pedagogical meetings as well as other many events related to music education. His thought and his pedagogical proposals are referred in numerous articles published in press, some books and especially in the manuscript that he never got published entitled “Método eurítmico-vocal i tonal”. The comprehensive analysis of this manuscript, together with its comparison with previous documentation, will allow us to refine his proposals and compare them with those from other educators of that time.
