The Basque composer Francisco Escudero studied in his native region and in Paris, returning to San Sebastián to hold a leading position there as a composer and as director of the conservatory. His work makes use of folk material, while later works also make use of more modern techniques than those he acquired under Paul Dukas and Le Flem in Paris.
Oratorio
Escudero’s oratorio Illeta, which draws on Gregorian chant as well as Basque folk music, is a setting of the poem Biotzean min dur (‘My Heart is Broken’) by Xabier Lizardi, a song of mourning at the death of a loved one.