Francisco Asenjo Barbieri (1822 -1894) was one of the most prolific and successful composers of the spanish zarzuelas, a zarzuela is spanish form of music base on Spanish folk tales and literature, drawing heavily on Spanish folk music.

Barieri was a accomplished musician and musical historian who composed principally for the lyric theatre. He wrote more than 70 Zarzuelas with spanish texts, of these Pan Y Toros (1864)is probably his best work, and had the distinction of being banned for political reasons.

As a historian, one of his greatest claims to fame was his edition of the Cancionaro De Palacio, published in 1890, which revealed that there was a rich Spanish school of secular polyphonic music in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Copyright The Larousse Encyclopedia of Music 1997