VALERA, Maria Esteban

María Esteban Valera (1910–1987) was a Spanish composer and pianist born in Granada. A child prodigy, she began composing at the age of ten in a family that strongly encouraged musical activity. Although family responsibilities limited the development of her compositional career, she produced a body of sacred, piano, and vocal music, including a Mass and several songs and piano works published in 1987 in the anthology Colección Selecta de Obras Musicales. Two of her best-known pieces, Nana and Intermezzo, were transcribed for guitar by Andrés Segovia in 1963 and recorded by him the following year, helping to preserve and disseminate her music. She was also the granddaughter of the celebrated Spanish heroine Mariana Pineda.