Composer. One of Spain's foremost creators of zarzuelas, or light operas. He was a master of what was known as the "género chico" ("little genre") of Spanish theatre, providing one-act musical comedies in a popular spirit for broad audiences. Born in Madrid, Chueca was enrolled in the city's Conservatory at age eight and within a year his precocious piano pieces were attracting favorable notice. He did less well in other subjects and his parents eventually compelled him to switch to medical studies. In 1865 he managed to get arrested in a round-up of students following the St. Daniel's Night Uprising; during his three days in jail he penned a sequence of waltzes he called "A Prisoner's Lament". Composer-conductor Francisco Barbieri arranged it for orchestra under the title "Cupid and Esculapius" and led the premiere at an 1866 outdoor concert. Its success motivated Chueca to devote himself to music. He became conductor of Madrid's Teatro de Variedades in 1874 and the Teatro Apolo in 1885, while his género chico zarzuelas enjoyed increasing popularity. His career peaked in 1886 with two triumphs, "La Gran Vía" and "Cadiz". The latter features his best known tune, originally composed in 1868 as the "Hymn to General Prim". Renamed the "March of Cadiz", it was adopted as an anthem by the Spanish Army in 1896 and is still associated with the country's military. Chueca wrote around 35 zarzuelas, including "La canción de la Lola" (1880), "El año pasado por agua" (1889), "El chaleco blanco" (1890), "Agua, azucarillos y aguardiente" (1897), "La alegría de la huerta" (1900), and his last hit, "El bateo" (1901). Due to his faulty technique he relied on collaborators (principally Joaquin Valverde) to harmonize and orchestrate his music, but his lyricism and cheeky wit were entirely his own. Ailing from complications of diabetes in his last years, he retired in 1904. A city square in Madrid is named for him.