Jaime Texidor Dalmau (1884-1957) was an important Spanish composer of paso dobles, the bullfighting-inspired march style most closely associated with Spain. He was also the director of the municipal band of Barakaldo for almost 30 years.
Amparito Roca (1925) is his most famous composition. There is some controversy as to its origin. Some sources claim that it was actually written by Reginald Ridewood (1907-1942), a British military musician who was stationed briefly in Gibraltar, and that Texidor later swooped in and claimed the copyright on the piece when Ridewood failed to apply. Other sources credit Texidor with having named the piece after a young student of his, a girl named Amparito Roca. If I was to guess, not having done much research in this area, the original publication date of 1925 seems to undercut Ridewood’s claim, considering he was 18 and had not been to Gibraltar by that time. Regardless, the march stands as perhaps the most characteristic and famous example of a Spanish paso doble, at least in the US.
American bands tend to take Amparito Roca WAY too fast! So here are a few performances closer to the “correct” (e.g., in the style of most Spanish paso dobles) tempo. If you don’t believe me, check out this article from the June 2008 Texas Bandmasters Review. The Banda Sinfonica Municipal de Madrid shows us exactly how it should go:
It also exists in an orchestral version:
The most common version, at least in the USA, is an edition by Aubrey Winter, created in 1935 for the Boosey & Hawkes publication. In addition, there are at least two young band versions, by James Curnow and Gary Fagan (both grade 3). Here is Curnow’s, which preserves the proper tempo:
To see more on Amparito Roca, including the controversy of its origin, see this article from Teaching Music Through Performance in Band, the Boosey & Hawkes edition on IMSLP (NOT public domain in the US), Wikipedia, and Rundel Music.