Francesc de Paula Bové (Vilafranca del Penedès, 1875-1950) studied with Antoni Irsener, Isidre Janer, Joan Lamote de Grignon and Joaquim Malats.
He pursued a wide range of musical activities: conductor of the Capella (Schola Cantorum) of Santa Maria, member of the Quintet del Penedès, Conductor of the Sextet Musical, the Sarroca Choir and the Terceto Vilafranquí. He also taught music, and eventually set up his own music school.
He organised the choir Orfeó Vilafranquí, which grew to some 209 singers, and with them he performed works by over 50 contemporary and classic composers.
Bové's compositions, which are linked to his work as a conductor, cover various genres: sacred music, sardanas (a Catalan dance form), dance music for gralla (Catalan shawm), works for band, and works for small instrumental ensembles, mostly for accompanying silent films.
His collecting work as a ethno-musicologist is also noteworthy, as is his example and his endeavours on the theory side of the early twentieth-century noucentista movement: he wrote articles for the local and national press, arranged concerts of works by composers associated with the Penedès region, gave lectures etc. ' all of which amounted to important work in disseminating and fostering music.