Salvador Giner Vidal was born into a musical family, in Valencia on 19 January 1832; his father was a well-known violinist and his mother was a renowned pianist.

His father tried to stop his son from following a musical career, and so he received his first classes from his mother, before being taught by Pascual Pérez Gascón.

From 1871 to 1879 he lived in Madrid, where he met Bretón and Barbieri while composing the Requiem Mass for the funerals of Mercedes of Orleans and Bourbon, Queen of Spain, which is a good indication of his prestige at the time and the recognition he received from his contemporaries.

Giner's music is inspired by the popular songs of Valencian folklore. Worthy of special mention are his operas: 'El soñador, 'Sagunto' and 'El fantasma'; the symphonic poems: 'Una nit d'albaes', 'El Festín de Baltasar' and 'Es xopà hasta la moma'; operetta such as 'Foc en l'era', 'Los mendigos' and religious works such as 'Goigs a la Verge dels Desamparats', and 'Misa en Re a cuatro voces y orquesta', which he composed when he was eighteen years old.

He participated in the foundation of the Valencia Conservatory of Music, first as a Professor of Composition and shortly afterwards as its Director. He collaborated in the creation of the Valencia Municipal Band, his contribution ranging from administrative and statutory tasks to the composition of the pasodoble, 'L'entrà de la Murta', which was premiered by the Band in its first concert. He also founded El Micalet Choir.

Salvador Giner is regarded as the great patriarch of late nineteenth-century Valencia music.

He died on 3 November 1911, in his beloved home of Valencia.