Benito Canónico (January 3, 1894 – October 13, 1971) was a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n composer,

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

ian,

orchestrator Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. Born in

Guarenas Guarenas is a city in Miranda, Venezuela. It was established in 1621 as ''Nuestra Señora de Copacabana de los Guarenas''. It is part of the Guarenas-Guatire conurbation On February 27, 1989, a morning protest in this city over the recent nati ...

, Miranda, Canónico spent much of his life teaching and writing music in a wide variety of genres and styles, including

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...

marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a national "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diff ...

and

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...

. Nevertheless, he received international recognition thanks to his popular song ''El Totumo de Guarenas'', which has been performed and recorded by generations of classical guitarists.Enciclopedia de la Música en Venezuela He was the son of Agostino Canónico, an immigrant

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

musician who taught him to play violin at a young age. As a teenager, he took up the

bugle The bugle is one of the simplest brass instruments, normally having no valves or other pitch-altering devices. All pitch control is done by varying the player's embouchure. History The bugle developed from early musical or communication ...

to join a local

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the ti ...

, where he later switched to the clarinet. While at the band, he also learned to play

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

and

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

, as well as several instruments of the

saxhorn The saxhorn is a family of valved brass instruments that have conical bores and deep cup-shaped mouthpieces. The saxhorn family was developed by Adolphe Sax, who is also known for creating the saxophone family. The sound of the saxhorn has a ...

and

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and re ...

families. In addition, he was a solid player of regional instruments as arpa mirandina and

cuatro Cuatro is Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the number four. Cuatro may also refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), name for two distinct Latin American instruments, one from Puerto Rico (see Cuatro) and the other from Venezuela (see Cuatro) ...

. In the early 1920s Canónico moved with his family to Caracas, where he worked as a music teacher and devoted himself to composing and orchestrate. Besides this, he played during 22 years for the Banda Marcial Caracas, by then conducted by

Pedro Elías Gutiérrez Pedro Elías Gutiérrez (March 14, 1870–May 31, 1954) was a Venezuelan musician who is mainly remembered for the song ''Alma Llanera'', whose music he composed for the zarzuela of the same name. Gutiérrez also led the Orquesta Caraque� ...

, and was a founding member of the Orquesta Típica Nacional in 1953. Both groups are considered Cultural Heritage of the Nation. Besides, one of his descendants, Daniel Canónico, was a notable professional baseball player. Canónico gained further recognition after musician Alirio Díaz wrote a guitar transcription for the aforementioned ''El Totumo de Guarenas'' and premiered it in 1960 at Teatro Municipal de Caracas. Since then, the song has been recorded by a number of famous guitarists including

Liona Boyd Liona Maria Carolynne Boyd, (born 11 July 1949) is a classical guitarist often referred to as the First Lady of the Guitar. Music career Early years Boyd was born in London and grew up in Toronto. Her father grew up in Bilbao, Spain, and her ...

, Antonio Lauro, Flavio Sala and John Williams, among others.All Music Guide
/ref> Benito Canónico died in Caracas in 1971, at the age of 77, following a long illness.

Sources

External links

(Spanish) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Canonico, Benito 1894 births 1971 deaths People from Guarenas Venezuelan composers Male composers Venezuelan multi-instrumentalists Venezuelan people of Italian descent 20th-century composers 20th-century male musicians