Carmelo Larrea Carricarte (16 July 1907 – 2 February 1980) was a Spanish songwriter and musician. During the 1940s and '50s he composed famous songs such as "Noche triste", "No te puedo querer", "
Dos cruces "Dos cruces" is famous Spanish bolero composed by Carmelo Larrea in 1952. The song earned Larrea his second golden record in 1954. Originally entitled "Soledad" (Solitude), it was first recorded by Jorge Gallarzo. Over 80 artists have performed the ...
" and "Camino verde".
Life and career
Early years
Carmelo Larrea Carricarte was born at 1 AM on 16 July 1907 in the neighbourhood of Elorrieta in
Deusto
Deusto, also known as Deustu in Basque and formerly known as ''San Pedro de Deusto'', is one of the eight districts of Bilbao
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Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
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(nowadays a district of
Bilbao
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), to Mariano Larrea and Nemesia Carricarte.
He studied commerce at the
Escolapios and music at the Philharmonic Society's Music Academy, soon deciding to pursue a career in the latter. He studied organ and choir singing under
Jesús Guridi
Jesús Guridi Bidaola (25 September 1886 – 7 April 1961) was a Spanish Basque composer who was a key player in 20th-century Spanish and Basque music. His style fits into the late Romantic idiom, directly inherited from Wagner, and with a stron ...
.
At the same time he worked as a bicycle shop assistant. He worked for five years at the
circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
as part of a piano/violin/concertina trio, making his debut with the Carrey brothers circus in
San Sebastián
San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...
. After playing in Barcelona and Madrid, the trio joined the Corzana and Feijoo circuses.
After a member of the trio left for the military service, Larrea joined the Bilbao-based dance orchestra La Terraza. An avid pianist, Larrea became interested in jazz.
On 31 January 1931 Larrea married Victoria García y Encinas.
Songwriting success
Larrea and his partners reformed the trio before finally disbanding in 1936 due to the start of the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
while they were playing in
Jerez de la Frontera
Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the ...
. He then joined a band in
Sevilla
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...
and played the saxophone in the
Santa Cruz neighbourhood. Encourage by a fellow musician, Larrea began to write his own songs. His first hit was "¡Qué buena soy!",
bulerías
''Bulería'' (; interchangeable with the plural, ''bulerías'') is a fast flamenco rhythm made up of a 12 beat cycle with emphasis in two general forms as follows:
This may be thought of as a measure of followed by a measure of (known ...
sung by Gracia de Triana in the film ''Escuadrilla''.
Even more successful was his song "Noche triste", premiered by
Antonio Machín
Antonio Abad Lugo Machín (11 February 1903, in Sagua la Grande, Cuba – 4 August 1977, in Madrid, Spain) was a Spanish-Cuban singer and musician. His version of '' El Manisero'', recorded in New York, 1930, with Don Azpiazú's orchestra, was the ...
in 1941 in Seville. Many other popular compositions followed, including "Las doce en punto", "Un año más" and "No te puedo querer".
The latter, sung by
Jorge Sepúlveda, earned him a golden record in Mexico in 1952.
Larrea then moved to
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, where he played in the Alazán orchestra. Motivated by his friend Mariano Méndez Vigo, Larrea wrote a song for the radio programme ''El Tribunal de la Canción''. This composition –originally known as "Soledad" (Solitude)– was "
Dos cruces "Dos cruces" is famous Spanish bolero composed by Carmelo Larrea in 1952. The song earned Larrea his second golden record in 1954. Originally entitled "Soledad" (Solitude), it was first recorded by Jorge Gallarzo. Over 80 artists have performed the ...
" (Two Crosses), his most famous song and one of Spain's most popular
bolero
Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...
s. Originally sung by Jorge Gallarzo, a version that earned him his second golden record in 1954, it has been covered over 80 times.
He then penned "Camino verde", a song performed by
Angelillo in the 1955 film ''Suspiros de Triana'', directed by
Ramón Torrado
Ramón Torrado (born 5 April 1905-January 1990) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. He directed 50 films between 1942 and 1978.
Along his brother Adolfo Torrado, they worked in Suevia Films, and he directed ''Botón de ancla'' (1948 ...
.
Many of his compositions ended up as
leitmotiv
A leitmotif or leitmotiv () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is an anglici ...
s in films such as
Manuel Summers
Manuel Summers Rivero (26 March 1935 – 12 June 1993) was a Spanish film director, screenwriter and actor.
Biography
Father of David Summers Rodríguez leading singer of Pop group Hombres G and of Cheyenne Summers, Spanish voice actress, ...
' ''
The Girl in Mourning
''The Girl in Mourning'' ( es, La niña de luto) is a 1964 Spanish comedy film directed by Manuel Summers. It was entered into the 1964 Cannes Film Festival. The film was also selected as the Spanish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at th ...
''.
Later years and death
In January 1955 Larrea moved to Latin America, where he spent nine years before returning to Spain.
He lived primarily in Caracas, Venezuela, where he married Josefina Reguilón Rosón (his previous wife had died years before). He then went to London to join the orchestra at the Nili, an Israeli cruise ship that toured Nordic countries.
He came back to Spain definitively in 1965, living in Madrid with his wife until his death on 2 February 1980.
Legacy and influence
Larrea is considered one of Spain's most prolific songwriters of the 20th century, particularly in genres such as the bolero and the pasodoble.
During his time he was compared to songwriters such as
Agustín Lara
Ángel Agustín María Carlos Fausto Mariano Alfonso del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Lara y Aguirre del Pino (; October 30, 1897 – November 6, 1970), known as Agustín Lara, was a Mexican composer and performer of songs and boleros. He is recogn ...
,
Charles Trenet
Louis Charles Augustin Georges Trenet (; 18 May 1913 – 19 February 2001) was a renowned French singer-songwriter who composed both the music and the lyrics to nearly a thousand songs over a career that lasted more than 60 years. These include ...
,
Osvaldo Farrés
Osvaldo Farrés (; January 13, 1903 – December 22, 1985) was a Cuban songwriter and composer best known for having written the songs "", "", "", and "".
Early life
Farrés was born in 1903 in the small city of Quemado de Güines, Las Vi ...
and
Bobby Capó
Félix Manuel "Bobby" Rodríguez Capó (January 1, 1922 – December 18, 1989) was a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter. He usually combined ballads with classical music and was deeply involved in Puerto Rican folk elements and even Andalusi ...
due to the fact that he wrote both the music and the lyrics of his songs.
Spain's most famous singers, including
María Dolores Pradera
María Dolores Fernández Pradera OAXS, MMT (29 August 1924 – 28 May 2018) was a Spanish melodic singer and actress, and one of the most famous voices in Spain and Latin America.
She started her career as an actress and during the 1950s she ...
and Jorge Sepúlveda immortalized many of his works.
In 2011, a garden in Bilbao was named after him, concerts took place in his honour and his biography –''Carmelo Larrea (1907-1980) Compositor de boleros universales''– was published.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larrea, Carmelo
Spanish songwriters
Spanish pianists
Spanish organists
Male organists
Spanish saxophonists
Spanish male composers
20th-century composers
1907 births
1980 deaths
20th-century saxophonists
20th-century Spanish singers
20th-century organists
Male pianists
20th-century pianists
20th-century Spanish male singers