Maria del Carmen Perez Jimenez Barradas (18 March 1888 – 12 May 1963) was a

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

an pianist, composer, and choral teacher.

Life

Maria del Carmen Pérez Jiménez was born in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, the daughter of Spanish residents Santos Rojas and still life painter Antonio Pérez Giménez Barradas. She first studied with Antonio Frank, but ended the study after her father died in 1898. With support from friends and family, she later continued with Aurora Pablo and M. Lopes Vicente at the Conservatorio del Uruguay, receiving her diploma in 1915. Following the example of her younger brother, the painter

Rafael Barradas Rafael Pérez Giménez Barradas (4 January 1890 in Montevideo – 12 February 1929 in Montevideo), was an Uruguayan modernist painter and graphic artist who worked in Spain. Biography His parents were immigrants from Spain. His older sister, Ca ...

, she adopted the stage name Carmen Barradas. Her youngest brother was writer and poet Antonio De Ignacios. After World War I, Rafael Barradas found he was unable to return from Spain to Uruguay, so in 1916 Barradas' family moved to

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") , i ...

. The family struggled to get there, having to apply for entry as laborers. Once in Spain, Carmen and her mother supported themselves by making toys. However, Carmen also developed as a composer and actively participated in the artistic life of Barcelona. In 1917 she gave a concert of her own works. Barradas lived and composed in Spain until 1922, then returned with her family to Montevideo in 1928, where she took a position teaching at the Institutos Normales. During this period, she published a magazine for children called ''Andresillo'' which included cartoons and songs. Her works pioneered the use of non-traditional graphic notation and experimental techniques. Barradas produced her own works at the

Teatro Solís Teatro may refer to: * Theatre * Teatro (band) Teatro, Italian for "theatre", is a vocal group signed to the Sony BMG music label. The members of Teatro are Jeremiah James, Andrew Alexander, Simon Bailey and Stephen Rahman-Hughes. Band member ...

in 1934 and ended her composing career in 1949. She died in Montevideo. Although her works were described as "brilliant," her experimental direction was not well received in Uruguay during her lifetime. Many of her works were lost at her death. However, pianist and musicologist Néffer Kröger retained and interpreted some of the scores. About 170 partial and complete manuscripts are left.

Works

Selected works include: *''Fabricación'', 1922 *''Andaluza'' *''la niña de la mantilla blanca'' *''Aserradero'' *''Taller Mecánic'', *''En el molino y Procesión'' *''Aurora en la enramada'' *''Mar-Tragedia-Misterio'' *''Estudios tonales''

References

External links

Néffer Kröger plays Carmen Barradas' "Fabricación," from YouTube
1888 births 1963 deaths 20th-century classical composers Uruguayan music educators Uruguayan women classical composers Uruguayan classical composers Uruguayan women music educators Uruguayan pianists Uruguayan women pianists Burials at the Central Cemetery of Montevideo 20th-century women composers {{uruguay-composer-stub