Darwin Vargas (March 8, 1925 — April 8, 1988) was a Chilean

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and choral conductor. His compositional style was influenced by

Chilean folk music Chilean music refers to all kinds of music developed in Chile, or by Chileans in other countries, from the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors to the modern day. It also includes the native pre-Columbian music from what is today Chilean territo ...

and he often used modal tonalities within his works. His own beliefs in

Christian mysticism Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...

influenced his compositional style as well; particularly in his sacred choral works which exhibit a reflective lyrical sensibility.

Life and career

Born Darwin Horacio Vargas-Wallis in

Talagante Talagante () is a commune and the capital city of the province of the same name in the Santiago Metropolitan Region of central Chile. The word ''Talagante'' in Quechua comes from ''talacanta'', meaning "Lazo de Hechicero", which was the proper na ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

on March 8, 1925, Vargas studied at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música (Chile) (also known as the Santiago Conservatory) at the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

. His teachers at the conservatory included Domingo Santa Cruz Wilson,

Jorge Urrutia Blondel Jorge Urrutia Blondel (September 17, 1905 – July 5, 1981), was a Chilean composer, educator and writer, born in 1905. He has composed ballet music, symphonic poems, and works for piano and for voice. He is regarded as a Chilean nationalist in ...

, and

Juan Orrego-Salas Juan Antonio Orrego-Salas (January 18, 1919 – November 24, 2019) was a Chilean composer, musicologist, music critic, and academic. Life and career Born Juan Antonio Orrego-Salas in Santiago on January 18, 1919, Orrego-Salas studied at the Cons ...

. While a student at the conservatory, Vargas began conducting choruses in Santiago. In 1956 he was appointed assistant conductor of the choir at the

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (''PUC or UC Chile'') ( es, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) is one of the six Catholic Universities existing in the Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical universities i ...

; an ensemble directed by Orrego-Salas. From 1955-1962 he taught on the music faculty at the Talagante Seminary. He then taught at the Gonzalez Academy, Santiago (1964–8) and the Valparaíso Naval School (music history, 1971), before returning to the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile as a professor of counterpoint and composition in 1972. He remained in this latter post until his death on April 8, 1988, in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

at the age of 63. Vargas won several prizes for his music compositions at festivals in his native country. He wrote several journal articles which were published in ''Revista musical chilena'' and ''La libertad''.

Partial list of works

Art songs

*''Cantos del hombre'', baritone and orchestra (1960; uses poems by

César Vallejo César Abraham Vallejo Mendoza (March 16, 1892 – April 15, 1938) was a Peruvian poet, writer, playwright, and journalist. Although he published only two books of poetry during his lifetime, he is considered one of the great poetic innovators ...

) *''Canciones para Georgeanne'', mezzo-soprano and piano (1972; uses poems by Hugo Montes)

Choral

*''Cantata de cámara'', soprano and alto soloists, SATB chorus, and orchestra (1954) *''Ecce sacerdos magnus'', TTBB chorus and organ (1961) *''Stabat mater'', soprano and alto soloists, treble chorus, and organ (1961) *''3 coros sacros'' (''Three Sacred Choruses), SATB chorus (1961) *''En el país de los dos rios'', tenor, baritone, and bass soloists; TTBB chorus; orchestra (1967)

Orchestral

*''Obertura para tiempos de adviento'' (1958) *''Meditation Symphony'' (1965)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Darwin 1925 births 1988 deaths Chilean composers Chilean male composers Academic staff of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile University of Chile alumni