Federico Smith (Frederick Anthony Smith,

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, 1929 –

Matanzas Matanzas (Cuban ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas (Spanish ''Bahia de Matanzas''), east ...

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, 1977) was a Cuban composer from

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origin.

Biography

Composer and professor Federico Smith was born in

on March 2, 1929.Orovio, Helio: Cuban music from A to Z, Duke University Press, Durham, U. S., 2004, p. 202 Smith began his musical studies in his country, and in 1950 travelled to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

where he lived for the next 12 years. There, Smith continued his studies and contributed as a music critic to the "Política" magazine, an important leftist Mexican publication. That participation suggests an ideological tendency that had already manifested in his involvement with American communist organizations and his studies of Marxist philosophy.González Moreno, Liliana: Federico Smith: Cosmopolitismo y vanguardia, Ediciones CIDMUC, Calle G, no. 505, entre 21 y 23, Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución, Cuba In 1962, Federico Smith travelled to

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, invited by renowned Mexican artist and director

Alfonso Arau Alfonso Arau Incháustegui (born 11 January 1932) is a Mexican filmmaker, actor, and singer. He worked as an actor and director in both Mexican and Hollywood productions for over 40 years, before his international breakthrough with the 1992 fil ...

with the purpose of collaborating in the reorganization project of the "Teatro Musical de La Habana", and in

he stayed until his decease in 1977. The purpose of the "Teatro Musical de La Habana" project was to create a presentation that may include pantomime, dance, song and music hall performance, based on a popular style and inspired by de English vaudeville, that was closely related to the musical comedy. Smith's tasks included from the composition of musical shows to the actors training. Due to his professional prowess and deep knowledge of mathematics, art, politics and other academic disciplines, Federico Smith was considered a brilliant intellectual with hints of genius during his lifetime; but his professional career, that included musical composition, pedagogy and musical criticism, was negatively influenced by a noticeable addiction to alcohol and tobacco that most probable caused his early decease. Smith lived almost six years in the

province, from mid-1971 until his passing in 1977; and in that city he developed an outstanding professional and creative activity as a composer, professor and conductor. Maestro Smith founded an organization in

called Siglo XX, with the purpose of "promoting the music of our times and all times; especially the Cuban and Latin-American music". Among the activities developed by that cultural organization we should mention the first performance in Cuba of the "Six metamorphoses after Ovid" by

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

, and the interpretation of L'histoire du soldat from

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

. The decease of Federico Smith occurred in total isolation, when he was just 48 years old, probably induced by an untreated bronchial pneumonia; although it is also possible that it would be related to a marked physical decay produced by alcoholism.

Academic background

According to a concert program from the group "Nueva Música de México" (New Music of Mexico), Federico Smith began his musical training in the city of

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. He also declared in an employment form to have concluded three years of University training in 1949. In a composer's biography preserved by the Cuban "Casa de las Américas", some piano courses with professor Klaus Goetzer are mentioned. Federico Smith travelled to

in 1950, a country where he was going to live during the next 12 years; between the D. F. and the Michoacan State. In 1951, Smith entered the "Conservatorio Nacional de Música" of

, where he underwent and concluded studies of musical composition and was an active member of the Students Society. There he found in Carlos Jiménez Mabarack a valuable educator committed to the youngest generations. Several records indicate that he received training in composition and counterpoint from

Blas Galindo Blas Galindo Dimas (February 3, 1910 – April 19, 1993) was a Mexican composer. Biography Born in San Gabriel, Jalisco, Galindo studied intermittently from 1931 to 1944 at the National Conservatory in Mexico City, studying with Carlos Chávez ...

, analysis from Rodolfo Halfter and instrumentation from

José Pablo Moncayo José Pablo Moncayo García (June 29, 1912 – June 16, 1958) was a Mexican pianist, percussionist, music teacher, composer and conductor. "As composer, José Pablo Moncayo represents one of the most important legacies of the Mexican nationalis ...

Professor

Smith worked as professor of harmony, musical analysis, music history and composition at the

National Art Schools (Cuba) The National Art Schools (Escuelas Nacionales de Arte) of Cuba is one of the most important educational institutions of the Cuban nation and has been declared as "National Monument". Cuba's National Art Schools (Escuelas Nacionales de Arte, now k ...

, from 1963 to 1966, and there he served as guide and support to many young musicians that, at a later time, were going to be excellent professionals. His interest for the utilization of mathematic models in analysis and musical composition exerted an important influence in the development of composition techniques such as

aleatorism Aleatoricism or aleatorism, the noun associated with the adjectival aleatory and aleatoric, is a term popularised by the musical composer Pierre Boulez, but also Witold Lutosławski and Franco Evangelisti, for compositions resulting from "action ...

stochastic Stochastic (, ) refers to the property of being well described by a random probability distribution. Although stochasticity and randomness are distinct in that the former refers to a modeling approach and the latter refers to phenomena themselv ...

and

electro-acoustic music Electroacoustic music is a genre of popular and Western art music in which composers use technology to manipulate the timbres of acoustic sounds, sometimes by using audio signal processing, such as reverb or harmonizing, on acoustical instrumen ...

. At a later time, between 1969 and 1972, Smith took part in the group of professors that imparted substantial knowledge to the members of a group called "Experimental Sound Group" (GESI) at the Cuban film institute ICAIC.

Composer

Federico Smith composed numerous works for concerts, radio, TV and cinema; which were characterized by their innovative and experimental style, and in 1966, he collaborated as an arranger and composer with the

Cuban Institute of Radio and Television The Cuban Institute of Radio and Television ( es, Instituto Cubano de Radio y Televisión; ICRT) is the government agency responsible for the control of radio and television broadcasters in Cuba. History Cuba was one of the first countries in ...

(ICRT).

Other activities

During his stay in Mexico, Federico Smith worked as composer, professor and promoter of the Escuela de Danza (Dance School) of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes. He also participated in the group "Nueva música de México" (New music from Mexico) and lived with the indigenous communities of the Sierra

Purépecha The Purépecha (endonym pua, P'urhepecha ) are a group of indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of Michoacán, Mexico, mainly in the area of the cities of Cherán and Pátzcuaro. They are also known by the pejorative "Tarascan ...

, in the Michoacan State, where he developed important ethnological studies. He also collaborated as music critic for the "Política" magazine, between December 1960 and 1962; and took Mathematics classes at the "Universidad Autónoma de México" (

UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

Awards

Federico Smith received the following awards at the "26 de Julio" National Composition Awards Contest: * 1969 – Sympbonic Music Award: Música para dos saxofones y orquesta * 1971 – Chamber Music Award: Música para orquesta No. 3 * 1973 – Choral Music Award: Versos sencillos * 1975 – Symphonic Music Award: Matanzas 281 * 1976 – Symphonic Music Award: Carta abierta * 1976 – Chamber Music Mention: Quinteto

Partial list of works

* Music for the show ¡Oh, la gente! * Trio - oboe, guitar y percussion * "Música para dos saxofones y orquesta" * Concierto - oboe and string quartet * Carta abierta – Sting orchestra and narrator. Musicalization of the "Versos sencillos" of José Martí. Mixed Choir. * Bicinia – two bassoons * Matanzas 281 – Homage to the 281 Anniversary of the City of Matanzas foundation – 1974 – Symphony orchestra, band, mixed choir, 4 narrators, batá drums and electro-acoustics.BnF Catalogue Général: Notice bibliografique: Titre conventionnel: Matanzas 281: Auteur(s) Federico Smith: https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb38279284

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Federico 1977 deaths Male classical composers Cuban classical composers Cuban composers Male composers 1929 births 20th-century male musicians Cuban male musicians