Francisco Flores del Campo (February 16, 1907 – December 11, 1993), also known as Pancho Flores, was a Chilean composer, instrumentalist and actor, considered one of the most relevant composers of popular music in the country. He won the folk competition of the
Viña del Mar International Song Festival in 1964 with the tune "Qué bonita va", performed by
Los Huasos Quincheros.
Biography
Flores del Campo was born in the rural locality of Antonio Varas, in the outskirts of Santiago. He began his musical apprenticeship in 1923, when he began to study singing with
Claudio Massuetto. In 1929 he obtained a scholarship from the Municipality of
Viña del Mar
Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a city and commune on central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located within the Valparaíso Region, and it is Chile's fourth largest city w ...
to study in the United States, where he lived for eight years. There, he began a film career, acting in a minor role in the film ''
El día que me quieras'', alongside
Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel (born Charles Romuald Gardès; 11 December 1890 – 24 June 1935) was a French-born Argentine singer, songwriter, composer and actor, and the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was one of the most influential inte ...
. At the same time, he performed in various hotels and nightclubs in New York and Los Angeles. With these experiences he returned to Chile in 1939, starring in one of the first national film productions, ''
Romance de medio centenario'' (
Chile Films
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 ...
), and later artistic director of the
Municipal Casino of Viña del Mar.
A sore throat prevented him from keep singing, but this allowed him to focus on musical composition, in which he was prolific. Of the 150 registered works he penned, many of them have been successfully recorded by Chilean and foreign artists.
One of his best-known works is the musicalization of the work ''
La pergola de las flores'' by the Chilean author
Isidora Aguirre, a musical comedy released in 1960, and set in Santiago in the late 1920s.
Flores del Campo composed the music in function of the rhythms in vogue of those years, adding to it melodies from Chilean folk music. In this way, he incorporated rhythms such as
charleston
Charleston most commonly refers to:
* Charleston, South Carolina
* Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital
* Charleston (dance)
Charleston may also refer to:
Places Australia
* Charleston, South Australia
Canada
* Charleston, Newfoundlan ...
, waltz ("Yo vengo de San Rosendo" or "Campo lindo"),
cueca
Cueca () is a family of musical styles and associated dances from Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. In Chile, the cueca holds the status of national dance, where it was officially declared as such by the Pinochet dictatorship on September 18, 1979 ...
s ("La revolta"),
tango-
habanera ("Je suis Pierre") and
tonada The ''tonada'' is a folk music style of Spain and some countries of Hispanic America (mainly Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Venezuela). In nowadays Spain, the traditional sung piece known as ''tonada'' is considered as having been originated in ...
("Tonada de medianoche").
Death
Flores del Campo died on December 11, 1993, in Santiago, of a heart attack. His health was already debilitated after having throat cancer diagnosed the year before.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flores del Campo, Francisco
Chilean composers
20th-century Chilean male actors
1907 births
1993 deaths