Héctor Campos Parsi (October 1, 1922 – January 30, 1998) was a Puerto Rican composer. He studied at the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on Hu ...

with

Francis Judd Cooke Francis Judd Cooke (December 28, 1910 – May 18, 1995) was an American composer, organist, cellist, pianist, conductor, choir director, and professor. Life Cooke was born December 28, 1910 in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a family of New England mi ...

, he also studied with

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...

. In

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the T ...

he studied with

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...

and

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

and in France with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

Early years

Héctor Campos Parsi was born in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

. His father was José Miguel Campos and his mother was Elisa Parsi Bernard.Jose Montalvo Doctoral Dissertation.
/ref> He only had one sibling, a sister, Mercedes Campos Parsi. He graduated from the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

with a bachelor's degree in humanities. He then enrolled at the

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México 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 ...

pursuing a degree in medicine, but discontinued his training there for health reasons. Subsequently, he completed a master's degree in humanities at the " Centro de Estudios Superiores de Puerto Rico y el Caribe", for which he wrote a

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

titled ''Unos bailan y otros lloran'' (Some dance and others cry).''Biografias: Hector Campos Parsi.'' (''In Spanish'')
Retrieved May 19, 2010.

Musical training

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

he met composer

Carlos Chávez Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez (13 June 1899 – 2 August 1978) was a Mexican composer, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influenced by nativ ...

. On a scholarship from the Puerto Rico Department of Public Instruction, Campos Parsi studied at the New England Conservatory in Boston. During the summers of 1949 and 1950 he trained with various composers including Aaron Copland and

Serge Koussevitzky Sergei Alexandrovich KoussevitzkyKoussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling "Serge", using it in his signature. (SeThe Koussevit ...

, and between 1950 and 1954 Campos Parsi studied with Hindemith at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and with Nadia Boulanger in Paris.

Writer

Campos Parsi wrote articles for several newspapers including '' El Mundo'', ''El País'', ''

El Imparcial ''El Imparcial'', founded in 1918, was a newspaper in Puerto Rico. It circulated daily, except Sundays./ ''About El Imparcial. (San Juan, P.R.) 1918-197?.''] United States Library of Congress. Retrieved 26 July 2012. Its complete name was ''El I ...

'', and '' El Nuevo Día, El Día'' in the 1940s. He also contributed short stories, essays, and poems to two weekly magazines, ''Puerto Rico Ilustrado'' and ''Alma Latina''. The essays included recital and movie reviews, social announcements, and publicity for various student organizations. He also contributed articles for

The San Juan Star ''The San Juan Star'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper was originally published by Star Media Network, a subdivision of San Juan Star, Inc. History The newspaper was f ...

, The Puerto Rico World Journal, and ''La Torre'', a magazine that he headed himself. He also published essays on Puerto Rican music in ''Clasicos de Puerto Rico'', ''La Gran Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico'', and ''Puerto Rico A-Zeta'' (literally, Puerto Rico from A to Z).

Death

Héctor Campos Parsi died in

Cayey, Puerto Rico Cayey (), officially Cayey de Muesas, is a mountain town and municipality in central Puerto Rico located on the Sierra de Cayey within the Central Mountain range, north of Salinas and Guayama; south of Cidra and Caguas; east of Aibonito and Sa ...

at the age of 75. He was buried at Buxeda Memorial Park in

Río Piedras, Puerto Rico Río Piedras is a populous district of San Juan, and former town and municipality of Puerto Rico, which was merged with the municipality of San Juan in 1951. The district today is composed of various '' barrios'' (these are the primary legal div ...

Compositions

Campos Parsi's major works include ''Divertimento del Sur'' for string orchestra with flute and clarinet solos, and the piano work Sonata in G, dedicated to pianist

Jesús María Sanromá Jesús María Sanromá (November 7, 1902 – October 12, 1984) was a Puerto Rican pianist who is one of the 20th century's most accomplished and important pianists. In 1932 he gave the first North American performance of Maurice Ravel's Concerto ...

. Campos Parsi composed works for orchestra and voice, orchestra and piano, orchestra and choir, cords, wind instruments, piano, violin and piano, voice, organ, and choir. Among Campos Parsi's last compositions for orchestra were: *''in the Music-for-Camera genre:'' **''Variaciones sobre un tema de Mozart (Variations on a Theme from Mozart) **''Turey-areyto'' **''Imágenes del encuentro'' (Images of the Rendezvous) *''in the Music for four solos and piano genre:'' **''Los Sonetos Sagrados'' (Sacret Sonnets) **''El Libro de Matilde'' (The Book of Matilde) *''in the Music for Grand Orchestra genre:'' **''La Calinda'' (a ballet) *''in the theatre genre he composed:'' **''Los Hechos Desconocidos'' (The Unknown Facts - a series of 10

vignettes Vignette may refer to: * Vignette (entertainment), a sketch in a sketch comedy * Vignette (graphic design), decorative designs in books (originally in the form of leaves and vines) to separate sections or chapters * Vignette (literature), short, i ...

) **''Laboratorio de Ideas'' (Laboratory of Ideas) **''Una Sonrisa en la Isla'' (A Smile in the Island) **''Tiempo, sueño y espacio'' (Time, Sleep, and Space - a mixed work of electronic music) For the theater he also composed the incidental music for both

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, and

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...

. The oldest written composition by Campos Parsi that is preserved is a

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

in popular Latin American style. The title page was written by hand with very artistic

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

. It is dated June 13, 1941, and bears the title "Elisa." It is dedicated "to my beloved mother", and the cover has an interesting photograph of the composer and his mother in front of their house in Santurce. The style of this waltz is very similar to the popular Latin waltzes of the time. Divided into short sections that are repeated, its melodic lines have a songlike quality. This work demonstrates that Campos Parsi's notational technique at this time was rather poor. However, despite problems with the use and cancellation of accidentals, and the rather stiff pianistic writing, the music contains some interesting harmonic ideas and compelling melodies.

Awards and honors

In 1954 he received the

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

award for his ''Sonata para violin y piano'' (Sonnet for violin and piano), a first-prize award in a competition presented by WIPR as well as other awards given by the

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...

and the

Ateneo Puertorriqueño The Ateneo Puertorriqueño (Puerto Rican Athenaeum), is a cultural institution in Puerto Rico. Founded on April 30, 1876, it has been called Puerto Rico's oldest cultural institution, however, it is actually its third oldest overall and second c ...

. Between 1956 and 1957 he continued his studies in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

with Copland and then returned to Puerto Rico. Campos Parsi undertook an intense cultural promotional work as advisor to the Administration for the Advancement of the Arts and Culture and as director of the IberoAmerican Center of Musical Documentation of the Cayey University College. He was resident composer for the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey, and member of the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of the prestigious ''Fundación para las Humanidades'' (Foundation for the Humanities).

References

Diaz Diaz, Edgardo. “Puerto Rican Affirmation and Denials of Musical Nationalism: the cases of Hector Campos Parsi and Rafael Aponte Ledeé,” in Latin American Music Review. 17/1, Spring/Summer 1996, pp. 1–20 Montalvo, José A. Héctor Campos Parsi His Life and Music: A Biographical Study with an Analysis of Four Selected Works. New York: New York School of Education, Health, Nursing and Arts Professions, 1992. Biography on Hector Campo-Parsi made by Jose Montalvo Jump up ^ Jose Montalvo Doctoral Dissertation. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Biografias: Hector Campos Parsi. (In Spanish) Retrieved May 19, 2010.

External links

A biographical sketch on Héctor Campos Parsi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campos Parsi, Hector 20th-century classical composers Puerto Rican composers Puerto Rican male composers 1922 births 1998 deaths Musicians from Ponce Male classical composers National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni University of Puerto Rico alumni 20th-century American male musicians