Juan Bautista Plaza Alfonso ( Caracas,

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

June 19, 1898 – 1965) was a classical composer. He began studies in

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at the

Central University of Venezuela The Central University of Venezuela (Spanish: ''Universidad Central de Venezuela''; UCV) is a public university of Venezuela located in Caracas. It is widely held to be the highest ranking institution in the country, and it also ranks 18th in ...

but, with time, left in order to dedicate himself to music. His first teacher was Jesus Maria Suárez. He studied in

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from 1920 and 1923 and obtained the title of professor of ''sagrada'' (sacred) composition. After his return to Venezuela he was named Master of Chapel at

Caracas Cathedral The Caracas Cathedral or Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Anne is the seat of the Roman Catholic Metropolitan archdiocese of Caracas, located on the Plaza Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela. Its chapel of the Holy Trinity is the burial site of the pa ...

and carried out this position until the year 1948. In the Caracas Superior Music School he taught

music history Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view. In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history o ...

and appreciation to composer Antonio Lauro and singer

Morella Muñoz Morella Valarino Muñoz (July 29, 1935 – July 15, 1995), was a celebrated Venezuelan mezzo-soprano. She performed as a child under the pseudonym Morella Kenton, and as an adult as Morella Muñoz. She achieved national and international fame ...

Legacy

The most important compositions of Juan Bautista Plaza were ''El picacho abrupto'', ''Poema Sinfónico'', ''Cantata de Navidad'', ''Las campanas de Pascua'', ''Las horas'', ''La fuente abandonada'', ''soprano y orquesta'', ''Poema lírico Vigilia'', , , and . He also wrote notable

religious music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Relig ...

(e.g., ''Misa en fa'', , ) and music for the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

(e.g., ''Sonatina venezolana'', ''Cuatro ritmos de danza''). His popular song El Curruchá is a well-known example of

joropo The joropo is a musical style resembling the fandango, and an accompanying dance. It originated in Venezuela and is also present in the eastern Colombian plains. It has African, Native South American, and European influences. There are diffe ...

. Plaza's pupils include Alba Quintanilla. The

National Library of Venezuela The Biblioteca Nacional de Venezuela (in English: ''National Library of Venezuela''), located in Caracas, is the legal deposit and copyright for Venezuela. It was established on July 13, 1833, by decree of General José Antonio Páez. Diego Baut ...

, has a room named after him.

References

Juan Bautista Plaza
''- Venezuelatuya.com'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Plaza, Juan Bautista 1898 births 1965 deaths Venezuelan classical musicians Venezuelan composers Male composers People from Caracas Central University of Venezuela alumni 20th-century composers 20th-century male musicians

Legacy

See also

References