Julián Orbón de Soto (August 7, 1925,
Avilés,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
– May 21, 1991,
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
was a
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
n composer who lived and composed in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
,
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 ...
, and the
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
.
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 ...
referred to Orbón as "Cuba's most gifted composer of the new generation."
Life
Family and early years
Julián Orbón was born on August 7, 1925, in
Avilés, Spain, to Benjamín Orbón. Julián Orbón was exposed to music at a very early age because his father, Benjamín, was a composer and pianist. In 1932, Julián Orbón began taking piano lessons and basic music lessons from his father. At the age of ten, Julián Orbón attended the
Oviedo Conservatory, where he received his first formal training.
In 1938, the Orbón family moved 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. , Cuba. Here Orbón continued his musical training in piano under his father and his training in composition under
José Ardévol, a Cuban composer and conductor. While teaching at the Havana Conservatory, Ardévol co-founded a Cuban school of composers with Orbón, called ''Grupo de renovación musical'', including many of Ardévol's students. The members of this group included musicians Serafín Pro, Edgardo Martín, Argeliers León, Harold Gramatges, Hilario González, Dolores Torres Barrós, and Juan Antonio Cámara. This group was established to promote new Cuban music. While in Havana, Orbón's father also co-founded the Orbón Conservatory.
Musical training and career
When his father died in 1944, Julián Orbón took over as director of the Orbón Conservatory. A year later, he won a scholarship to study composition with Aaron Copland at the
Berkshire Music Center at
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 ...
in
Lenox, Massachusetts. After studying with Copland for about a year, Orbón returned to Havana to continue his position as director at the Orbón Conservatory. He did not stay long, however, because the
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...
began in 1953. In the wake of this revolution, Orbón permanently left Cuba and moved to
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
in 1960.
While in Mexico City, until 1963 Orbón taught composition alongside
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 ...
, a famous Mexican composer, conductor, and educator, at the Taller de Composición of the National Conservatory of Music. In 1964 Orbón moved to the United States to teach composition at
Lenox College,
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
,
Barnard College
Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...
, and the Hispanic Institute of
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. He settled and lived in New York City the rest of his life.
Later years
Julián Orbón died of cancer at the age of 65 at
Mount Sinai Medical Center
Mount Sinai Hospital, formerly at times known as Mount Sinai Medical Center, is a 319-bed major urban hospital in Chicago, Illinois, with its main campus located adjacent to Douglass Park at 15th Street and California Avenue on the city's West Sid ...
in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
, Florida. Orbón's sister, Ana Abril; wife, Mercedes; two sons, Andres and Julían; and two grandchildren are still alive.
Music and accomplishments
Musical style
Julián Orbón created compositions that combined Spanish and Cuban styles and traits,
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek (language), Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed ma ...
qualities, and African music styles. His early style was influenced by composers such as
Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla y Matheu (, 23 November 187614 November 1946) was an Andalusian Spanish composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Francisco Tárrega, and Enrique Granados, he was one of Spain's most important musicians of the first ...
,
Rodolfo Halffter
Rodolfo Halffter Escriche (October 20, 1900 – October 14, 1987) was a Spanish composer.
Early years
Born in Madrid, Spain, into a family of musicians, Rodolfo Halffter was the brother of Ernesto Halffter and uncle of Cristóbal Halffter, also c ...
, and
Ernesto Halffter
Ernesto Halffter Escriche (16 January 19055 July 1989) was a Spanish composer and conductor. He was the brother of Rodolfo Halffter and part of the ''Grupo de los Ocho'' ( en, Group of Eight), which formed a sub-set of the ''Generation of '27'' ...
, who used a Spanish neoclassic style in their compositions. Orbón's works such as ''Suite de Siete Canciones de Juan del Encina'' and ''Homenaje a la Tonadilla'' clearly illustrate this Spanish neoclassic style. Other characteristics of Orbón's works include strong rhythmic activity and intense though straightforward expression. This strong rhythmic activity and intense and straightforward expression is a large part in Orbón's ''Preludio y danza'' for solo guitar depicted below.
Later Orbón was greatly influenced by Copland, Chávez, and Villa-Lobos because of his close friendships with them. Through these different influences, Orbón began to gradually compose pieces without the influence of the Spanish neoclassic style. His later style became more romantic and expressive, stemming from his sadness caused by having to leave Cuba.
Reception
Julián Orbón had many fellow musicians and composers who supported him and his music.
Eduardo Mata
Eduardo Mata (5 September 19425 January 1995) was a Mexican conductor and composer.
Career
Mata was born in Mexico City. He studied guitar privately for three years before enrolling in the National Conservatory of Music. From 1960 to 1963 he ...
, a Mexican conductor and composer, and
Julio Estrada, a Mexican composer and historian, both praised Orbón's compositions, which helped spread positive opinions about Orbón throughout Latin America. Both Mata and Estrada were students of Orbón when he was teaching alongside Chávez in Mexico City. Aaron Copland was also a supporter of Orbón. However, much of Orbón’s music is unknown today, and little is performed in Cuba.
Awards
Julián Orbón won many awards for his compositions over his lifetime. Orbón won the
Juan Landaeta Prize in 1954 at the
First Caracas Latinamerican Musical Festival in
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 ...
for his ''Tres versiones sinfónicas''. Orbón also received many grants in order to compose. In 1958, he received a grant from the
Koussevitzky Foundation
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 Koussevi ...
, that he used to compose ''Concerto grosso'', one of his best-received compositions. In 1959 and 1969, Orbón received
Guggenheim Fellowships, American grants awarded to citizens of the United States,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
, and the
Caribbean "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." He also received an award in 1967 from the
American Academy of Arts and Letters
The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...
.
[Baker's]
Works
Julián Orbón composed many types of works, including orchestral, vocal, instrumental, and chamber music. Orbón also adapted the words for the piece "
Guantanamera
"Guantanamera" (; Spanish: (the woman) from Guantánamo) is perhaps the best-known Cuban song and that country's most-noted patriotic song, especially when using a poem by the Cuban poet José Martí for the lyrics. The official writing credi ...
" from a poem by
José Martí
José Julián Martí Pérez (; January 28, 1853 – May 19, 1895) was a Cuban nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in the libera ...
, a poet who is considered to be one of the greatest Latin American intellectuals and who dedicated his life to the independence of Cuba. "Guantanamera" is Cuba's best-known song.
José Fernandez Diaz wrote the original melody for this piece.
Orchestral
*Symphony in C (1945)
*Homenaje a la Tonadilla (1947)
*Tres versiones sinfónicas (1953)
*Danzas sinfónicas (1955)
*Concerto Grosso (1958)
*Partitas No. 3 (1965-1966)
*Partitas No. 4 (1982-1985)
Choral
*Crucifixus (1953)
*Introito (1967-1968)
*Canciones folklóricas (1970-1972)
*Liturgia de tres días (1975)
Solo vocal
*Pregón (1943)
*Himnus ad galli cantum (1956)
*3 cantigas del rey (1960)
*Libro de cantares (1987)
Chamber and solo instrument
*Homaje a Padre Soler (1942)
*Toccata (1943)
*Clarinet Quintet (1944)
*Preludio y danza (1950-1951)
*String Quartet (1951)
*Partita no. 1 (1963)
*Partita no. 2 (1964)
*Preludio y fantasia tiento (1974)
Notes
References
*''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians''. S.v. "Julián Orbón."
*Blau, Eleanor. "Julián Orbón, 65; Cuban Composer, Pianist and Critic." ''The New York Times'' (May 23, 1991).
*''Naxos'', S.v. "Julián Orbón." http://www.naxos.com/person/Julian_Orbon/25613.htm (accessed Oct. 6, 2012).
*
*
Villanueva,Mariana. "El latido de la ausencia".Mexico, Itaca-UNAM,2014
Further reading
*
*Fernandaz Bonilla, Raimundo. "Diálogo con Julián Orbón." ''Exilio: Revista de humanidades'' 5, no. 13 (Summer 1969).
*Godell, Tom. "Guide to Records: Orbón- Symphonic Dances; Concerto Grosso; 3 Symphonic Versions." ''American Record Guide'' 67, no. 5 (Sep. 2004).
*Hecht, Roger. "Falla: 'La Vida Breve', and Other Works, with Selections from Julián Orbón." ''American Record Guide'' 68, no. 2 (Mar. 2005).
*Lima, José Lezama. "Una carta a Julián Orbón en la muerte de Heitor Villa-Lobos." ''Pauta: Cuadernos de teroría y crítica musical'' 6, no. 22 (Apr.-June 1987).
*Rickards, Guy. "The Gramophone Collection: Music from Latin America." ''Gramophone'' 77 (Feb. 2000).
*
External links
Peermusic Classical: Julian OrbonComposer's Publisher and Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orbon, Julian
1925 births
1991 deaths
People from Avilés
National Conservatory of Music of Mexico faculty
Spanish composers
Spanish male composers
Cuban composers
Male composers
Cuban people of Asturian descent
University of Washington faculty
University of Miami faculty
Princeton University faculty
20th-century composers
20th-century Spanish musicians
20th-century Spanish male musicians
Spanish emigrants to Cuba
Cuban emigrants to the United States
Cuban expatriates in Mexico
Cuban male musicians