Rafael Alers (October 16, 1903 – March 20, 1978) was a musician, composer, bandleader and the first Puerto Rican to compose the music score for a

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

feature film.

Early years

Alers (birth name: Rafael Alers Gerena ) was born in the city of

Aguadilla, Puerto Rico Aguadilla (, ), founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a city and municipality located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of Aguada, and Moca and west of Isabela. Aguadilla is s ...

, to Don Ignacio Alers and Doña Anita Gerena. He received his primary and secondary education in his hometown. The love that he developed for the Puerto Rican

Danzas DHL Global Forwarding, formerly known as DHL Danzas Air & Ocean, is a division of Deutsche Post DHL providing air and ocean freight forwarding services. It also plans and undertakes major logistics projects under the brand name DHL Industrial P ...

came about at a young age because of the influence which he received from his musically inclined family. He received his first musical instructions from the maestro Juan F. Acosta. With Acosta he learned to play the

euphonium The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3 or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word ''euphōnos'', meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced" ( ''eu'' means "well" ...

, a wind instrument which is essential in the execution of the danza. He also learned to play the

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

and

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

.Music of Puerto Rico
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Musical career

Upon finishing his musical instruction, Alers went to play for various national and international bands and Symphony Orchestras. Eventually, he formed his own band and recorded the Puerto Rican danzas composed by

Juan Morel Campos Juan Morel Campos (16 May 1857 – 12 May 1896), sometimes erroneously spelled ''Juan Morell Campos'', was a Puerto Rican composer, considered by many to be responsible for taking the genre of danza to its highest level. He composed over ...

Manuel Gregorio Tavárez Manuel Gregorio Tavárez Ropero (November 16, 1843 – July 1, 1883), was Puerto Rico's classical and danza composer. He has been called "The Chopin of America". Early years Tavárez was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the son of a French father ...

and

Ángel Mislan Ángel Mislan (March 1, 1862 – February 1, 1911) was a composer of Puerto Rican Danzas. Early years Mislan (birth name: Ángel Mislan Huertas) was born in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico where he was raised and educated. The small town is loc ...

. In 1933, Alers was the conductor of Carmelo Díaz Soler's Orchestra, which had a daily segment in a radio program. Alers took charge of the orchestra upon the death of Díaz Soler and in 1935 he felt the inspiration to compose a danza. He composed what was to become his greatest danza and named it "''Violeta''" and the following day he played it on the radio. The public's acceptance and demand for the danza was so great that the radio station started a "Write the Lyrics to the Danza" contest. They were looking for the right lyrics to go with the musical melody of the danza. The lyrics written by Antonio Cruz Nieves, from the town of Cataño, was selected as the winner. Alers married Catalina Roldán and had four sons (the eldest now deceased) and three daughters. "Violeta", which was the title of his danza, was officially dedicated to his youngest daughter.

8 Danzones from Puerto Rico

One of the recordings by Rafael Alers was: 8 Danzones from Puerto Rico. *"Conversación", 3:12 *"Delia y Belén", 3:03 *"El Torbellino", 3:08 *"Estrella de Borinquen", 3:16 *"

La Borinqueña "" (from the native name of Puerto Rico, ''Borinquen'' or ''Boriquen''), ) is the official anthem of Puerto Rico. After Puerto Rico became known as "The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico" in 1952, the first elected governor, Luis Muñoz Marín, sig ...

", 2:27 *"No me toques", 3:17 *"Recuerdos", 3:15 *"Sara", 2:38

Later years

Alers was named conductor of the

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

band of 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 ...

, which in 1946 included a young man by the name of Julito Rodríguez, who was to become a professional musician himself. Alers became the first Puerto Rican to compose the music score for a Hollywood movie when he was hired for such a task for the 1956 movie "'' Crowded Paradise''", directed by Fred Pressburger.IMDB
/ref> Many of his recordings were released in 1960, in a set of three volumes, titled "''Rafael Alers: Danzas''". Rafael Alers died on March 20, 1978, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His compositions have been recorded by many artists, including the singer

Julita Ross Julita Ross (March 21, 1919 – June 29, 1981) was a singer of Puerto Rican danzas, also known as "The Great Lady of the Danzas". Early years Ross was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Her parents Ramon and Clemencia moved to the Santurce sec ...

. In 2003, a collection of Rafael's recordings was released under the title: "''Rafael Alers y su Orchestra, Danzas Vol.1''".

Notes

References