Alejandro García Caturla (7 March 1906 – 12 November 1940) 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 Caribb ...

n composer of

art music Art music (alternatively called classical music, cultivated music, serious music, and canonic music) is music considered to be of high phonoaesthetic value. It typically implies advanced structural and theoretical considerationsJacques Siron, ...

and creolized Cuban themes.

Biography

Caturla was born in the town of Remedios, Villa Clara, Cuba. With only sixteen years old, in 1922, he won a position as part of the section of the 2nd violins of the newly formed “Orquesta Sinfónica de La Habana”, where

Amadeo Roldán Amadeo Roldán y Gardes (Paris, 12 June 1900 – Havana, 7 March 1939) was a Cuban composer and violinist. Roldán was born in Paris to a Cuban mulatta and a Spanish father. It was his mother, the pianist Albertina Gardes, who initiated her ch ...

was the concertmaster. He started to write music since he was a teenager, while studying both music and law. He felt attracted to Afro-Cuban rhythms since he was really young, and this became a common denominator in his compositions in a time when the division between art music and popular music did not influence Cuban composers. From 1925 to 1927 he continued his musical studies in Paris as a student of

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 ...

. Together with composer Amadeo Roldán, Caturla became the leader of Afro-cubanismo, a nationalist musical trend, which mixed elements of white and black culture, incorporating Afro-Cuban songs, rhythms, and dances. Later on he used advanced techniques and French Impressionist styles combined with primitive tunes; as a result, some of his works show surprising juxtapositions of chords and moods. He composed Concierto de cámara, Obertura cubana, Danzas cubanas, and a suite for orchestra (1938). Many vocal works were inspired by Cuban poets such as Alejo Carpentier and Nicolás Guillén; other works include one string quartet (1927), Bembé, for fourteen instruments, and Primera suite cubana (1930) among others. He produced numerous piano works, among them Danza lucumí (1928) and Sonata (1939). After finishing his musical studies, Caturla returned to his home town, where he continued his composition career and started practicing law to provide for his growing family. His ''Tres Danzas Cubanas'' for symphony orchestra was first performed in Spain in 1929. ''Bembe'' premiered in Havana the same year. In 1932 he founded the Caibarien Concert Society, whose orchestra he conducted on many occasions, making known the music of Falla,

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 ...

and

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most infl ...

. His ''Obertura Cubana'' won first prize in a national contest in 1938. García Caturla was also a multi-instrumental performer and a baritone of some quality. García Caturla left two legacies: One as an universal musician who combined classical and folkloric themes with modern musical ideas through his compositions and knowledge of at least seven different instruments. His career paralleled with

’s, and the two men are considered pioneers of modern Cuban symphonic art. His other legacy is one of serving justice, first as an attorney and later as a judge. While presiding over a criminal case, García Caturla was murdered at thirty-four by the young gambler he was about to sentence to prison.On the record
''Sydney Morning Herald'' (17 October 2010).

Works

No quiere juego con tu marido (Danza cubana no. 1), 1924 La viciosa (Danza cubana no. 2), 1924 La número tres (Danza cubana no. 3), 1924 Cuentos musicales. Escanas infantiles, 1925 Danza del Tambor Danza Lucumí Tres Preludios, 1925 Tres danzas cubanas, 1927 Obertura cubana, 1928 Comparsa (a Fernando Ortiz), 1930 Preludio Homenaje a Changó, 1936 Berceuse para dormir a un negrito, 1937 Berceuse Campesina, 1938

References

External

* *Compilation of some of his work

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia Caturla, Alejandro 1906 births 1940 deaths People from Remedios, Cuba Cuban classical violinists Male classical violinists Cuban classical composers 20th-century classical composers Cuban judges 20th-century classical violinists Male classical composers 20th-century male musicians Assassinated judges Cuban murder victims Male murder victims People murdered in Cuba

Biography

Works

References

Further reading

External