Arístides Chavier Arévalo (3 September 1867 –1942) was a Puerto Rican pianist,

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

composer,

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

and music author from

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 ...

Early years and schooling

Chavier Arévalo was born in Ponce on 3 September 1867. In Ponce, he studied flute, but later abandoned it to focus on learning to play the piano. In 1884, when he was 17 years old, he traveled to New York, where he studied under pianist and composer Gonzalo Núñez and music master Frederick Doland, who taught him musical harmony. He quickly progressed in the development of his musical skills and in 1886 his parents sent him to study in France. He studied piano and music composition under

Georges Mathias Georges Amédée Saint-Clair Mathias (; 14 October 182614 October 1910) was a French composer, pianist and teacher. Alongside his teaching work, Georges Mathias was a very active concert pianist. Biography Mathias was born in Paris. He studied a ...

at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

and musical harmony and composition under

Antoine Taudou Antoine-Barthélémy Taudou (24 August 1846 – 6 July 1925) was a French music educator, violinist and composer. Life Born in Perpignan, Taudou studied at the Conservatoire de Paris and won the Premier Grand Prix de Rome in 1869 with the cantata ...

and Louis de Serres, who had trained with

César Franck César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was pa ...

. His onstage musical delivery met with positive reviews from the paper El Progresso and the magazine Le Courier des Etats Unis.

Professional debut

Immediately after completing his studies, Chavier Arévalo taught piano while in France. In 1892, he returned briefly to New York where he taught piano for a year but, as he could not take the weather there due to health reasons, he returned to Ponce in 1893. While in Ponce he arranged successful musical presentations of his students to the public. In 1904, he submitted a group of his musical compositions for piano and orchestra to the Universal Exposition that was being held that year in St. Louis, Missouri, from 30 April through 1 December, and these were awarded a Gold Medal. In 1914, Chavier organized a far-reaching Musical Competition that was sponsored by the Liga Progresista de Ponce and held in that city that same year. As a musician and music instructor, Chavier was admired by all as his technique was coherent and contained integrity. As a composer he created a vast library of compositions, mostly for piano and for string instruments. Unfortunately, most of his compositions were presented only in Ponce and were not internationalized. As a music critic and musicologist, Arístides Chavier published his essays in Puerto Rican papers of the times, and thanks to his fluency in French and English he translated many music writings from foreign publications into Spanish for the local public. While he did not dislike the then popular

danza Danza is a musical genre that originated in Ponce, a city in southern Puerto Rico. It is a popular turn-of-the-twentieth-century ballroom dance genre slightly similar to the waltz. Both the danza and its cousin the contradanza are sequence dan ...

, he felt it should not be the only musical expression of the people and thus most of his musical productions were of a classical and modernistic nature. He created compositions for piano with two and four hands versions, for military ensembles, for orchestras and for string instruments.

Outstanding works

Chavier composed many works for orchestra, band, piano and string instruments. Among Chavier Arévalo's highest achievements are ''Trío en mi bemol'' (Trio in B flat) for violin and cello, a ''Cuarteto en mi menor'' (Quartet in E minor) for two violins and a ''Quinteto en do menor'' (Quintet in C Minor). He also wrote ''Andante Cantabile Expresivo'', the ''Obertura Puerto Rico'' for orchestra and ''Variaciones'' for the piano. Chavier authored a music theory book entitled ''Siluetas Musicales'' published by Imprenta El Día in 1926 and the essay ''El arte musical puertorriqueño: su desarrollo y evolución hasta el presente'' (Puerto Rican Musical Art: its development and evolution until the present), published in "El Libro de Puerto Rico" by El Libro Azul Publishing, San Juan (Ed. Eugenio Fernández y García) in 1923. This was in addition to numerous articles on musical subjects, as well as compositions for local artists of pieces considered in the musical framework known as

Students

Among Chavier Arévalo's students was Luis A. Ferré, a concert-level pianist who would later become governor of Puerto Rico. Arístides himself was a student of Gonzalo de J. Núñez (1850–1915), whose students include the internationally-known musicians and composers

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 ...

and

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 fath ...

. Another pupil was Monserrate Ferrer.

Death and legacy

Arístides Chavier died in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 23 July 1942. Was buried at San José Cemetery in San Juan. He left over 80 compositions to the cultural enrichment of Puerto Ricans. Among his best known creations are ''“América, marcha triunfal en si bemol”'' (America: Triumphant March in B flat), ''“Aires de ballet en la menor”'' (Airs of Ballet in A minor), ''“Quinteto en do menor, para dos violines y dos pianos”'' (Quintet in C minor for two violins and two pianos) and ''“Marcha fúnebre en do menor”'' (Funeral March in C minor). * In Ponce there is a government housing development named after him, which was inaugurated in the late 1950s by governor

Luis Muñoz Marín José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín (February 18, 1898April 30, 1980) was a Puerto Rican journalist, politician, statesman and was the first elected governor of Puerto Rico, regarded as the "Architect of the Puerto Rico Commonwealth." In 1948 he ...

. See a photo of Muñoz Marín's housing inauguration and a picture of Arístides Chavier * In the

Río Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

district of San Juan there is a street named in his honor. * In Ponce, Chavier is recognized at the Park of the Illustrious Ponce Citizens.''Music.''
Travel Ponce.com. Retrieved 3 October 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chavier Arevalo, Aristides 1867 births 1942 deaths Puerto Rican composers Puerto Rican male composers Musicians from Ponce Conservatoire de Paris alumni