3 tesoros de la memoria del mundo IMG 4067 (43927119084) (cropped)

Consuelo Velázquez Torres (August 21, 1916 in

Ciudad Guzmán Ciudad Guzmán (also known as simply Guzmán) is a city in the Mexican state of Jalisco. It is south of Guadalajara, at a height of above sea level. Its population totaled 97,750 in the 2010 census, ranking as the eighth-largest city in the st ...

Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal ...

– January 22, 2005, Mexico City), also popularly known as Consuelito Velázquez, was a Mexican concert

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and composer. She was the

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

of famous Mexican ballads such as "

Bésame mucho "Bésame Mucho" (; "Kiss Me A Lot") is a bolero song written in 1940 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez. It is one of the most popular songs of the 20th century and one of the most important songs in the history of Latin music. It was re ...

", "Amar y vivir", and " Cachito".

Beginning Years

Originally from Ciudad Guzmán, Mexico, she was the youngest of five daughters born to the soldier and poet Isaac Velázquez de Valle and his wife, María de Jesús Torres Ortíz. At four years old she started to demonstrate a good ear and an aptitude for music, and at barely six years old she began studying music and piano at the Académia de Música Serratos in Guadalajara. After several years of study, when she was eleven, she moved to Mexico City, where she continued her studies and obtained a degree in teaching music and concert piano at the National Conservatory of Music. Her first public concert was held in the

Palacio de Bellas Artes The Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) is a prominent cultural center in Mexico City. It has hosted notable events in music, dance, theatre, opera and literature in Mexico and has held important exhibitions of painting, sculpture and p ...

in the capital, and soon after she began as a composer of popular music. As a concert pianist, she was a soloist of Mexico's National Symphony Orchestra and of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

. As performing on the radio for a young woman of a wealthy family was risky, she used a male pseudonym in her first years. Mariano Rivera Conde, who was the

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since th ...

of the station, pushed her to admit she was the author of the songs. Velázquez married him six years later.

Composer

As a composer her legacy has been more well known. Her first compositions, "No me pidas nunca", "Pasional" and "Déjame quererte", were from the genre "naturaleza romántica", which emphasizes nature's beauty and strength. Later, songs like "

", "Amar y vivir", "Verdad Amarga", "Franqueza", "Chiqui", "Cachito", "Que seas feliz", "Enamorada", "Orgullosa y bonita" and "Yo no fui" (a danceable song initially popularized by

Pedro Infante Pedro Infante Cruz (; 18 November 1917 – 15 April 1957) was a Mexican ranchera music singer and actor, whose career spanned the golden age of Mexican cinema. His popularity spread across Latin America. Infante was born in Mazatlán, Sinalo ...

and, in recent years, by Pedro Fernández) emerged among others. Velázquez's work as an actress in the 1938 Argentinian movie ''Noches de Carnaval'' directed by filmmaker

Julio Saraceni Julio Saraceni (October 10, 1912 – October 12, 1998) was a prolific Argentina, Argentine film director whose career in the Cinema of Argentina as a movie director spanned six decades. He was an aviator as a young man, but later found a car ...

was unique for her career. As a pianist she was also involved in the Mexican movies directed by Julián Soler ''Se le pasó la mano'' made in 1952 and ''Mis padres se divorcian'' made in 1959. Additionally, she appeared in the documentary about her life, ''Consuelo Velázquez'', made in 1992. Throughout her life she composed music for several Mexican movies.

Bésame mucho

Her most well-known success is the iconic song "

", composed in the cuban music genre

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

, when she was only 16 years old. This is the piece that gained Velázquez the most recognition and brought the most pleasure to her. The song was created before Consuelo received her first kiss from someone she loves. After being recorded by the Spanish-Mexican baritone Emilio Tuero, in 1944 the famous American pianist and singer

Nat "King" Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

made the first adaptation of the song in English. From then on, it was interpreted and performed by hundreds of artists around the world, such as

Javier Solís Gabriel Siria Levario (4 September 1931 – 19 April 1966), known professionally as Javier Solís, was a Mexican singer and actor. He specialized in the musical genres of bolero and ranchera. Early life Gabriel Siria Levario was the first of ...

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, Sammy Davis Jr.,

Luis Mariano Luis Mariano Eusebio González García (13 August 1914 – 14 July 1970), also known as Luis Mariano, was a popular tenor of Spanish origin who achieved celebrity in 1946 with "La belle de Cadix" ("The Beautiful Lady of Cadix") an operetta by ...

(who popularized it France),

Dalida Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida, was an Italian-French singer and actress born in Egypt. She sang in eleven languages and sold millions of records internationally. Her best known son ...

, Sonora Santanera,

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and his Orchestra,

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and his Orchestra,

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, Zoé,

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and

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among others. "Bésame mucho" is also known as "Kiss Me Kiss Me Much", "Kiss Me a Lot", "Kiss Me Again and Again", "Embrasse-Moi" and "Stale Ma Boskavaj". Translated into more than 20 languages, the song has become an icon of popular music. Part of its great success in the United States was the contextualization of the song towards women who waited for their husbands during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Personal life

Years after the beginning of her career, Velázquez married the media owner and artist promoter Mariano Rivera Conde (died in 1977), and they had two sons, Mariano and Sergio Rivera Velázquez. In the period between 1979 and 1982 she was a part of the Chamber of Deputies of the Congress of the Union, which was her only contribution in politics of her country. She was winner of the National Prize for Science and Arts in the field of Popular Art and Traditions in 1989. Affected by cardiovascular sickness, Consuelo Velázquez died on January 22, 2005. Her body was moved to the

, the stage of her first show, in tribute to the known artists of the town. Her ashes later were buried in the Santo Tomas Moro church, where she went every Sunday for mass. As her last artistic contribution, she performed piano in the most recent album of the Mexican singer Cecilia Toussaint titled ''Para mi... Consuelo'', which contains songs by Velázquez. In 1977 the concert pianist also received the Award of Peace of the United Nations, together with her colleague the teacher Ramon Inclan Aguilar and the journalist and singer Wilbert Alonzo Cabrera, Lola Beltrán and Maria Medina. This award was presented to them by the General Clerk of the ONU due to this artistic participation and organization of a lavish Mexican festival for the "día del personal" of the United Nations, a day that celebrates the contributions of people in uniform and civilians to the work of the organization. Recently, it has been discovered that the composer left seven unedited songs in her last wishes, among them "Donde siempre" (dedicated to Cecilia Toussaint), "Mi bello Mazatlán" (that the

Banda El Recodo Banda Sinaloense El Recodo de Cruz Lizárraga, often referred to simply as Banda El Recodo, is a Mexican banda formed in Mazatlán, Sinaloa in 1938; it has been under the direction of the Lizárraga family. Banda El Recodo has recorded with popu ...

will record) and "Por el camino", that Velázquez left to the Mexican singer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Velazquez, Consuelo 1916 births 2005 deaths Mexican women composers Mexican composers Latin music songwriters 20th-century women musicians 20th-century Mexican musicians Women in Latin music People from Ciudad Guzmán, Jalisco