José Ignacio Quintón (February 1, 1881 – December 19, 1925) was a Puerto Rican

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 of

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Early years

Quintón was born in

Caguas, Puerto Rico Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, and east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey. Caguas was found ...

, into a musically talented family. His father, a

Frenchman The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France. The French people, especially th ...

by the name of Juan Bautista Quintón y Luzón, was a graduate of the Conservatory of Music of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. The elder Quintón was also a composer and

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...

who became his son's first music teacher. When Quintón was two years old his family moved to the town of

Coamo Coamo (, ) is a town and municipality founded in 1579 in the south-central region of Puerto Rico, located north of Santa Isabel; south of Orocovis and Barranquitas; east of Villalba and Juana Díaz; and west of Aibonito and Salinas. Coamo ...

. In Coamo, he took piano lessons with Ernesto del Castillo. In 1890, when he was nine years old, he performed his first concert. When he was only eleven years old he accompanied the famed Cuban violinist

Claudio Brindis de Salas Garrido Claudio José Domingo Brindis de Salas Garrido (4 August 1852 – 1 June 1911) was a Cuban concert violinist. His father was the violinist and bandleader, Claudio Brindis de Salas. The son surpassed his father, and was a violinist of world ...

on the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

in a concert and was highly acclaimed by him. Quintón continued to study music and was the director of his school's band. During his spare time he gave piano and

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

lessons.Centro Musical Criollo José Ignacio Quintón
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/ref> By 1917, Quintón had taught himself to read English. This enabled him to read and study English language music books and magazines of the time thus becoming informed of the styles and compositions of

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

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 other composers.

Danzas

The first danzas that Quintón composed were ''Confía'' (''Trust''), ''Mi estrella'' (''My Star'') and ''Amor imposible'' (''Impossible Love''). He received many awards and the recognition of his fellow musicians for the compositions ''Cuarteto para instrumentos de cuerdas'' (''Quartet for string instruments''), ''Variaciones sobre un tema de Hummel'' (''Variations on a theme of Hummel'') and many others. He also wrote ''Misa de Requiem'' as a tribute to the late composer of danzas Ángel Mislan. His greatest composition was the danza ''El Coquí''. In this danza he was able to simulate the sound of the coquí, a tiny frog with a unique call found in Puerto Rico.

Legacy

José Ignacio Quintón died on December 19, 1925, in the town of Coamo where he is buried. The town of Coamo has honored his memory by naming one of its principal avenues after him and by conserving the house in which he lived as a historical landmark. The José I. Quintón Academy of Music is located in Coamo. The , a museum is located in Caguas.

References

External links

Cuatro 40 Ediciones
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quinton, Jose Ignacio 1881 births 1925 deaths 20th-century Puerto Rican musicians Puerto Rican composers Puerto Rican male composers People from Caguas, Puerto Rico 20th-century American male musicians

Early years

Danzas

Legacy

See also

References

External links