Juan José Landaeta (10 March 1780 – 16 October 1814) was a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n composer.

Life

Born in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

, his parents (Juan José Landaeta and Maria Candelaria Arévalo) were free

mulato (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese ...

s. He studied music at the school of Padre Sojo, with Juan Manuel Olivares. Later, he worked at various churches of Caracas as a violinist and music director. He was a participant in the

Venezuelan War of Independence The Venezuelan War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de Venezuela, links=no, 1810–1823) was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in Latin America fought agai ...

. In 1811 he founded the Concert Society ''Certamen de Música vocal e instrumental''. After the demise of the First Republic, he was in prison, from which he was freed by the conquest of

Simon Bolivar Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

's conquest of Caracas. He then fell into the hands of José Tomás Boves, who had him executed. He died in

Cumaná Cumaná () is the capital city of Venezuela's Sucre State. It is located east of Caracas. Cumaná was one of the first cities founded by Spain in the mainland Americas and is the oldest continuously-inhabited Hispanic-established city in South ...

Legacy

He was a noted writer of religious and patriotic songs. In 1810 he wrote the melody of

Gloria al bravo pueblo "" (; "Glory to the Brave People") is the national anthem of Venezuela. Its lyrics were written by physician and journalist Vicente Salias in 1810, set to music later composed by musician Juan José Landaeta. Owing to musical similarities with th ...

("Glory to the brave people") to the lyrics by

Vicente Salias Vicente Salias (March 23, 1776 – September 17, 1814) was a Venezuelan doctor, journalist, and writer who wrote Venezuela's "Gloria al Bravo Pueblo" "Glory to the Brave People." national anthem. Born in Puerto Cabello, Carabobo on March 23, 1 ...

. In 1881, it was declared the Venezuelan national anthem by General

Antonio Guzmán Blanco Antonio José Ramón de La Trinidad y María Guzmán Blanco (28 February 1829 – 28 July 1899) was a Venezuelan military leader, statesman, diplomat and politician. He was the president of Venezuela for three separate terms, from 1870 until 1 ...

. However, its authorship is disputed, others claim it was composed by Lino Gallardo. Today, the Venezuelan National Conservatory of Music is named for him.

Works

* ''Tantum ergo'' (1798), composed with his son Francisco José Velásquez * ''Benedictus'' (1799) * ''Salve regina'' (1800) * ''Benedictus y pésame a la Virgen'' * ''Gloria al Bravo Pueblo'' (1810)

References

1780 births 1814 deaths Venezuelan composers {{Venezuela-composer-stub