Juan Ríos Ovalle (1863–1928) was a Puerto Rican musician and composer of

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 ...

s. Among his most popular danzas are: Angelina, La Graciosita (The Little Funny One), Lluvia de Perlas (Rain of Pearls), Odalisca, and Teresa.

Early years

Born in 1863 in

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 ...

into a family of musicians, Ríos Ovalle became a prolific clarinet musician and danza composer. He also composed aguinaldos,

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...

s, danzones and

sacred music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Relig ...

. He did not possess a lot of formal education, yet had a natural talent for music.

Professional career

Rios Ovalle was one of the few confidants of

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 ...

, among whom was also musician Cosme Tizol. While not possessing the professional stature or scale of Morel Campos, he was nevertheless considered the unquestionable successor to him, in particular when it came to danzas. Some experts believe that had Rios Ovalle been exposed to greater music education, it is possible he would have climbed much higher yet in his impact as a musician and composer.

Composer

He created over 50 musical compositions. His

s are characterized by their high lyrical character. Upon the untimely death of master Morel Campos in 1896, Ríos Ovalle succeeded him as the most prolific representative of Ponce's danza tradition. He authored various well known compositions, including "Angelina", "Teresa", "Rain of pearls", "Odalisque" and "La Graciosita".

Musicican

Ríos Ovalle fine tuned his musical skills in the Juan Morel Campos's Orchestra, where he played first clarinet. His name became well known in Puerto Rico as well as among musicians and composers internationally.

Orchestra director

In addition to his clarinet and composer skills, he was an outstanding orchestra director. His danzas are arrhythmic and his Orchestra used the güiro as the only percussion instrument.

Recordings

He recorded with

RCA Victor Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ari ...

in 1917 and 1921. Some of his recording were with the Paco Tizol Orchestra.

Delicias sextet

For many years Rios Ovalle has a

sextet A sextet (or hexad) is a formation containing exactly six members. The former term is commonly associated with vocal ensembles (e.g. The King's Singers, Affabre Concinui) or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six ...

that performed at the famed

Teatro Fox Delicias Teatro Fox Delicias is a historic building in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Inaugurated in 1931, it originally housed a movie house until 1980, from 1991 to 1998 it house a shopping mall, and stating in 2004 it housed a boutique hotel. Its ...

. Its job was to provide a musical background for the soundless movies of the early 20th century played there. His sextet would have a preview of the soundless movie prior to its premiere showing and they would practice for hours several nights before the movie's opening night. Renown pianist Antonia "Toñita" Príncipe ("the Princess of the keyboard") would provide coverage in the piano. In addition to soundless movies, Rios Ovalle sextet also interpreted arias for local operas voices including Aida, Lucia y Casta Susana.

Compositions

The following is a list of some of Rios Ovalle's danzas: *Angelina *Teresa *Lluvia de Perlas (Rain of Pearls) *Odalisca *La Graciosita (The Little Funny One)

Later years

He died in 1928''Juan Ríos Ovalle.''
Music of Puerto Rico. 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2018. in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

Legacy

* There a

relief sculpture Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

on the right front wall face of the Concha Acustica de Ponce engraved with his face and shoulders as well as his name.

Notes

References

External links

''Angelina: Danza Para Piano, Dedicado a la Señorita Angelina Oppenheimer (Lit Boletin Ponce, Puerto Rico).''
Juan Rios Ovalle. Retrieved 1 March 2018. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rios Ovalle, Juan 1863 births 1928 deaths Puerto Rican composers Puerto Rican male composers Musicians from Ponce People from Colonial Puerto Rico