Carlos Jiménez Mabarak (January 31, 1916 in Tacuba, Mexico – June 21, 1994 in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

) was one of the most prolific Mexican composers of the 20th century. His music belongs to the transition from the Mexican Nationalism to the

Avant garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

and uses all musical genres. He composed in a period of almost 60 years.

Life

He studied in

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. His mother was a writer from

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

of Lebanese descent. Mabarak practically spent his childhood outside

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. His father died when he was 4. During his youth, he lived in many countries because his mother worked in the diplomatic service. The family moved to Guatemala] when Carlos was 6. They lived near

Quetzaltenango Quetzaltenango (, also known by its Maya name Xelajú or Xela ) is a municipality and namesake department in western Guatemala. The city is located in a mountain valley at an elevation of above sea level at its lowest part. It may reach above ...

and almost three years in the capital. He began his piano lessons in Quetzaltenango with Jesús Castillo. Later they lived for almost 5 years in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...

where Carlos studied humanism and continued his music education. In 1932 the family moved to Belgium. While the rest of the family went to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, Carlos stayed in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

for almost five years where he studied radio telephone engineering. In 1933, Carlos entered the Institute of high studies in music in

Ixelles (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Pentagon (Brussels), Brusse ...

, a part of

. There he studied piano with Mme Jacobi and harmony with Nellie Jones. In 1936 he obtained a diploma after winning a piano competition. He did his most important studies of Harmony and Musical Analysis with

Marguerite Wouters Marguerite may refer to: People * Marguerite (given name), including a list of people with the name Places *Marguerite, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community *Marguerite Bay, Antarctic Peninsula * Marguerite Island, Adélie Land, Antarctica ...

who was cathedratic of the Royal Conservatoire of Belgium. Returning to Mexico in 1937 he decided to work entirely on music. His teacher in orchestra was

Silvestre Revueltas Silvestre Revueltas Sánchez (December 31, 1899 – October 5, 1940) was a Mexican classical music composer, a violinist, and conductor. Life Revueltas was born in Santiago Papasquiaro in Durango, and studied at the National Conservatory of Mu ...

in the National Conservatory of Music of Mexico. In 1942 he was appointed teacher in harmony in the Conservatory and since 1957 he taught composition. In 1945,

Carlos Chávez Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez (13 June 1899 – 2 August 1978) was a Mexican composer, conducting, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influence ...

entrusted him a symphony and Mabarak wrote his Symphony in E flat. In 1956 he received a scholarship by the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. In this period he studied dodecaphonism in Paris with

René Leibowitz René Leibowitz (; ; 17 February 1913 – 29 August 1972) was a Polish and French composer, conductor, music theorist and teacher. He was historically significant in promoting the music of the Second Viennese School in Paris after the Second Wo ...

. Mabarak also began to use magnetophonic techniques in his works. In 1968, his fanfare was elected theme for the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

in Mexico.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jimenez Mabarak, Carlos Mexican male classical composers Mexican people of Lebanese descent Musicians from Mexico City 1916 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Mexican classical composers 20th-century Mexican male musicians