Fèlix Astol i Artés (9 October 1813 – 21 January 1901) was a Spanish musician and composer from

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

best known for being the co-composer of "

La Borinqueña "" is the official anthem of Puerto Rico. After Puerto Rico became known as "The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico" in 1952, the first elected governor, Luis Muñoz Marín, signed law #2 of July 24, 1952, which made an altered version of the musica ...

", the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

Early life

Artés was born in

Reus Reus () is the capital of Baix Camp, in Camp de Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The area has long been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental significance during the time of the Phylloxera plague. Currently it is known f ...

, in

, region of Spain on 9 October 1813, but he moved 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 ...

in 1828 to evade military service. Forced to enlist, he joined the band of one of the battalions based in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Teatro Tacón Teatro may refer to: * Theatre * Teatro (band) Teatro, Italian for "theatre", is a vocal group signed to the Sony BMG music label. The members of Teatro are Jeremiah James, Andrew Alexander, Simon Bailey and Stephen Rahman-Hughes. Band membe ...

. He toured in

by 1840, then returned to Cuba, where he lived. Later he joined the opera company of Stefano Busatti, that finally led him to Puerto Rico in 1860. When the company disappeared he moved to

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Mayagüez (, ) is the ninth-largest Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in Puerto Rico. It was founded as Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez (Township of Virgin of Candelaria, Our Lady of Candelaria), and is also ...

. In Mayagüez he founded a new company of comedies: ''Compañía Dramática Astol'' (''The Astol Drama Company''). Fèlix Astol, was author of several pieces of popular music, but his most famous work was the dance ''Bellísima trigueña'' (''Gorgeous brunette''), composed in 1867. Conceived as a love song, it has had several versions throughout Latin America. In Cuba had the title of ''Mi amor'' (''My love''). In Brazil it was named ''Encantadora infancia'' (''Lovely childhood''). In Peru has two versions, one of them is named ''Bellísima peruana'' (''Gorgeous Peruvian''). In Haiti is danced and in Venezuela is well known too. But the most popular version is "

", adopted as the official anthem of Puerto Rico. The revolutionary lyrics written by Lola Rodíguez de Tió a year after the composition of the danza, became the popular anthem. It was a time of great turbulence in Puerto Rico, as a nationalist revolution against Spain was sweeping across the political landscape. The lyrics were in keeping with that spirit. However, the lyrics known and sung today are attributed to

Manuel Fernández Juncos Manuel Fernández Juncos (December 11, 1846 – August 18, 1928) was a Spanish-born, Puerto Rican journalist, poet, author and humanitarian who wrote the official lyrics to La Borinqueña, Puerto Rico's official anthem. Early years Fernán ...

per the request of the new Commonwealth, as Lola's were yet again deemed too revolutionary. He died in Mayagüez on 21 January 1901. He was buried at Cementerio Municipal Antiguo de Mayagüez.

References

Bibliography

* Félix Astol ''Borinquen (La Borinqueña), danza, y aguinaldos populares del folklore de Puerto Rico. Para piano y canto en Espanol é Inglés, con acordes para la guitarra'' New York: Spanish Music Center, 1971 (OCLC 11156873) * Francisco Zamora, Isabel Escabí ''Autógrafo: seres ordinarios con vidas extraordinarias. Guía del maestro''

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

: People Television, 1997 * ''Autógrafo : seres ordinarios con vidas extraordinarias. Volumen XIII: La Borinqueña ídeo' San Juan: People Television, Sistema Universitario Ana G. Mndez, 1997 * Monserrate Deliz ''El himno de Puerto Rico; estudio crítico de "La Borinqueña"''

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

: GIDA, 1957

External links

First musical recordings made in Puerto Rico found - Notiséís 360 PR (news site on YouTube)
Translation of the Catalan version of Wikipedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Artes, Felix Astol 1813 births Composers from Catalonia 19th-century Cuban musicians 19th-century Puerto Rican musicians 1901 deaths National anthem writers