José Enrique Pedreira (February 2, 1904 – January 6, 1959) was a Puerto Rican

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

noted for danzas.

Early years

Pedreira was one of four siblings born to José María Pedreira and Rosa Kehrham in

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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 ...

. His family, who was financially prosperous, sent him to the best private schools in the island. He began to take private music lessons at a young age. In 1922, he graduated from high school and was sent to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, by his parents, to continue his musical education.Music of Puerto Rico
/ref> He enrolled in the music school of Zygmunt Stojowski and learned

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and music composition. It was there that he met a fellow student who was to become his wife, Alicia Hutchinson."Concert life in Puerto Rico, 1957-1992: views and reviews"; By Donald Thompson, Francis Schwartz During his student years he composed his first work, the waltz “Alicia”.Homenaje a José Enrique Pedreira
/ref>

Musical career

In 1932, Pedreira returned to Puerto Rico with his wife and established the Pedreira Academy of Music in San Juan. He gave piano lessons while she (a pianist in her own right) gave

and violin lessons. During his spare time he composed music and danzas for piano, violin and

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

. The couple had one child, José Enrique “Quique” Pedreira Hutchinson.

Musical compositions

Besides “Alicia”, his first composition, he composed "Canción Criolla" in 1934, for which he was awarded the Elzaburu priz from the Ateneo Puertorriqueño. He also composed "Concierto en re menor para piano y orquestra" (Concert in R minor for Piano and Orquestra) and in 1942, “Ensueño de Marta” his first danza. In October 1946. Pedreira's composition “Estudio de Concierto en Do Sostenido Menor” was included in Hilda Andino's concert at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

. Pedreira also received many awards. He won a competition sponsored by the

Juilliard School of Music The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named afte ...

in New York, with his composition "Tus Caricias" and a first prize for his danza "Siempre", during the celebration of Juan Morel Campos 100th birthday in 1957. Many of his compositions were used by other Puerto Rican artists, among them Jesús Maria Sanromá and Graciela Rivera. His compositions were not all piano related. He also composed various works to be played on the violin. In 1953, Pedreira and José Raúl Ramírez created the Dúo Piano-Organo “Pedreira-Ramírez”. The duo performed in various weekly radio and television programs. They also performed in various cities in the United States.

Legacy

José Enrique Pedreira died on January 6, 1959, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. José Raúl Ramírez was petitioned by his widow, Alicia Hutchinson, to become custodian of his works. During the years, Ramírez published many of the works by Pedreira. In 1985, Pedreira was posthumously inducted into the Danza Composers Hall of Fame located in the town of San German, Puerto Rico.

Selected compositions

* ''Canción de cuna para un infante moribundo'' (Lullaby for a Dying Child) for cello (or viola) and piano (1954) * ''Caricias'' (Your Tender Touch) * ''Colibrí'' * Concerto in D minor for piano and orchestra * ''Elegía India, Poema y Souvenir'' * ''El Jardín de piedra'' (Garden of Rock), Ballet; libretto by Lotti Tischer * ''Encanto'' * ''Ensueño de Marta'' (Martha's Dream), Danza for piano (1956) * ''Nocturne melancholique'' for piano (1950) * ''No podrás olvidarme'', Canción Bolero for voice and piano (1947) * ''Plenitude'', Nocturne for piano (1948) * ''Ritmo'', Zapateado for piano (1956) * ''Siempre'' (Always), Danza for piano (1960); dedicated to Juan Morel Campos * Sonata in B minor for piano * ''Súplica'', Danza for piano (1949) * ''Tus caricias'', Danza for piano (1948) * ''Vals en la major'' (Waltz in A major) for piano (1949) * ''Valses de Concierto'' (Concert Waltzes)

Awards and recognitions

Pedreira received many awards and recognitions during his lifetime. Some of the institutions that honored him were: * The

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...

* The Puerto Rican Athenaeum * The

* The Women's Civic Club of San Juan

References

External links

''Siempre'' by José Enrique Pedreira
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedreira, Jose Enrique 1904 births 1959 deaths Puerto Rican composers Puerto Rican male composers Puerto Rican musicians Musicians from San Juan, Puerto Rico 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians