Julián Alarcón (28 January 1888 – 19 August 1957) was a
Paraguay
Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
an composer and violinist.
Biography
Alarcón was born in
Asunción
Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...
.
Beginning in 1909, Alarcón studied guitar and violin at the Paraguayan Gymnasium. In 1913, he traveled to
Montevideo
Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
,
Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
to continue his studies. In 1919, Alarcón edited an album consisting of Paraguayan
folk
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*Nation
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Arts, entertainment, and media
* Fo ...
songs.
Alarcón worked as a musician for more than 20 years in
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
and
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. He formed the “Guaraní Trio,” along with members Carlos S. Caballero and Manuel Moreno.
In 1942, he won the Paraguayan Atheneum's Compositioning prize with his song “Abandonada” ("Abandoned", in English). In 1950, he won the Ministry of Education and Culture's contest with “Ka’avovei”.
He died at Asunción in 1957.
Work
Alarcón composed an estimated 300 songs. His more popular songs include: “Serenata clásica”, “Nanawa” (a patriotic
polka
Polka is a dance style and genre of dance music in originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Czech and Central European culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the ...
), “3 de mayo” (a folkloric anthem of Paraguay), “Nde resa kuarahy’ame” (A love song with lyrics from Teodoro S. Mongelós), “Recuerdos del Paraguay”, “Sábado ka’aru”, “Alegre amanecer”, “Ha Paraguay”, “Zorzal del Paraguay”, “Tesa yvoty”, “Serenata”, “Marave ndoikói” and “Loma Clavel”.
References
Page at musicaparaguayana.com* Diccionario Biográfico "FORJADORES DEL PARAGUAY", Primera Edición Enero de 2000. Distribuidora Quevedo de Ediciones. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alarcon, Julian
1888 births
1957 deaths
Paraguayan composers
Paraguayan male composers
Paraguayan violinists
Musicians from Asunción
20th-century violinists
20th-century male musicians