Julián Orbón de Soto (August 7, 1925,

Avilés Avilés (Asturian and ;) is a town in Asturias, Spain. Avilés is, along with Oviedo and Gijón, one of the main cities in the Principality of Asturias. The town occupies the flattest land in the municipality, partially in a land that belonged ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

– May 21, 1991,

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

was a

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 ...

n composer who lived and composed in

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 ...

, and the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

referred to Orbón as "Cuba's most gifted composer of the new generation."

Life

Family and early years

Julián Orbón was born on August 7, 1925, in

, Spain, to Benjamín Orbón. Julián Orbón was exposed to music at a very early age because his father, Benjamín, was a composer and pianist. In 1932, Julián Orbón began taking piano lessons and basic music lessons from his father. At the age of ten, Julián Orbón attended the

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

Conservatory, where he received his first formal training. In 1938, the Orbón family moved to

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.José Ardévol, a Cuban composer and conductor. While teaching at the Havana Conservatory, Ardévol co-founded a Cuban school of composers with Orbón, called ''Grupo de renovación musical'', including many of Ardévol's students. The members of this group included musicians Serafín Pro, Edgardo Martín, Argeliers León, Harold Gramatges, Hilario González, Dolores Torres Barrós, and Juan Antonio Cámara. This group was established to promote new Cuban music. While in Havana, Orbón's father also co-founded the Orbón Conservatory.

Musical training and career

When his father died in 1944, Julián Orbón took over as director of the Orbón Conservatory. A year later, he won a scholarship to study composition with Aaron Copland at the Berkshire Music Center at

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue and Music festival, festival in the towns of Lenox, Massachusetts, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony ...

Lenox, Massachusetts Lenox is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is in Western Massachusetts and part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Pittsfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,095 at the 2020 United States census ...

. After studying with Copland for about a year, Orbón returned to Havana to continue his position as director at the Orbón Conservatory. He did not stay long, however, because the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

began in 1953. In the wake of this revolution, Orbón permanently left Cuba and moved to

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 ...

in 1960. While in Mexico City, until 1963 Orbón taught composition alongside

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 ...

, a famous Mexican composer, conductor, and educator, at the Taller de Composición of the National Conservatory of Music. In 1964 Orbón moved to the United States to teach composition at Lenox College,

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

, and the Hispanic Institute of

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

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 ...

. He settled and lived in New York City the rest of his life.

Later years

Julián Orbón died of cancer at the age of 65 at Mount Sinai Medical Center in

, Florida. Orbón's sister, Ana Abril; wife, Mercedes; two sons, Andres and Julían; and two grandchildren are still alive.

Music and accomplishments

Musical style

Julián Orbón created compositions that combined Spanish and Cuban styles and traits,

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

qualities, and African music styles. His early style was influenced by composers such as

Manuel de Falla Manuel de Falla y Matheu (, 23 November 187614 November 1946) was a Spanish composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Francisco Tárrega, and Enrique Granados, he was one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20t ...

, Rodolfo Halffter, and Ernesto Halffter, who used a Spanish neoclassic style in their compositions. Orbón's works such as ''Suite de Siete Canciones de Juan del Encina'' and ''Homenaje a la Tonadilla'' clearly illustrate this Spanish neoclassic style. Other characteristics of Orbón's works include strong rhythmic activity and intense though straightforward expression. This strong rhythmic activity and intense and straightforward expression is a large part in Orbón's ''Preludio y danza'' for solo guitar depicted below. Later Orbón was greatly influenced by Copland, Chávez, and Villa-Lobos because of his close friendships with them. Through these different influences, Orbón began to gradually compose pieces without the influence of the Spanish neoclassic style. His later style became more romantic and expressive, stemming from his sadness caused by having to leave Cuba.

Reception

Julián Orbón had many fellow musicians and composers who supported him and his music. Eduardo Mata, a Mexican conductor and composer, and Julio Estrada, a Mexican composer and historian, both praised Orbón's compositions, which helped spread positive opinions about Orbón throughout Latin America. Both Mata and Estrada were students of Orbón when he was teaching alongside Chávez in Mexico City. Aaron Copland was also a supporter of Orbón. However, much of Orbón’s music is unknown today, and little is performed in Cuba.

Awards

Julián Orbón won many awards for his compositions over his lifetime. Orbón won the Juan Landaeta Prize in 1954 at the First Caracas Latinamerican Musical Festival in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

for his ''Tres versiones sinfónicas''. Orbón also received many grants in order to compose. In 1958, he received a grant from the Koussevitzky Foundation, that he used to compose ''Concerto grosso'', one of his best-received compositions. In 1959 and 1969, Orbón received

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

s, American grants awarded to citizens of the United States,

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Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, and the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

"who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." He also received an award in 1967 from the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

.Baker's

Works

Julián Orbón composed many types of works, including orchestral, vocal, instrumental, and chamber music. Orbón also adapted the words for the piece "

Guantanamera "" (; ) is a Cuban patriotic song, which uses a poem from the collection ''Simple Verses'', by the Cuban poet José Martí, for the lyrics. It is an expression of love for Cuba and of solidarity with the poor people of the world. The official ...

" from a poem by

José Martí José Julián Martí Pérez (; 28 January 1853 – 19 May 1895) was a Cuban nationalism, nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in ...

, a poet who is considered to be one of the greatest Latin American intellectuals and who dedicated his life to the independence of Cuba. "Guantanamera" is Cuba's best-known song. José Fernandez Diaz wrote the original melody for this piece.

Orchestral

*Symphony in C (1945) *Homenaje a la Tonadilla (1947) *Tres versiones sinfónicas (1953) *Danzas sinfónicas (1955) *Concerto Grosso (1958) *Partitas No. 3 (1965-1966) *Partitas No. 4 (1982-1985)

Choral

*Crucifixus (1953) *Introito (1967-1968) *Canciones folklóricas (1970-1972) *Liturgia de tres días (1975)

Solo vocal

*Pregón (1943) *Himnus ad galli cantum (1956) *3 cantigas del rey (1960) *Libro de cantares (1987)

Chamber and solo instrument

*Homaje a Padre Soler (1942) *Toccata (1943) *Clarinet Quintet (1944) *Preludio y danza (1950-1951) *String Quartet (1951) *Partita no. 1 (1963) *Partita no. 2 (1964) *Preludio y fantasia tiento (1974)

Notes

References

*''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians''. S.v. "Julián Orbón." *Blau, Eleanor. "Julián Orbón, 65; Cuban Composer, Pianist and Critic." ''The New York Times'' (May 23, 1991). *''Naxos'', S.v. "Julián Orbón." http://www.naxos.com/person/Julian_Orbon/25613.htm (accessed Oct. 6, 2012). * * Villanueva,Mariana. "El latido de la ausencia".Mexico, Itaca-UNAM,2014

External links

Peermusic Classical: Julian Orbon
Composer's Publisher and Bio {{DEFAULTSORT:Orbon, Julian 1925 births 1991 deaths People from Avilés Academic staff of the National Conservatory of Music of Mexico Spanish composers Spanish male composers Cuban composers Cuban male composers Cuban people of Asturian descent Washington University in St. Louis faculty 20th-century Spanish composers 20th-century male composers 20th-century Spanish musicians 20th-century Spanish male musicians Spanish emigrants to Cuba Cuban emigrants to the United States Cuban expatriates in Mexico Cuban male musicians Barnard College faculty Columbia University faculty Chávez scholars