El Salvador on Music Theory Print

Benjamín Solís Menéndez

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Benjamín Solís Menéndez (4 May 1932, in Chalchuapa – 26 July 2019) was a Salvadoran composer, pianist, organist and choir director. As choirmaster, he participated in the opening and closing of the V Central American Games in 1994 with the choir “Nueva Vida”, and also formed part of the Vienna Opera, presenting the operetta “Die Fledermaus” by Johann Strauss and the “Merry Widow” by Franz Lehar, in the same year. Coro de la Primera Iglesia Bautista de El Salvador, and the Opera de El Salvador. As a composer, his best known works are “Mis Caites”, “Guanaquita Ausente”, “Casamiento Pueblerino”, “Acuarela Campesina” and “Los Inditos”. He has also composed the hymns “Himno al trabajador Pueblo Salvadoreño”, Himno del Liceo Cristiano “Revdo. Juan Bueno” (with lyrics by his wife), Himno de la Escuela Ciudad Normal “Alberto Masferrer” and others. In 2004 he was recognized by the FLADEM (Foro Latinoamericano de Educación Musical), and awarded a Distinguished Honorary membership, the first Salvadoran to receive this recognition for his contributions to Latin American identity. References

David Granadino

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David Granadino (June 13, 1876 – August 22, 1933) was a Salvadoran composer and musician, one of the most celebrated of the country. Granadino was born on June 13, 1876, in Barrio de Santa Barbara in the Salvadoran city of Santa Ana, the son of Joaquin Chavez, a pianist, and Simona Granadino. He studied music with teachers Daniel Alas and Pío Paredes Gonzáles. In 1897 he learned to play violin with the Dutch master José Kessels, performing with the Sociedad Lírica Santaneca and the Banda Marcial de Santa Ana. Granadina became noted for his waltzes. The first he composed was “El Pirulí” as part of the examination he took to study at the music academy. In commemoration of the eightieth anniversary of Granadino’s death, a special concert was presented in Santa Ana on 22 August 2013 under the auspices of the city’s cultural department. The group Yulu Nahuat performed a new version of “Bajo el Almendro”, singing the specially written lyrics. References

Esteban Servellón

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Esteban Servellón Torres (16 October 1921 – 12 August 2003) was a Salvadoran musician, composer, and pedagogue. He composed, among other works, a Requiem Mass, a sonata for guitar, and several serenades and quartets. Early life and career The son of Pedro Servellón and Lucía Torres, from a young age he played the viola, cello and violin. At age 16, he moved with his mother and siblings to Ciudad Delgado, near the capital of San Salvador. He studied at the Rafael Olmedo National School of Music in that city, and in 1941, joined the Banda de los Supremos Poderes, the State Symphony Orchestra. Later life and career In 1952, Servellón received a government scholarship to study composition and conducting at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, where he remained for four years. In the same year, he created the ballet Rina. In 1956, he returned to El Salvador where he assumed the position of director of the National Conservatory of Music. By 1960, he was the Assistant Director of the Salvadoran Army Symphony Orchestra (Orquesta Sinfónica del Ejército de El Salvador). Renamed the El Salvador Symphony Orchestra (Orquesta Sinfónica de El Salvador; OSES) in 1960, Servellón went o

Francisco Palaviccini

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Francisco Palaviccini Sandoval (February 28, 1912 – February 24, 1996), also known as “Paquito” Palaviccini, was a Salvadoran composer and singer. Among his best known compositions are “Adentro Cojutepeque”, “El Xuc”, “El Carnaval en San Miguel”, “Santa Ana Mía”, “El Café de Mi Tierra”, “Usulután”, and “Cocotero Sonsonateco”. In his childhood, he studied violin with his father, who was a musician of Italian descent. In 1923 he entered the National Conservatory of El Salvador, where he deepened his knowledge of music theory. In 1928 he traveled to Guatemala to continue in the Conservatorio Nacional Germán Alcántara, studying musical composition. In 1934, he traveled to Cuba where he lived for five years and studied at the “Ignacio Acevedo” Academy of Havana. In the 1940s, he traveled across the United States and South America as part of La Revista Musical of the Cuban Ernesto Lecuona. He returned to El Salvador in the 50s, to lead the Orquesta Internacional Polío from 1958. References

Juan Aberle

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Giovanni Enrico Aberle Sforza, better known as Juan Aberle, (11 December 1846 – 28 February 1930) was an Italian conductor and composer who lived in Guatemala and El Salvador. Biography Born in Naples, at eleven years of age, his obvious affinity for music led him to be enrolled in the Neapolitan Conservatory against the wishes of his parents, Heinrich Aberle and Angela Sforza. After completing his studies he went to New York City, where he was an opera director for five years. Later, he undertook a musical tour of Latin America. Upon arriving in Guatemala City, he paused to establish a philharmonic society and music conservatory, which he directed from 1873 to 1879. He then went to El Salvador and established a music school. While there, he composed the music for the Himno Nacional de El Salvador. Later, the Salvadoran government named him director of “La Banda de los Altos Poderes”. Because of his advanced age, he retired from public life in 1922. He died in El Salvador in 1930. His preferred instrument was the piano. He composed a large quantity of chamber music and made transcriptions of opera arias for the piano. His march in honor of Francisco Morazán was declared the “Nation

María de Baratta

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María Mendoza de Baratta (27 February 1890 – 10 June 1978), also known by the pseudonym Yara Maya, was a Salvadoran ethnomusicologist, composer, pianist, folklorist and advocate for the preservation of Indigenous heritage. Baratta published the first ethnomusicological study of indigenous music of El Salvador. Baratta first studied piano with her mother and, from the age of six, solfège with Agustín Solórzano. Enrolling at the Conservatorio de Música de El Salvador , Baratta studied under Maria Zimmerman and Antonio Gianoli. Baratta continued her studies in Italy at the Bologna Conservatory, and in the United States at Arrillaga Musical College under Vicente de Arrillaga. Career Between 1926 and 1938 Baratta engaged in an active performing career; she also represented the country at various folkloric congresses. During her career she was a member of the Athenaeum of El Salvador, the Salvadoran Academy of History, and the Union of American Women. In 1962 she was elected a Woman of the Americas. She composed a handful of works during her career, only a few of which were published; they include the ballet El Teocalli, Canto al Sol, Ofrenda de la Elegida, Los Tecomatillos, Nahualismo,