Dominican Republic



    Composers:
         1. Jose De Jesus Ravelo (1876-1951)
                 Biography
Jose de Jesus Ravelo was born on March, 21st of 1876 in Santo Domingo the capital of Domincan Republic. He was not only a Dominican composer but an educator as well. He studied solfege, the music theory and the clarinet. He was very passionate about the study of his creation of musical work. He was the director of the Banda Pacificadora (Peacemaker Band) starting in 1894, and then resigned in the 1900s when Eugenio Maria de Hostos presented choral singing into the school education and engaged him as a music instructor. His inspiration as a teacher was broad. He taught music at the private high school of Santo Tomas and Salome Ureña, where he started the country's first youth band in 1908. The same year he also originated the Liceo Musical, a government-sponsored conservatory, which he directed until 1942.

As a conductor including all of his other accomplishments, he directed the Octeto del Casino de la Juventud (Octect Youth Casino) from its foundation in 1904. Through the years by 1932 it had grown to 60 members and was renamed the Sociedad de Conciertos (Concert Society). For 25 years he conducted the municipal band of Santo Domingo. He managed the first Dominican Congress of Music in 1928; he was also a chosen a artistic director of HIX, the capital's official radio station in 1931. Ravelo;s had over 250 compositions and many of them were religious works. Essentially for organ solo and orchestras from the late 1930's. His best-known work, the oratorio La Muerte de Cristo (The death of Christ), was performed every Good Friday for 19 years after its premier in 1939. Ravelo's music is the initial bond between the late 19th-century Romanticism and the beginnings of a Dominican national school.

                  Discography
                     A San Jose, Op179: Sp; 1941.
                     Adeste, Fideles, Op171: Latin; Motet, 1940.
                     Alleluia, Alleluia, Op153: 1939.
                     Alma de Cristo, Op199: Sp; Motet, 1943.
                     Alma Redemptoris Mater: Latin; 1940.
                     Ave Maris Stella, Op137: Latin; 1938.
                     Ave Verum Corpus, Op18: Motet, 1904.
                     Ave, Regina, Op156: Latin, 1939.
                     Cor Jesu, Op105: Motet; 1928.
                     Crucem Tuam, Op178: Latin; 1941.
                     Himno de las Mercedes, Op134: Orch; 1938.
                     Inviolata, Op177: Latin; Motet, 1941.
                     Jesu Dulcis Memoria, Op106: 1928.
                     La Muerte de Cristo (segun san Mateo), Oratorio, Prem 1939.
                     La Resurrecion de Cristo, Op185: Oratorio, 1942.
                     Las Siete Palabras, Op198: Sp; 1943.
                     Liberame Domine, Op140: Orch; 1939.
                     Misa de Requiem, Op169: Latin; 1915.
                     Misa en Sol, Latin; 1915.
                     Misa Solemne, Prem 1940.
                     Misa Brevis, Op213: 1945.
                     O Salutaris, Op162: Motet, 1903.
                     Oye la Voz, Op209: Motet, 1944.
                     Per Imsum, Op189: Latin; 1943.
                     Plegaria a la Altagracia, Op174: 1940.
                     Presta, Senor, Oido… Op212: Sp; 1945.
                     Recordare, Jesu Pie, Op129: Prayer, 1939.
                     Regina Coeli Laetari, Op160: Latin; 1940.
                     Salve Regina, Op56: Latin; 1916.
                     Salve Regina, Op149: Latin; 1939.
                     Tantum Ergo, Op103: Latin; Motet, 1928.
                     Tantum Ergo, Op181: Latin; Motet, 1941.
                     Tantum Ergo, Op223: latin; Motet, 1947. Tota Pulchra, Op147: Latin; 1939.

                Bibliography
  • OxfordMusicOnline: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.lib.umb.edu
  • Caribbean Art Music: http://caribbeanmusicumb.blogspot.com/2012/07/dominican-republic-composers.html



         2. Luis Emilio Mena (1895-1964)
                 Biography
Luis Emilio Mena was born on November 12th of 1895; he was a Dominican composer, conductor and a teacher. He studied the flute, harmony and composition with Jose de Jesus Ravelo. Mena followed music after deserting his dentistry degree. His interests in music lead him to learn to play the piano, oboe, cello and bassoon. He studied with Alfredo Soler at the Liceo Musical in the capital of the Dominican Reuplic, Santo Domingo. Mena graduated as a professor of flute in 1926. He taught solfège and music theory at the Liceo Musical, and taught at the National Conservatory. He was engaged in several music schools and the orchestras of radio stations HIX and HIN. In 1932 Luis Emilio Mena was the founding member of the Santo Domingo Symphony Orchestra, as well as the precursor of the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional (National Symphony Orchestra) in 1941.

Essentially Mena has composed of over 200 short works, and maybe even considered the best Dominican Orchestral composer of his era. His profane music includes salon and chamber music and provisions for string quartet and guitar. The orchestral group “Recuerdos de Infancia” (Childhood Memories) is well known to many Dominican listeners; his essential classical works include Sinfonía Giocosa and Ecos de la Libertad.

                  Discography
Alfonso XIII, Paso Doble, 1926.
Capricho Impromptu, 1934.
Como un Sueno, Suite for Flute and Piano.
Ecos de Libertad.
Fantasia for Clarinet and Orchestra.
Gugu for Flute and Piano.
Invocacion, 1934.
La Mignon Chaquetera Lucesita, Mazutka, 1913.
Romanza for Violin and Orchestra.
Sinfonia Giocosa.

                   Bibliography
  • OxfordMusicOnline: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.lib.umb.edu
  • Caribbean Art Music: http://caribbeanmusicumb.blogspot.com/2012/07/dominican-republic-composers.html


            2. Juan Luis Guerra (1957- Present)
                 Biography
Juan Luis Guerra is a Dominican singer, guitarist, and composer, born June 7th of 1957. Guerra began playing rock music as a teenager, learning first on a set of drums and then the guitar. Guerra first formed the musical group 4.40 in 1984 after his musical training at the National Conservatory in Santo Domingo and Berklee College in Boston. The name for his group was taken from the frequency of pitch A440; it reveals both their musical guidance and focus on Manhattan Transfer-influenced foursome singing. Guerra was the first Dominican to win a Grammy for Best Tropical Album, “Bachata Rosa” in 1991. He has also been awarded three Soberanos, the Dominican Republic’s highest prize in the arts; which is an honorary title from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. A popular song composed by Guerra, “La Llave de mi Corazon” won five Latin Grammys in 2007. Guerra was also associated with “nueva cancion” in his youth, and that movement’s progressive politics are reflected in lyrics such as “El Costo de la Vida” (The cost of Living) in 1992. Many of Guerra’s compositions are merengues, but he has also experimented with other Dominican and international styles.

Guerra is exceptionally well known for his poetic lyrics, along with jazz-influenced musical arrangements, helped bring merengue to exclusive listeners. As a passionate Christian, Guerra records songs with religious themes and runs an organization to help the disadvantaged Dominican youth.



                Discography:
Areito, 1992.
A Son de Guerra, 2010.
Bachata Rosa, 1990.
Bilirrubina, 1991.
El Original 4.40, 1990.
Fogarate, 1994.
La Llave de mi Corazon, 2007.
Mientras Mas Lo Pienso, 1983.
Mudanza y Acarreo, 1991.
Ni Es Lo Mismo Ni Es Igual, 1998.
Ojala Que Llueva Café, 1989.
Para Ti, 2004.
Romance Rosa, 1995.
4:40 Asondeguerra Tour, 2013.

                 Bibliography:


Timeline*
1876: Jose de Jesus Ravelo was born.
1894: Jose de Jesus Ravelo became director of the Banda Pacificador.
1895: Luis Emilio Mena was born.
1900s: Jose de Jesus Ravelo resigned his position as director from the Banda Pacificador.
1904: Jose de Jesus Ravelo directed the Octeto del Casino de la Juventud.
1908: Jose de Jesus Ravelo started the Dominican Republics first youth band.
1908: Jose de Jesus Ravelo originated the Liceo Musical.
1926: Luis Emilio Mena graduated as a professor of the flute.
1928: Jose de Jesus Ravelo managed the first Dominican Congress of Music.
1931: Jose de Jesus Ravelo was chosen as an artistic director for the Capitals official radio station HIX.
1932: Luis Emilio Mena was the founding member of the Santo Domingo Symphony Orchestra.
1932: The Octeto del Casino de la Juventud expanded to over 60 members and was renamed the “Sociedad de Conciertos”.
1939: Jose de Jesus Ravelo best known work “La Muerte de Cristo “ premiered.
1941: Luis Emilio Mena was the precursor of the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional (National Symphony Orchestra).
1942: Jose de Jesus Ravelo directed the Liceo Musical.
1951: Jose de Jesus Ravelo passed away.
1957: Juan Luis Guerra was born.
1964: Luis Emilio Mena passed away.
1984: Juan Luis Guerra formed his first group 4.40.
1991: Juan Luis Guerra was the first Dominican to win a Grammy for Best Tropical Album “Bachata Rosa”.
2007: Juan Luis Guerra won five Latin Grammys.

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