Rafael Campo Miranda (1918–2024) was a

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

n songwriter and musician. His songs have been recorded by several prominent Latin American artists, including

La Sonora Matancera La Sonora Matancera is a Cuban band that played Latin American urban popular dance music. Founded in 1924 and led for more than five decades by guitarist, vocalist, composer, and producer Rogelio Martínez, musicologists consider it an icon o ...

and

Pastor López José Pastor López Pineda (15 June 1944, Barquisimeto – 5 April 2019, Cúcuta), better known as "El Indio Pastor" (Pastor the Indian), was a Venezuelan singer-songwriter who worked primarily in the style of Cumbia. Career and death He start ...

. In 2022 Campo Miranda was awarded the Colombian Ministry of Culture's in the category of arts and culture.

Biography

Rafael Campo Miranda was born on 7 August 1918 in Soledad in the Colombian department of Atlántico. His parents were Juan Bernardo Campo Serrano López and Cándida Miranda Robles. Around 1930 the family moved to the departmental capital,

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of the Atlántico department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean region of Colombia, Caribbean coast region; as of 2018, it had a popul ...

. In Barranquilla Campo Miranda studied at the and at the School of Fine Arts, and was taught by at his

music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger i ...

, which was attached to the

University of Atlántico The University of Atlántico (), also called Uniatlántico, is a public, departmental, coeducational, research university based in the city of Barranquilla, Atlántico, Colombia. It is the largest higher education institution by student popula ...

. He also learned classical guitar from Calixto González, cello from Guido Perla, and composition with . Campo Miranda worked

white-collar job A white-collar worker is a person who performs professional service, desk, managerial, or administrative work. White-collar work may be performed in an office or similar setting. White-collar workers include job paths related to government, consu ...

s for most of his life, and composed music in his free time. In 1953

Radio Caracas Televisión Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV and sometimes referred to as the Canal de Bárcenas) is a Venezuelan over-the-top streaming service and formerly a free-to-air television network headquartered in the Caracas neighborhood of Quinta Crespo and ow ...

and the record label invited him to Venezuela, where he recorded several programmes for the radio. In 1965 Campo Miranda founded a music school, which is now run by his son. Campo Miranda was still composing music as a

centenarian A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

in 2022. He died from complications due to

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

on 15 June 2024.

Personal life

In April 1951 Campo Miranda married María del Socorro Vives Trespalacios. The couple had three children: Marta, Margarita, and . He was good friends with

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...

Pacho Galán Pacho Galán (1906—1988) was a Colombian composer and band leader of several Colombian music forms. His songs include ''Boquita Sala, Rio Y Mar, Fiesta de Cumbia, Cumbia Alegre'' and '' Ay Cosita Linda'', which became one of his most famo ...

Awards and recognition

*Named "illustrious citizen of Colombia" (Spanish: ) by the

President of Colombia The president of Colombia (President of the Republic) is the head of state and head of government of Colombia. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of Colombia, national government and is the commander-in-chief of the Mil ...

Misael Pastrana Borrero Misael Eduardo Pastrana Borrero (14 November 1923 – 21 August 1997) was a Colombian politician and lawyer who served as the 23rd President of Colombia from 1970 to 1974. He was also the father of the 30th President Andrés Pastrana Arango. ...

. *''Honor al Mérito'' medal, awarded by the . *Medal of Artistic Merit, awarded by the Mayor of Barranquilla. *National Music Award, awarded by the Colombian Ministry of Culture. * (2022) in the category of arts and culture, awarded by the Colombian Ministry of Culture. The jury described his work as having "undeniable and evident impact on Colombian culture."

Musical style and notable compositions

Campo Miranda's compositions have been recorded by artists including

, Billo's Caracas Boys,

Lucho Bermúdez Luis Eduardo Bermúdez Acosta (January 25, 1912 – April 23, 1994) better known as Lucho Bermúdez, was a Colombian musician, composer, Arrangement, arranger, director and Performing arts, performer. He is considered to be one of the most importan ...

Nelson Pinedo Napoleón Nelson Pinedo Fedullo (10 February 1928 – 27 October 2016) was a singer from Barranquilla, Colombia. In 1954, Pinedo began a five-year career with the Sonora Matancera, a Cuban ensemble, which at the time had widespread fame in Latin Am ...

, Alejo Durán, and

Alci Acosta Alci Acosta (born Alcibiades Alfonso Acosta Cervantes on 5 November 1938) is a Colombian bolero singer, pianist, and performer of Latin American music including pasillos, corridos, valses, and rancheras. Acosta is a highly successful artist ...

. He composed in a wide range of styles, and his notable compositions include: *

Bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It h ...

s: "Humo Que Quema", "Loca Obsesión", "Refugio", "Bajo Otro Cielo", "Apartamento", "Tatuaje" *

Cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and Africans during colonial times. Cumbia is said to have com ...

s: "Cumbia Celeste", "Hombre de Mar", "Playa, Brisa y Mar" * Merengues–

fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating in Portugal and Spain, usually in triple metre, triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, tambourine or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is u ...

s: "La Cometa", "Nube Viajera", "Pájaro Amarillo", "Uno Para Todos" *Paseos: "Bajo el Ceibal", "Brisas del Valle", "Llano Verde", "Sin Rumbo" *

Porro The porro is a musical style and dance from the Caribbean region of Colombia. It is a Colombian cumbia rhythm that developed into its own subgenre. It was originally a folkloric expression from the Sinú River area that evolved into a ballr ...

s: "Alborada"; "El Embrujao", "El Totumal", "Entre Palmeras", "Lamento Naúfrago", "Mi Delirio", "Miramar", "Pasión Tropical", "Playa", "Remando", "Suspiro Sabanero", "Te Fuiste Paloma", "Viento Verde", "Volaron las Garzas" *Other styles: "Brisas del Valle" (

vallenato Vallenato () is a popular folk music genre from Colombia. It primarily comes from its Caribbean region. ''Vallenato'' literally means "born in the valley". The valley influencing this name is located between the ''Sierra Nevada de Santa Mar ...

), "La Mojana", "El Pescador" (), "Trópico" (porro-merecumbe)

"Lamento Náufrago"

"Lamento Náufrago" is considered one of Campo Miranda's best compositions. He described the song as "my masterpiece. It is the memory of a love that still throbs in my mind." The song was written about a Mexican woman called Adriana whom Campo Miranda met in

Puerto Colombia Puerto Colombia is a coastal town and municipality in Atlántico Department, Colombia founded in the mid-1800s. It is famous for its " Pier of Puerto Colombia", that at one time was the largest pier in the world. Duties were later transferred to ...

; it was first recorded in 1956 by Juancho Esquivel's band with the title "Recuerdos Náufragos", and later by

Chucho Sanoja Jesús "Chucho" Sanoja (September 23, 1926 – December 11, 1998) was a Venezuelan musician, pianist, composer, music director and arranger. Sanoja was survived by his grandson, Jesús Alfonso Sanoja Soulés, an audiovisual producer. A memo ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Campo Miranda, Rafael 1918 births 2024 deaths Colombian musicians Deaths from pneumonia People from Atlántico Department Colombian men centenarians Colombian songwriters