Alfredo Diez Nieto (25 October 1918 – 23 October 2021) was a Cuban composer, conductor, and professor. He taught composition at Instituto Musical Kohly, the

Amadeo Roldán Amadeo Roldán y Gardes (Paris, 12 June 1900 – Havana, 7 March 1939) was a Cuban composer and violinist. Roldán was born in Paris to a Cuban mulatta and a Spanish father. It was his mother, the pianist Albertina Gardes, who initiated her ch ...

Conservatory, the

National Art School The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts ...

, and the

Instituto Superior de Arte The University of Arts of Cuba / Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) was established on 1 September 1976, by the Cuban government as a school for the arts. Its original structure had three schools: Music, Visual Arts, and Performing Arts. History T ...

in Havana. He founded and conducted the Orquesta Popular de Conciertos. Diez Nieto composed orchestral works including three symphonies and chamber music for various instruments, using and transforming elements from Cuban folk music.

Life and career

Alfredo Diez Nieto was born in

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. He enrolled at the Conservatorio Iranzo in Havana and studied composition, counterpoint, fugue, music history, music theory, orchestration, piano, and pedagogy with professors Rosario Iranzo, Jaime Prats, Juana Prendes,

, and Pedro Sanjuán. He completed his education at the

Juilliard School of Music The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named afte ...

in New York, where he studied composition with

Bernard Wagenaar Bernard Wagenaar (July 18, 1894 – May 19, 1971) was a Dutch-American composer, conductor and violinist. Wagenaar was born in Arnhem. He studied at Utrecht University before starting his career as a teacher and conductor in 1914. He moved to ...

, orchestral conducting with Fritz Mahler and piano with

Eduard Steuermann Eduard Steuermann (June 18, 1892, Sambor, Austria-Hungary – November 11, 1964, New York City) was an Austrian-born American pianist and composer. Steuermann studied piano with Vilém Kurz at the Lemberg Conservatory and Ferruccio Busoni in ...

. Diez Nieto began teaching in 1934; he taught composition, counterpoint and fugue, harmony, music history, orchestration, and piano at the Instituto Musical Kohly, the

Conservatory, the

, and the

in Havana. In 1949 Diez Nieto, along with musicologist Odilio Urfé, founded the Musical Institute of Folkloric Research, an organization dedicated to preserving and disseminating information about the

ethnomusicological Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...

history of Cuba. Through this organization, the duo formed the Orquesta Popular de Conciertos (Popular Concert Orchestra), which was formed by freelance musicians and other members of several popular music orchestras. Diez Nieto served as the orchestra's conductor. Urfé described Diez Nieto's work at the Institute as significant to the development of

Cuban music The music of Cuba, including its instruments, performance, and dance, comprises a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west African and European (especially Spanish) music. Due to the syncretic nature of most of its genres, Cuban ...

. The Musical Institute was later renamed in 1963 as the Seminario de Música Popular (Seminary of Popular Music). In 1959, Diez Nieto established the Alejandro García Caturla Conservatory in

Marianao Marianao is one of the 15 municipalities or boroughs (''municipios'' in Spanish) in the city of Havana, Cuba. It lies 6 miles southwest of the original city of Havana, with which it is connected by the Marianao railway. In 2022 the municipality had ...

, Havana. During the years 1965 and 1966, he led the band of the general staff of the

Cuban Revolutionary Army The Cuban Revolutionary Army () serve as the ground forces of Cuba. Formed in 1868 during the Ten Years' War, it was originally known as the Cuban Constitutional Army. Following the Cuban Revolution, the revolutionary military forces was recon ...

. The concerts offered in Havana by the Orquesta Popular de Conciertos at the Church of San Francisco de Paula during 1967, as well as in the Amadeo Roldán Theatre in 1972, were well regarded. In 1971, the Orquesta Popular was renamed the Orquesta Popular de Conciertos Gonzalo Roig. Diez Nieto performed as a pianist and also conducted the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Escuela Nacional de Música and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Camagüey. He conducted works by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Ignacio Cervantes Ignacio Cervantes Kawanag (Havana, 31 July 1847 – Havana, 29 April 1905) was a Cuban pianist and composer. He was influential in the creolization of Cuban music. A child prodigy, he was taught by pianist Juan Miguel Joval, later by composer ...

Alejandro García Caturla Alejandro García Caturla (7 March 1906 – 12 November 1940) was a Cuban composer of art music and creolized Cuban themes. Biography Caturla was born in the town of Remedios, Villa Clara, Cuba. With only sixteen years old, in 1922, he won ...

George Frederick Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, Han ...

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes (3 April 1874, in Havana – 7 September 1944) was a Cuban composer, and an author of books on the history of Cuban folk music. The outstanding habanera ''Tú'', written when he was sixteen, was his best-known com ...

and

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...

; and premiered his Organ Concerto, with Manuel Suárez as a soloist. He also accompanied soloists such as sopranos Emelina López, Yolanda Hernández, Susy Oliva and Lucy Provedo; pianists

Frank Emilio Flynn Francisco Emilio Flynn Rodríguez (April 13, 1921 – August 23, 2001), better known as Frank Emilio Flynn, was a renowned Cuban pianist. Despite being blind, he was a skilled and versatile pianist who mastered many forms of Cuban music, from dan ...

, Julio Hamel, Alberto Joya and

Roberto Urbay Roberto Urbay (born August 8, 1953 in Havana) is a Cuban concert pianist and piano professor. Biography Roberto Urbay studied at Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana, Cuba where he was instructed by Margot Rojas Mendoza and Silvio Rodríguez Cá ...

; violinists Rafael Lay,

Armando Ortega Armando Manuel Aurelio Ortega Carrillo, known as Maestro Armando Ortega, was a Mexican musician, the Director of Coro de la Escuela Secundaria y de Bachilleres de Orizaba (ESBO). His maternal great-grandfather was the philanthropist Don Manuel ...

, and Celso Valdés Santandreu; flutists

Richard Egües Richard Egües, nicknamed "la flauta mágica" (the magic flute), (October 26, 1923 - September 1, 2006) was a Cuban flautist and musician, one of the country's most famous artists. Egües was a member of the Orquesta Aragón band which he joined in ...

and Alfredo Portela; oboist María de los Ángeles Castellanos; guitarist

Flores Chaviano Flores Chaviano (born 10 December 1946) is a Cuban composer, guitarist, professor and orchestral conductor that has achieved great international recognition. Academic background Flores Chaviano began his musical studies in his native city of Ca ...

; and clarinetist Rubén Noriega. Diez Nieto died in Havana of a heart attack on 23 October 2021, shortly before his 103rd birthday. At the time of his death, he was the oldest active composer in Cuba.

Work

Diez Nieto's compositions employ elements typical of Cuban folk music. He never directly quotes from folk music, but creates original music which recalls it; such as in his pieces ''Los Diablitos'' (''The Little Devils'', 1969) based on an Afro-Cuban Abakuá dance, and ''Yo te pedí un aguinaldo'' ("I asked you for a Christmas bonus"; "aguinaldo" also refers to a flowering plant common in Cuba) for voice and orchestra. His compositions have been performed in Spain, Russia, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland. Among his best-known works are the series of ''Estampas'' (Prints) for piano, Symphony No. 1 (1943), Violin Sonata, Guitar Sonata, and ''En memoria de mi esposa Lillian'' (In memory of my wife Lillian, 2010). Other important works include his Piano Sonata, ''Sudor y látigo'' (''Sweat and Whip''), and the Quintet for String Orchestra.

Awards

Nieto received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to teaching and developing the

music of Cuba The music of Cuba, including its instruments, performance, and dance, comprises a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west African and European (especially Spanish) music. Due to the syncretic nature of most of its genres, Cuban ...

, such as a

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the Universidad de las Artes of the

, the Premio Nacional de Música (National Music Award) (2004), Premio Nacional de Enseñanza Artística (National Award of Artistic Teaching) (2005), the Order of Félix Varela, first degree (2020) and the Distinción Abelardo Estorino en Teatro (Abelardo Estorino Distinction in Theater, 2020) from the Ministry of Culture.

References

External links

Alfredo Diez Nieto
cubanosfamosos.com *
Alfredo Diez Nieto (Composer)
prestomusic.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diez Nieto, Alfredo 1918 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Cuban classical composers 20th-century Cuban male musicians 21st-century classical composers 21st-century Cuban male musicians Cuban men centenarians Juilliard School alumni Pupils of Eduard Steuermann Latin music composers Musicians from Havana