Blas Parera Moret (3 February 1776 – 7 January 1840) was a Spanish music

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. He lived his part of his life in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Argentina. He was born in

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

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 ...

to two Catalan parents. In 1797, he moved to

where he contributed in the defense of the port of Buenos Aires during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata. He composed the ''Marcha Patriotica,'' which became the Argentine National Anthem, together with songwriter Vicente López y Planes in 1813. He also was a

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

in the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Church of St. Ignatius, and the Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy. On October 14, 1809, Parera married Facunda del Rey, a fifteen-year-old orphan who was a student of his. Before their marriage, she had lived in the ''Home of the Founding Children'' orphanage, where she sang in the choir. The two were married in the church of San Nicolás de Bari. He died in poverty in Mataró, Spain on 7 January 1840. He also lived during the romantic period of arts.

References

National anthem writers Spanish male composers Composers from Catalonia Argentine composers 1776 births 1840 deaths {{spain-composer-stub