Federico Smith, born as Frederick Anthony Smith (1929–1977) was a Cuban composer born in the United States.

Biography

Composer and professor Federico Smith was born in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, New York City, on March 2, 1929.Orovio, Helio: ''Cuban music from A to Z'', Duke University Press, Durham, U. S., 2004, p. 202 Smith began his musical studies in his country, and in 1950 travelled to Mexico where he lived for the next 12 years. There, Smith continued his studies and contributed as a music critic to the ''Política'' magazine, an important leftist Mexican publication. That participation suggests an ideological tendency that had already manifested in his involvement with American communist organizations and his studies of

Marxist philosophy Marxist philosophy or Marxist theory are works in philosophy that are strongly influenced by Karl Marx's Historical materialism, materialist approach to theory, or works written by Marxists. Marxist philosophy may be broadly divided into Wester ...

.González Moreno, Liliana: ''Federico Smith: Cosmopolitismo y vanguardia'', Ediciones CIDMUC, Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución, Cuba In 1962, Smith travelled to

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.Alfonso Arau Alfonso Arau Incháustegui (; born 11 January 1932) is a Mexican filmmaker and actor. He worked as an actor and director in both Mexican and Hollywood productions for over 40 years, before his international breakthrough with the 1992 film ''Li ...

with the purpose of collaborating in the reorganization project of the "Teatro Musical de La Habana", and in Cuba he stayed until his death in 1977. The purpose of the "Teatro Musical de La Habana" project was to create a presentation that may include pantomime, dance, song and music hall performance, based on a popular style and inspired by de English

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

, that was closely related to the musical comedy. Smith's tasks included the composition of musical shows and the actors' training. Due to his professional prowess and deep knowledge of mathematics, art, politics and other academic disciplines, Smith was considered a brilliant intellectual with hints of genius during his lifetime; but his professional career, that included musical composition, pedagogy and musical criticism, was negatively influenced by a noticeable addiction to alcohol and tobacco that most probable caused his early decease. Smith lived almost six years in the

Matanzas Matanzas (Cuban ; ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas Province, Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-American religions, Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Mat ...

province, from mid-1971 until his death in 1977; and in that city he developed an outstanding professional and creative activity as a composer, professor and conductor. Smith founded an organization in Matanzas called Siglo XX, with the purpose of "promoting the music of our times and all times; especially

the Cuban ''The Cuban'' is a 2019 Canadian drama film, directed by Sergio Navarretta and written by Alessandra Piccione. The film stars Ana Golja as Mina, a young woman working at a nursing home managed by her aunt Bano (Shohreh Aghdashloo) while prepari ...

and

Latin-American music The music of Latin America refers to music originating from Latin America, namely the Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese-speaking regions of the Americas south of the United States. Latin American music highly incorpor ...

". Among the activities developed by that cultural organization was the first performance in Cuba of the ''

Six Metamorphoses after Ovid ''Six Metamorphoses after Ovid'' (Op. 49) is a piece of programme music for solo oboe written by English composer Benjamin Britten in 1951. History The piece was inspired by Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''. It is dedicated to oboist Joy Boughton, da ...

'' by

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

, and the interpretation of ''

L'Histoire du soldat ', or ''Tale of the Soldier'' (as it was first published), is an hour-long 1918 theatrical work to be "read, played and danced ''()''" by three actors, one or more dancers, and a septet of instruments. Its music is by Igor Stravinsky, its libret ...

'' by

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

. The death of Smith occurred in total isolation, when he was just 48 years old, probably induced by an untreated bronchial pneumonia; although it is also possible that it would be related to a marked physical decay produced by alcoholism.

Academic background

According to a concert program from the group "Nueva Música de México" (New Music of Mexico), Smith began his musical training in the city of Los Angeles, California. He also declared in an employment form to have concluded three years of university training in 1949. In a composer's biography preserved by the Cuban "Casa de las Américas", some piano courses with professor Klaus Goetzer are mentioned. Smith travelled to Mexico in 1950, a country where he was going to live during the next 12 years between Mexico City and the state of

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

. In 1951, Smith entered Mexico's National Conservatory of Music, where he underwent and concluded studies of musical composition and was an active member of the Students Society. There he found in Carlos Jiménez Mabarak a valuable educator committed to the youngest generations. Several records indicate that he received training in composition and

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

from

Blas Galindo Blas Galindo Dimas (February 3, 1910 – April 19, 1993) was a Mexican composer. Biography Born in San Gabriel, Jalisco, Galindo studied intermittently from 1931 to 1944 at the National Conservatory in Mexico City, studying with Carlos Chávez ...

, analysis from

Rodolfo Halffter Rodolfo Halffter Escriche (30 October 1900 – 14 October 1987) was a Spanish composer, music critic, and professor with Mexican citizenship (from 1939). He wrote in a style always informed by his early engagement with the modernist aesthetics o ...

and instrumentation from

José Pablo Moncayo José Pablo Moncayo García (June 29, 1912 – June 16, 1958) was a Mexican pianist, percussionist, music teacher, composer and conductor. "As composer, José Pablo Moncayo represents one of the most important legacies of the Mexican nationali ...

Professor

Smith worked as professor of harmony, musical analysis, music history and composition at the

National Art Schools (Cuba) The National Art Schools (Escuelas Nacionales de Arte) of Cuba is one of the most important educational institutions of the Cuban nation and has been declared as "National Monument". Cuba's National Art Schools (Escuelas Nacionales de Arte, now k ...

from 1963 to 1966, and there he served as guide and support to many young musicians who later were going to be excellent professionals; Calixto Álvarez was one of them. His interest for the utilization of mathematical models in analysis and musical composition exerted an important influence in the development of composition techniques such as aleatorism,

stochastic Stochastic (; ) is the property of being well-described by a random probability distribution. ''Stochasticity'' and ''randomness'' are technically distinct concepts: the former refers to a modeling approach, while the latter describes phenomena; i ...

and

electro-acoustic music Electroacoustic music is a genre of Western art music in which composers use recording technology and audio signal processing to manipulate the timbres of acoustic sounds in the creation of pieces of music. It originated around the middle of the ...

in Cuba. At a later time, between 1969 and 1972, Smith took part in the group of professors that imparted substantial knowledge to the members of a group called "Experimental Sound Group" (GESI) at the Cuban film institute ICAIC.

Composer

Smith composed numerous works for concerts, radio, TV and cinema, characterized by their innovative and experimental style, and in 1966, he collaborated as an arranger and composer with the

Cuban Institute of Radio and Television The Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (; ICRT) was the government agency responsible for the control of radio and television broadcasters in Cuba. On August 24, 2021, the institute ceased to operate and was replaced by the Institute of In ...

(ICRT).

Other activities

During his stay in Mexico, Smith worked as composer, professor and promoter of the Escuela de Danza (Dance School) of the

Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes The Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL, ), located in the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, is the Mexican institution in charge of coordinating artistic and cultural activities (both at the political and the educati ...

. He also participated in the group "Nueva música de México" (New music from Mexico) and lived with the indigenous communities of the Sierra

Purépecha The Purépecha ( ) are a group of Indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of Michoacán, Mexico, mainly in the area of the cities of Cherán and Pátzcuaro. They are also known by the derogatory term " Tarascan", an exonym, app ...

in the state of

where he developed important ethnological studies. He also collaborated as music critic for ''Política'' magazine between December 1960 and 1962; and took mathematics classes at the

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

(UNAM).

Awards

Smith received the following awards at the "26 de Julio" National Composition Awards Contest: * 1969 – Sympbonic Music Award: ''Música para dos saxofones y orquesta'' * 1971 – Chamber Music Award: ''Música para orquesta No. 3'' * 1973 – Choral Music Award: ''Versos sencillos'' * 1975 – Symphonic Music Award: ''Matanzas 281'' * 1976 – Symphonic Music Award: ''Carta abierta'' * 1976 – Chamber Music Mention: Quinteto

Partial list of works

* Music for the show ¡Oh, la gente! * Trio – oboe, guitar and percussion * "Música para dos saxofones y orquesta" * Concierto – oboe and string quartet * Carta abierta – String orchestra and narrator. Musicalization of the "Versos sencillos" of

José Martí José Julián Martí Pérez (; 28 January 1853 – 19 May 1895) was a Cuban nationalism, nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in ...

. Mixed choir. * Bicinia – two bassoons * Matanzas 281 – Homage to the 281th anniversary of the City of Matanzas foundation – 1974 – Symphony orchestra, band, mixed choir, 4 narrators, batá drums and electro-acoustics.

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

Catalogue Général: Notice bibliografique: Titre conventionnel
Matanzas 281
Auteur(s) Federico Smith

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Federico 1929 births 1977 deaths Cuban male classical composers Cuban classical composers Cuban composers 20th-century male composers Cuban male musicians American emigrants to Cuba Musicians from Manhattan