Rafael Suárez Mujica (December 1, 1929 - September 30, 1971) was a
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...
n
composer,
conductor
Conductor or conduction may refer to:
Music
* Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra.
* ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas
* Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...
, and
arranger
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestra ...
.
["Suarez, Rafael (1929 - 1971)"]
''Nine Venezuelan Composers and a Catalogue of their Choral Works'', Cristian Grases, University of Miami.
Early life and education
Suárez was born in El Poblado, Isla de Margarita, Venezuela. He began his musical studies in 1945 at the ''Escuela Superior de Música'' in Caracas under the direction of Maestro Ramos and later under the direction of Maestro
Vicente Emilio Sojo
Vicente Emilio Sojo (December 8, 1887 – August 11, 1974) was a Venezuelan musicologist, educator and composer, born in Guatire, Miranda.
Biography
Vicente Emilio Sojo was born to a musical family. Most notable was the fact that both his gr ...
, until 1952. Later, he travelled to Europe to undertake advanced music studies with Maestro Dante Ullu, head of the chair of advanced score reading,
composition
Composition or Compositions may refer to:
Arts and literature
* Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography
*Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...
, orchestral conducting,
counterpoint, and
fugue
In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the co ...
at the
Academia di Santa Cecilia
The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia ( en, National Academy of St Cecilia) is one of the oldest musical institutions in the world, founded by the papal bull ''Ratione congruit'', issued by Sixtus V in 1585, which invoked two saints prom ...
in Rome, Italy. He was designated as conductor of the Experimental Orchestra of the Academia di Santa Cecilia, and the "Ente Stanislao" Orchestra of Termi (Italy).
Career
Returning to Venezuela, Suárez focused in choral conduction. He founded a number of choirs, including Orfeón de la Juventud Católica de la Parroquia Santa Teresa, Coral del Cuartel “Rafael Urdaneta”, Coral del Colegio de Abogados del Distrito Federal, Coral del Centro de Profesionales del Estado Aragua, and the Coral Shell, while he served as associate conductor of the Coral Venezuela.
Suárez composed a number of musical works. Many of his best known pieces were created for the
Quinteto Contrapunto, a group which he founded in 1962, and for which he wrote vocal arrangements with demanding technical requirements of traditional Venezuelan folk songs.
These arrangements were published by FUNVES, Instituto de Musicología. Suárez was music director and also sang in the quintet.
A summary of his work is included in the document ''Nine Venezuelan Composers and a Catalogue of their Choral Works'', by Cristian Grases, University of Miami.
Died in Caracas, Venezuela on September 30, 1971.
References
External links
FUNVES, Instituto de Musicología Miguel Astor, editor; ''Arreglos de Rafael Suárez para el Quinteto Contrapunto''
Polifonico Rafael Suarez (Biography in left side of the page, in Spanish)
* ttp://www.sincopa.com/traditional/artists2/quinteto_contrapunto.htm Quinteto Contrapunto Discographybr>Quinteto Contrapunto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suárez, Rafael
1929 births
1971 deaths
Venezuelan composers
Venezuelan conductors (music)
Male conductors (music)
People from Nueva Esparta
20th-century conductors (music)
20th-century male musicians