Rodrigo Prats (February 7, 1909 – September 15, 1980) was a Cuban

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 ...

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 orchestrat ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist,

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and orchestral director.

Biography

The son of a musician, Jaime Prats, Rodrigo began to study music at the age of nine. He studied at first under his father, then under Emilio Reynosa, and finished later at the Conservatorio Orbón. When only thirteen he played violin in the Cuban Jazz Band, the first band of its type in Cuba, which was directed by his father. At around the same time he joined the ''Orquesta Sinfónica de la Habana'', founded by

Gonzalo Roig Gonzalo Roig Lobo (Havana, 20 July 1890 – Havana, 13 June 1970) was a Cuban composer, pianist, violinist and musical director. He was a pioneer of the symphonic movement in Cuba. His most popular works are the zarzuela ''Cecilia Valdés#Zarz ...

. Prats' first work as a director of an orchestra was for the theatrical company of Arquímedes Pous; later he fronted many other groups. He was the founder of the radio band ''Orquesta Sinfónica del Aire'', the ''Orquesta de Cámara del Círculo de Bellas Artes''. He was deputy director of the ''Orquesta Filharmónica de la Habana'', musical director of '' RHC-Cadena Azul'', and of ''Canal 4 de TV''. Prats was the founder and director at the ''Teatro

Jorge Anckermann Jorge Anckermann (22 March 1877 – 3 February 1941) was a Cuban pianist, composer and bandleader. Havana-born, he started in music at eight with his father. At age ten he was able to substitute in a trio. In 1892, he went to Mexico as musical ...

'', and the musical director of the ''Teatro Lírico de La Habana''. He joined the faculty of Havana's Studio Sylvia M. Goudie in 1956 after his stint at the Iranzo Conservatory. His body of work includes popular music,

sainete A sainete (farce or titbit) was a popular Spanish comic opera piece, a one-act dramatic vignette, with music. It was often placed at the end of entertainments, or between other types of performance. It was vernacular in style, and used scenes of lo ...

s (short comedies), and

zarzuelas () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name o ...

. Prats composed ''Una rosa de Francia'', a famous

criolla Criolla is a genre of Cuban music which is closely related to the music of the Cuban Coros de Clave and a genre of Cuban popular music called Clave. The Clave became a very popular genre in the Cuban vernacular theater and was created by compo ...

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 ...

, at 15, and many other pieces, including ''Aquella noche'', ''Espero de ti'', ''Creo que te quiero'' and ''El tamalero''. He wrote the music for sainetes such as ''El bravo'' and ''Soledad'', and zarzuelas such as ''Amalia Batista'', ''El pirata'', ''Guamá'', ''La perla del Caribe'' and ''María Belén Chacón''. It is probably this work for the

Cuban musical theatre Cuban musical theatre has its own distinctive style and history. From the 18th century (at least) to modern times, popular theatrical performances included music and often dance as well. Many composers and musicians had their careers launched in the ...

for which he is best remembered. Of these, the song associated with ''Amalia Batista'' is perhaps one of the best-known standards of Latin American music, having been recorded by multiple artists around the world.

Works or publications

*''Amalia Batista : zarzuela''. *''Comparsa de la perla del Caribe''. *''Corazón no llores''. *''Dolor y amor : bolero''. *''Los poemas musicales : composiciones liricas''. *''María Belén Chacón : romanza cubana''. *''Romanzas y canciones cubanas''. *''Una rosa de Francia''.

References

External links

*Library and archival resources by or abou
Rodrigo Prats

Magali O. Acosta Collection, 1956–1960
at th
Cuban Heritage Collection
University of Miami Libraries. This archival collection contains parts and scores for arrangements written by Prats between 1956 and 1960.
A selection of Prats's original scores
, including the zarzuela ''Amalia Batista'', has been digitized by the Cuban Heritage Collection. {{DEFAULTSORT:Prats, Rodrigo 1909 births 1980 deaths Cuban classical violinists People from Sagua la Grande Cuban male classical violinists Cuban classical pianists Cuban classical composers Cuban opera composers 20th-century Cuban conductors (music) 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century Cuban classical composers 20th-century classical pianists Cuban male classical composers Male opera composers Male classical pianists 20th-century male musicians