Sylvia Regina Rexach González (January 22, 1922 – October 20, 1961) was a Puerto Rican comedy scriptwriter, poet, singer and composer of
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 ...
s.
Early years
Rexach was born and raised in
Santurce, Puerto Rico
Santurce (, meaning Saint George from Basque language, Basque ''Santurtzi'') is the largest and most populated Barrios of San Juan, Puerto Rico, barrio of the Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan, the cap ...
. Her parents were Julio E. Rexach of Fajardo, and María Teresa González, of San Juan, Puerto Rico. There she attended public school and received her primary education. She then went to a private school where she finished her secondary education before attending the Central High School of Santurce. During her high school years, when she was 14 years old, she wrote several poems which were to become part of her musical compositions. She amazed her teachers when she composed "''Di, Corazón''" (Tell me, Heart) and "''Matiz de Amor''" (Calm Love). Rexach also learned how to play musical instruments, such as the
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
, the
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
and the
saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...
at a young age.
World War II
Rexach enrolled in the
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...
where she was going to take a pre-legal course; however, when the United States entered World War II in 1942, Rexach dropped-out of the university and joined the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
as a member of the WACS (
Women Army Corps Service), where she served as an office clerk.
Post World War II
After the war, Rexach was discharged from the armed forces. She married army officer William J. Riley with whom she had three children which included actress/singer
Sharon Riley. The marriage eventually ended in a divorce and she returned to Puerto Rico, where she went to work for a radio station as a comical script writer, first for producer
Tommy Muñiz
Lucas Tomás Muñiz Ramírez (4 February 1922 – 15 January 2009), better known as Tommy Muñiz, was a Puerto Rican comedy and drama actor, media producer, businessman and network owner. He is considered to be one of the pioneering figures of ...
, and later for comedian
Ramón Rivero
Ramón Rivero (May 29, 1909 – August 24, 1956) — known as Diplo — was a Puerto Rican comedian, actor, and composer. Rivero made his television debut in Puerto Rico in "La Taberna India" (The India Tavern), the first comedy/variety ...
"Diplo". She was the founder of the first Combo in Puerto Rico consisting entirely of women. They were named Las Damiselas (The Damsels), and besides Rexach included:
Idalia Rosario,
Marta Romero, Millita Quiñones, Elena Rita Ortiz, and Ketty Cabán.
Singing career
In 1951, Rexach had a newspaper column called "A Sotto Voce" where she was a music critic.
She was also a co-founder of The Puerto Rican Society of Authors, Composers and Music Editors (''Sociedad Puertorriqueña de Autores, Compositores y Editores de Música'').
She was its Secretary Director, a position which held until the day of her death.
[La Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular](_blank)
/ref>
The tones of Rexach's compositions varied from the soft and romantic to the harsh and tormented. Among her compositions that became hits in Puerto Rico and abroad were: "''Alma Adentro''" (Inner Soul, actually a homage to a brother who died in an accident), "''Idilio''", "''Olas y Arenas''" (Waves and Sands), "''Mi Versión''" (My Version), "''Nave sin Rumbo''" (Wandering Ship), "''Di, Corazón''" and "''Matiz de Amor''". She even wrote a humorous novelty song, "''Cuchú cuchía''", which features Rafael Hernández Marín as a co-composer.
Sylvia Rexach, was an alcoholic at the time of her death October 20, 1961, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her death certificate states the cause as an intestinal obstruction, complicated by a duodenal atresia
Duodenal atresia is the congenital absence or complete closure of a portion of the lumen (anatomy), lumen of the duodenum. It causes increased levels of amniotic fluid during pregnancy (polyhydramnios) and intestinal obstruction in newborn babies. ...
. She was buried at Cementerio Buxeda in Carolina, Puerto Rico
Carolina (; ) is a Carolina barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the northeastern coastal plain of Puerto Rico, immediately east of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan and Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, Trujillo Alto, n ...
.
Legacy
Her compositions have been recorded by many other artists, such as Marco Antonio Muñiz, Danny Rivera, Gilberto Monroig, Chucho Avellanet
Armando Hipólito Avellanet González, nicknamed "Chucho", is a Puerto Rican singer and comedic actor of Spanish-Catalan descent. Avellanet was involved with the Nueva ola movement in the 1960s.
See also
* List of Puerto Ricans
This is a ...
, Lucecita Benítez
Luz Esther Benítez Rosado (born July 22, 1942), also known as Lucecita, is a Puerto Rican singer, part of the country's new wave popular music. Born in Bayamon, a large city in Puerto Rico, she participated in amateur radio shows.
Benítez's m ...
, Juan Luis Barry, Linda Ronstadt
Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music.
Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...
, Ednita Nazario
Edna María Nazario Figueroa (born April 11, 1955) is a Puerto Rican Latin pop singer who has achieved stardom both at home and abroad. She has been in the music business from a young age and has released twenty-three studio albums, seven live ...
, Lourdes Pérez
Lourdes Pérez (born Bernardita de Lourdes Pérez Cruz on February 12, 1961) is a Puerto Rican contemporary recording artist, songwriter, composer, arranger, poet, contralto vocalist, oral historian and guitarist. She is also one of few female ...
, Lunna
Lunna (born June 30, 1955; born María Socorro García de la NocedaGarcia de la Noceda is her paternal surname) is a Puerto Rican singer of popular music and jazz who was the director of the television show '' Objetivo Fama'', the Latin versio ...
, and Maritzaida. Two television specials were made about Sylvia's life, "''Sylvia, en tu Memoria''" (Sylvia, in your Memory) and Ángela Meyer
Ángela del Carmen Maurano Debén (born August 2, 1947), better known as Ángela Meyer, is a Puerto Rican actress, comedian, producer of television and theatrical works, and politician. Meyer is the founder and/or co-founder of various entertain ...
's "''El fondo del Dolor''" (In the Deepest Pain) starring Sharon Riley, Sylvia's daughter.
In 2001, Rexach was posthumously inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame
The International Latin Music Hall of Fame (ILMHF) was an annual event established in 1999 and held in New York City to honor artists who have largely contributed to the Latin music genre.
In addition to the induction into the Hall of Fame, the a ...
. There is a theater "El Teatro Sylvia Rexach" named after Rexach in San Juan and in the Luis A. Ferre Center of Fine Arts, there is a Sylvia Rexach Cafe Theater.
On May 29, 2014, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico honored 12 illustrious women who by virtue of their merits and legacies stand out in the history of Puerto Rico with plaques in the "Plaza en Honor a la Mujer Puertorriqueña" (Plaza Honoring Puerto Rican Women) in San Juan. Rexach was among those honored.La Mujer en nuestra historia
/ref>
See also
*List of Puerto Ricans
This is a list of notable people from Puerto Rico which includes people who were born in Puerto Rico (Borinquen) and people who are of full or partial Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican descent. Puerto Rican citizens are included, as the governm ...
* Puerto Rican songwriters
* List of female composers
*List of composers by nationality
The following is a list of composers by nationality.
Albania
* Simon Gjoni (1926–1991), composer of orchestral and piano pieces
* Tonin Harapi (1925–1991)
* Agim Krajka (1937–2021), composer of the National Song Festival
* Aleksand� ...
* History of women in Puerto Rico
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rexach, Sylvia
1922 births
1961 deaths
Musicians from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican Army personnel
Puerto Rican women composers
20th-century Puerto Rican women singers
20th-century Puerto Rican singers
Puerto Rican poets
Puerto Rican women singer-songwriters
Puerto Rican women in the military
United States Army soldiers
Women's Army Corps soldiers
Women in the United States Army
Women in World War II
Women in Latin music