Art Music of Caribbean Latin American
     
     Welcome to our site and I hope you enjoy reading about the diverse musical cultures of the Caribbean, including The Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico.


This site was designed by:
    
     Lorry Ellis-Editor
     Ashley Taylor-Photojournalist
     Shawna Irwin (Costin)-Reporter
     Muguette Maignan-Reporter

TIMELINE OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

1492-  Christopher Columbus visits the island, which he names Hispaniola (“Little Spain”)
1494-  First church music performed at the mass celebrated at La Isabela

1496-  First Spanish colony at Santo Domingo (Subsequently served as the capital of all Spanish colonies in South America)
1510-  The first shipment of Africans to Santo Domingo
1515-  The indigenous Taino Indians were practically annihilated due to continuous clashes and rebellion against the Spanish
1598-  First position of organist was instituted in Santo Domingo

1697-  Treaty of Ryswick gives Haiti to France and the present Dominican Republic to Spain.
1698-  Calenda earliest documentation of music and dance of the African Slaves

1795-  Spain cedes its portion of Hispaniola island to France
1808-  Spain retakes Santo Domingo following revolt by Spanish Creoles
1810-  Overthrow of the king of Spain by Napoleon
1810-  Singing of High Masses were suspended for lack of musicians and then the situation was reversed during Spanish rule (1861-1965)

1810-  Juan Bautista Alfonseca the “father of Dominican music” was born

1822- Haitian Republic is born
1844 Feb 27-  Dominican Republic gained independence from Haiti. Santo Domingo declares its independence and becomes the Dominican Republic
1844-  First National Anthem:  Himno de la independencia (Hymn of the Independence) was composed by Juan Bautista Alfonseca

1850-  Dominican merengue introduced by Juan Bautista Alfonseca

1850- Concert and salon music begin to flourish

1855, 1869, 1885-  Private schools of music were created

1861-  Second National Anthem:  Himno de la restauracion (Hymn of the Restoration)

1863-  Third National Anthem:  Himno Nacional Dominicano was first sung

1876-  Jose de Jesus Ravelo was born

1880-  Accordion introduced by the Germans

1895-  Luis Emilio Mena was born

1904-  Octeto del Casino de la Juventud by Jose de Jesus Ravelo

1906-  Luis Alberti was born

1908-  Liceo Musical was established by Jose de Jesus Ravelo

1913-  First Commercial recordings of operas, zarzuelas and dance music.

1916-24-  US forces occupy the Dominican Republic following internal disorder
1918-  Juan Francis Garcia published the first Merengue

1922-  Creation of Sociedad de Conciertos by Jose de Jesus Ravelo

1924-  First radio station HIH

1924-  Constitutional government assumes control and the US forces withdraw.

1925-  Alto Saxophone was introduced

1942-  Conservatorio Nacional was founded (formerly Liceo Musical)

1945-  First television station, Radio-television La Voz Dominicana

1959-  First recordings fully manufactured at the Fabrica Dominicana de Discos

1980’s-  Development of Bachata


THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC FLAG                THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MAP
                 

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC COMPOSERS

Juan Bautista Alfonseca (1810-1875) 

Juan was a self-taught composer born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  He was the earliest known Dominican composer of merengue.  Although he lacked musical training he was known as the “father of Dominican music”.  In, 1846 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and he led the first military band and participated in the battles against Haitian rule to lift the spirits of the soldiers with their music.  He composed classics and his music reached a wide audience because it was associated with local culture (Juana Quilina; El sancocho; Ay  Coco!) (Encaribe.com, 2010).  He wrote the country’s first National Anthem which he made it a mangulina, not a merengue.   His music served to make people forget the effects of economic and social crisis of 1857 (El que tiene mil pesos no baila = Who does not have thousand dollars does not dance) (Encaribe.com, 2010).   His work also includes merengues, mangulinas, danzas, waltzes, misereres, and other religious pieces. 

Alfonseca’s manuscripts did not survive 

and only the first 2 lines of “Juana Quilana” 

text survived. 

Discography:

¡Ay, Cocó! 

¿Valverde Por Qué Estás Triste? 

Boca Canasta 

Boca Canasta 

Canción Dominicana 

El Carlito Cayó En El Pozo

El Juramento 

El Morrocoy 

El Que No Tiene Mil Pesos No Baila 

El Retozo De Los Viejos 

El Sancocho 

Himno A La Batalla De Las Carreras 

Huye Marcos Rojas Que Te Coge La Pelota 

Juana Quilina 

La Cadena 

La Chupadera 

Los Pastelitos 

Bibliography:  

Austerlitz, P. 1997.  Dominican Music and Merengue, Dominican Identity.     Temple University Press.  Philadelphia. Pgs. 23-24.

Davis, M. and Austerlitz, P. 2012.  “Dominican Republic” Grove Music Online, Oxford Music.  Retrieved from:  http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/44000

Encaribe.org. 2010.  “Juan Bautista Alfonseca” Encyclopedia of History and Culture of the Caribbean.  Retrieved from:  http://www.encaribe.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1023:juan-bautista-alfonseca-baris&catid=98:musica&Itemid=142

Guerrero, J.G. 2012.  Merengue and Salsa:  The Cultural Expression of the Spanish Speaking Caribbean.  Retrieved from:  http://kaleidoscope.caribseek.com/Articles/publish/Merengue_and_Salsa.shtml

                                      Jose de Jesus Ravelo (1876-1951) 

Jose was a self-taught composer and educationist.  He was the clarinet student of Master Juan Francisco Pereyra.  In 1894-1900, he was the director of the Banda Pacificador (Peacemaker band) and resigned once choral singing was introduced into school education and subsequently, he was appointed as a music educationist.  He taught music at Santo Tomas where he founded the first youth band and taught at Salome Urena.  In 1908, he founded and directed the first government supported school Liceo de Musica until 1942 (later renamed National Conservatory of Music) (Kuss, 2007).  In 1904 until his death in 1951 he was the conductor and director of the Octeto del Casino de la Juventud and later renamed the Sociedad de Conciertos (Kuss 2007).  Ravelo also served as the president of the First Dominican Congress of Music and in 1934 he published a historical work called “History of the Hymns of Dominicans”.  

Ravelo has composed over 200 works and his genres include numerous of religious works as well as chamber music, waltzes, romance, motet, masses, and oratorios.  He is best-known for the oratorio of La muerte de Cristo which is performed customarily during high mass on Good Fridays.  “Ravelo’s music is the primary link between late 19th-century Romanticism and the beginnings of a Dominican national school” (Davis, 2012)

Discography:

A San Jose, Op179:  Sp; 1941.

Adeste, fideles, Op171:  Lat; motet, 1940.

Alleluia, alleuluia, Op153:  1939.

Alma de Christo, Op199:  Sp; motet, 1943.

Alma redemptoris mater:  Lat; 1940. 

Ave Maris Stella, Op137:  Lat; 1938.

Ave verum Corpus, Op18:  motet, 1904

Ave, Regina, Op156:  Latin, 1939.

Cor Jesu, Op105:  motet; 1928.

Crucem tuam, Op178:  Lat; 1941.

Himno de las Mercedes, Op134:  orch; 1938.

Inviolata, Op177:  Lat; motet, 1941.

Jesu dulcis memoria, Op106:  1928.

La Muerte de Cristo (segun san Mateo), oratorio, prem 1939.

La Resurrecion de Cristo, Op185:  oratorio, 1942.

Las Siete Palabras, Op198:  Sp; 1943.

Libera me Domine, Op140:  orch; 1939.

Misa de Requiem, Op169:  Lat; 1915.

Misa en sol, Lat; 1915.

Misa Solemne, prem 1940.

Missa Brevis, Op213:  1945.

O salutaris, Op162:  motet, 1903.

Oye la voz, Op209:  motet, 1944.

Per imsum, Op189:  Lat; 1943.

Plegaria a la Altagracia, Op174: 1940.

Presta, Senor, oido…,  Op212:  Sp; 1945.

Recordare, Jesu Pie, Op129:  prayer, 1939.

Regina coeli laetari, Op160:  Lat; 1940.

Salve regina, Op149:  Lat: 1939.

Salve regina, Op56:  Lat: 1916.

Tantum Ergo, Op103:  Lat; motet, 1928.

Tantum Ergo, Op181:  Lat; motet, 1941.

Tantum Ergo, Op223:  Lat; motet, 1947.

Tota pulchra, Op147:  Lat; 1939.

Bibliography:

Apel, W., 1969.  Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2^nd edition, Belknay Press of Harvard University press, Cambridge, MA.  Pg.240

Davis, M, 2012.  “Jose de Jesus Ravelo” Grove Music Online, Oxford Music.  Retrieved from:  http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.lib.umb.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/46929q=jose+de+jesus+ravelo&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit

Encyclopedia of the Nations, 2012, Dominican Republic:  Famous Dominicans.  Retrieved from:  http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/Dominican-Republic-Famous-Dominicans.html.

Kuss, M., 2007, Performing the Caribbean Experience:  Music in Latin America and the Caribbean.  Texas University Press, Austin Texas. Pg. 239

Tiemstra, S., 1992.  The Chorus Music of Latin America- A guide to Composition and Research, Greenwood Publishing, New York.  

Luis Emilio Mena (1895-1964) 

Luis was a composer, conductor and teacher.  He studied the flute, harmony and composition with Jose de Jesus Ravelo at the Santa Teresita Academy.  Began playing in a band at the age of 14; he also learned to play the piano, oboe, cello and bassoon.  He was integrated in the youth band of the Octeto del Casino de la Juventud.  After abandoning a dentistry degree he studied with Alfredo Soler at the Liceo Musical in Santo Domingo.  In 1916, he graduated as a professor of flute in the Liceo de Musica.  His first musical work was La chaquetera Mignon Lucesita, a mazurka which was re-named to Lucila.  He directed several music schools and was invited many times to take the stage and direct the orchestras of radio stations HIX and HIN.  In 1932, he was the founding member of the Symphony Orchestra of Santo Domingo, which was the precursor of the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional which he conducted many times.

In 1934, Capricho Impromtu and Invocacion were known in Philadelphia thanks to the author’s own management who took initiative to send works abroad.  In 1937, a New York radio station transmitted a concert that feature the work Gugu which was written for flute and piano.  His music includes salon, chamber music and arrangements for string quartet and guitar.  The orchestral suite Recuerdos de infancia is well known to Dominican audiences.  His important works include Sinfonia giocosa and Ecos de la libertad, a symphonic fantasy on three Dominican national anthems (eltrendeyaguaramas.blogia.com, 2012).  

Discography:

Alfonso XIII, Paso doble, 1926

Capricho impromptu, 1934

Como un sueno, Suite for fluite and piano

Ecos de libertad

Fantasia for clarinet and orchestra

Gugu for flute and piano

Invocacion, 1934

La Mignon chaquetera Lucesita, Mazutka, 1913

Romanza for violin and orchestra

Sinfonia giocosa

Bibliography:

Davis, M, 2012.  “Luis Emilio Mena” Grove Music Online, Oxford Music.  Retrieved from:
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.lib.umb.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/46928?q=luis+emilio+mena&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit

Eltrendeyaguarmas.com 2012.  El Tren de Yaguarams:  Los cien musicos del siglo.  Retrieved from:  http://eltrendeyaguaramas.blogia.com/temas/los-cien-musicos-del-siglo-xx.-rep.-dominicana.php

                                      Luis Albert (1906-1976) 

Luis was born in the province of La Vega, Dominican Republic.  He was the key musician in national popular music of Merengue.  He was interested in music from an early age and came from a musical family.  His great grandfather was Juan Bautista Alfonseca, the composer of Dominican Republic’s first national anthem and his mother was piano instructor Maria Mieses. In 1913, at the age of seven he learned to play the cymbals and snare drums in his hometown’s municipal band.  When his family moved to Mao, Valverde province he began his professional violin training and began his career as a musician.  During this time he met his wife, Gilma Tio.  

Shortly after he got married, Alberti attended classes to perfect his violin playing in the city of Santiago de los Caballeros (cnnislands.com, 2012). He later performed in theaters for silent films, and, in 1932 he was the first violinist to perform with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Santo Domingo and has been considered a founding member.

In 1936, Alberti led a highly original Merengue jazz band that often emphasized advanced harmonies and lyrics over the Merengue tipico, known as perico ripiao, and played by the usual performing group of folk meringue (accordion, tambora and guira).  “Alberti improved the urban appearance of Merengue music and brought it to stately ballrooms” (Stevens, J. 2012).  

He wrote several popular songs throughout his career.  His song Compadre Pedro Juan became internationally popular and has been covered by many renowned artists from the Caribbean and the Americas.  He also composed popupular series of children’s songs known as Metodo de tambora y guira. 

Discography:

Compadre Pedro Juan

Fiesta Navidena en Quisqueya (1966)

Luna Sobre el Jaragua (1951)

Metodo de tambora y guira

Navidades Dominicanas (1977)

Bibliography:

Encaribe.org. 2010.  “Luis Alberti” Encyclopedia of History and Culture of the Caribbean.  Retrieved from:  http://www.encaribe.org/index.phpItemid=142&catid=98:musica&id=777:luisalberti&option=com_content&view=article

Stevens, John.  2012.  Caribbean News Network:  Profile of a Merengue Legend.  Retrieved from:  http://cnnislands.com/news/story.php?id=709

TIMELINE OF CUBA

1492  Columbus discovered Cuba and claimed it for Spain.                     

1522  Cuba’s First Cathedral was established in Santiago.

1550’s  Importation of African Slaves began.            

1762  England declares war on Spain.

1788  Fernando de Ayerbe, priest who founded the first public school.

1802  Contrandanza was a common published music in Cuba.

1817  Slave trade of African’s into Cuba.

1847  Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban composer is born.           

1868  Cuba began rebelling against the Spanish rule.

1868  Cuba’s National Anthem titled “La Bayamesa” was initially performed during the battle of Bayano.

1886  Slavery was abolished in Cuba by the Spanish government.

1896  Ernesto Lecuona is born.

1898  The U.S. helped free Cuba from their Spanish rulers.

1900  Amadeo Roldan is born.

1901  Cuba became an independent nation.

1903  Under direction of Guillermo Tomas, the municipal conservatory of music was founded in coordination with the municipal band of Havana;  Amadeo Roldan is named after the institution.

1925  Julian Orbon is born                                      .

1940’s-1950’s  radio, TV, record companies and musical theaters helped boost Cuban music.

1959  Fidel Castro became Cuba’s prime minister.

1961  Cuba was declared a Communist state.

1976  Cuba’s First University level school of music was opened.

1976  Fidel Castro became the president of Cuba.

                             CUBA FLAG                                                                                                   CUBA MAP

                                 

CUBAN COMPOSERS

IGNACIO CERVANTES (1847-1905)  

Ignacio Cervantes was a well known composer and pianist from Havana, Cuba, born in 1847.  He studied in Paris, and worked with composers such as Gottschalk, and Nicolas Ruiz Espadero.  One of his great teachers was Gottschalk who was influential in the ways of his musical styles and ideas.  Cervantes became known as one of the many pioneers of Native Cuban concert music.  His musical theme was elegant and melodic and was consistent to most of the music heard in his time of traditional Spanish music.  Best known were his works of Danzas Cubanas.

Discography:  

For a complete list you can go to Naxos Music Library.

     Adiós a Cuba

     Amistad (friendship)

     Dance no more

     Danzas Cubanas for piano 1890

     Soledad 1895

     Zig Zags

Record Label: Concerto/Catalogue # CD 2054

AMADEO ROLDAN  (1900-1939)

Roldan was born in Paris in 1900.  His studies took him to Madrid Conservatory where he studied the violin.  While there he won the Sarasate Prize.  He moved to Havana, Cuba in 1921 and became a very well known performer, composer, and teacher.  Roldan worked as director to the Municipal Conservatory in Music.  He created programs and guided changes that allowed it to continue to teach other important musicians that studied there.  Years later the Municipal Conservatory in music was renamed the Amadeo Roldan Conservatory.  Roldan’s music was creative and he composed with Afro-Cuban music rhythms and incorporated black  Cuban folklore music into his compositions.  Roldan died in Havana in 1939.

Discography: 

    La rebambaramba

    Ritmicas V, VI (1930)

 Recording Company: Dorian Sono Luminus/Catalogue # DOR-90245

JULIAN ORBON  (1925-1991)

Orbon was not primarily born in Cuba, but in Aviles, Spain. He later moved to Cuba to compose music after studying at the Conservatory of Oviedo.  1942-1949 he began his career as a music essayist, music critic and pianist. He joined the Grupode Renovacion.  From 1946-1960 Orbon directed at the Orbon conservatory in Havana.  In 1967 he received an award from the American Arts & Letters for his teaching capabilities and talents.  His musical style is consistent with the Spanish-Cuban Music rhythm, and he occasionally included “white” Cuban & Afro-Cuban rhythms.

Discography:

www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.557368

     Concerto grosso (1958)

     Symphonic Dances (Danzas Sinfonicas) (1956)

     Three Symphonic Versions (1954)

     Record Company: Label Dorian/ Catalogue # DOR-90178

     Prelude y Danza (1951)

     Cantigas del rey (1960)

     Himnus ad galli cantum (1956)

     Recording Label Dorian Sono Luminos/Catalogue # DOR90214

              ERNESTO LECUONA (1896-1963)  

Lecuona was born in Guanabacoa, which is in Eastern Cuba.  He came from a musical family.  He learned to the play the piano and wrote his first song at the young age of 11.  In 1913 he graduated from the National Conservatory in Havana.  He received a first prize as well as a gold medal for his works.  He is mainly known as a dance band leader called “Lecuona’s Cuban Boys.”  He toured throughout Latin America, Europe and the U.S.  A good portion of Lecuona’s life was spent in New York where he worked and performed.  The musical works Lecuona is consistent with was White Peasant and Afro-Cuban rhythms.  Lecuona died in 1963 in Tenerife, Spain.

Discography:  For a complete list of Ernesto Lecuona’s works go to Naxos Music Library, or www.lecuona.com/disco.html Some pieces include:

     Danzas Afro Cubanas 1934

     Estampas Infantiles- Diary of a Child: The moon lights up. 1949

     Piezas Caracteristicas

     Valses Fantisticos 

These songs are from the EMI classics recording company.  Catalogue # 0724355680358 

Bibliography:

Olsen, D., &Sheehy.  “The Garland Handbook of Latin American Music.” Garland Publishing, 2008.

Oxford Music Online 

Naxos Music Library

www.lecuona.com/disco.html

PUERTO RICO TIMELINE

1493- Discovered by Columbus

1508- First school established                                                  

1524- First hospital, called Concepcion

1786- First history book of Puerto Rico published, covering from discovery to 1783

1811- Power law approved, outfits 5 ports for free commerce

1825- Felipe Gutierrez Espinosa born

1839- La Perla Theater inaugurated in Ponce

1843- Manuel Gregorio Tavarez born

1857- Juan Morel Campos born

1868- Revolt against Spain for independence

1869- First political parties organized

1873- Slave trade abolished

1881- Jose Ignacio Quinton born

1891- Railroad is inaugurated

1895- Flag is first used and adopted as national symbol

1897- Spain concedes political and administrative autonomy to island

1898- Spanish rule ceded to US

1906- Teddy Roosevelt visits, 1st President to make an official visit outside of the US

1917- US grants Puerto Rico US statutory citizenship

1945- Blind singer Jose Feliciano born

1952- Puerto Rico becomes self governing commonwealth of the US

1957- 1st Pablo Casals Music Festival at University 

          of Puerto Rico Theater

1959- Pablo Casals founded The Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra

1963- World's largest radio telescope inaugurated at Arecibo Observatory

 PUERTO RICO FLAG                                                                             PUERTO RICO MAP

                                                                           

PUERTO RICAN COMPOSERS

MANUEL GREGORIO TAVAREZ  (1843-1883)

 Tavarez was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1843.  He was a Puerto Rican composer who studied in Europe beginning in 1856.  After getting sick with an illness he became too debilitated and was incapable to continue playing music, so he began to teach students and compose his own music.  One of his students was the well known composer John Morel Campos, who you will also read about as an influential musical figure in Puerto Rico. Tavarez published two Puerto Rican collections with the help of other composers, and produced the famous Danza called, Margarita.  He died in Ponce, PR in 1883.

Discography:

Album filharmonico (1863)

El delirio puertorriqueno (1867-1869)

Margarita (1870)

Un recuerdito- Danza capricho

Record Label- Klavier, Catalogue # KCD11125.  Album Ginastera: Pampeana No.2/Ponce

Bibliography:

Oxford Music Online- June 2011

Naxos Music Library

JUAN MOREL CAMPOS (1857-1896)                     

     

     Juan Morel Campos was an Afro-Puerto Rican composer who was born in Ponce and then moved to San Juan.  He began his studies at age eight under Prof. Antonio Egipciaco. He was a protege of Manuel G.Tavarez, The Father of Danza, with whom he studied harmony, counterpoint, composition and piano. He learned how to play most brass instruments in his youth.  In 1877 he was a baritone player in a San Juan battalion band. When he returned to Ponce, he started a fireman’s band which he conducted until he died. He also was a church organist and founded a small municipal orchestra. 

     His compositions were influenced by visiting Italian musicians,  women and love. He was regaled for his danzas and took this form to its highest level. Of his numerous works,  about 300 of them were danzas. In addition to all his many danza pieces he also composed symphonies.   On April 26, 1896, during a concert in Ponce, he suffered a stroke which led to his death on May 12, just four days before his 39th birthday.

Discography

     Conversación (Conversation)

     Felices Días (Happy Days)

     Idilio (Idiocy)                                                              Monument to       

     Maldito Amor (Damned Love)                                       Juan Morel Campos 

     No me toques (Do Not Touch Me)                                  at Plaza Las Delicias

     Sin ti jamás (Never without you)                                   in Ponce

     Sí te Toco (Yes, I will touch you)

     Sueño de Amor (Dream of love)

     Ten Piedad (Have pity)

     Tormento (Torment)

     Un conflicto (A conflict)

     Vano empeño (Trying in vain)

Bibliography

     Oxford Music Online-Healy Library, June 29, 2012

     http://africlassical.blogspot.com/2009/05/juan-morel-campos-afro-puerto-rican.html

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Morel_Campos

JOSE IGNACIO QUINTON   (1881-1925)                              

     Jose was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico.  He was a composer and pianist who learned at a very young age from his father, Don Juan Bautista, who was a church organist and graduate of The Paris Conservatory.  He was taught harmony, counterpoint, and composition. He was influenced by Spanish pianist Ernesto del Castillo and Puerto Rican composer, Angel Mislan.  He had his first concert at age nine and at age eleven, he played piano accompaniment for famous violinist Brindis de Salas, who was impressed with the boy.  Jose went on to teach instrumental music at Coamo Municipal Academy of Music and organized musical groups and a band.  As a pianist, he was one of the first to perform Debussy, Ravel and Schoenberg in Puerto Rico.  He elevated the danza to a level of concert music.  He was a pioneer of his time, always looking for new sound, or "the music of the future" as he called it.  His most popular and recognized piece is "El Coqui, " where he simulated the sound of a tiny frog found only in Puerto Rico on his instruments.  After his death in 1925, the town of Coamo honored him by naming one of its' principal avenues after him and preserving his childhood home as an historical landmark.  There is also The Quinton Academy of Music in Coamo named for him.

Discography
     Amor Imposible
     Cuarteto para instrumentos de cuerdas
     Contia
     El Coqui
     Mi Estrella
     Misa de Requiem
     String Quartet in D
     Varaciones


Bibliography
     Oxford Music Online-Healy Library June 27, 2012
     http://www.ladanza.com/quinton.htm#english

FELIPE GUTIERREZ  ESPINOSA (1825-1899) 

           

     Born in Puerto Rico in 1825, he was a Puerto Rican composer that taught himself to compose music.  He was best known for his musical creations of opera and sacred music.  He won competitions in 1858 for choir master of the San Juan cathedral; prior to that in 1845 he was named a top musician in the Iberia battalion.  Espinosa had organized a free music academy in 1875.  He was given a grant from the San Juan town council to continue his studies throughout Europe.  After a talented musical life with many achievements he was forced to work the last year of his life in concierge with minimal earnings.

Discography:  

     El amor de un pescador

     El Bearnés

     Guarionex

     Macías

     Las siete Palabras

Bibliography:

     Oxford Music Online- June 2011

     Naxos Music Library