Julio C. Arteaga (29 October 1867[2] – 1923) was a Puerto Rican musician and composer of danzas.

Julio C. Arteaga
Julio C. Arteaga, ca. 1919
Julio C. Arteaga, ca. 1919
Background information
Birth nameJulio Carlos de Arteaga Matheu[1]
Born29 October 1867[2]
OriginPonce, Puerto Rico
Died1923[2]
New York, New York[2]
GenresDanza
Occupation(s)Composer, musician, music teacher
InstrumentPiano
Years activeca. 1885–1915

Early years

edit

Julio Carlos de Arteaga Matheu (a.k.a., Julio Carlos Arteaga Matheu) was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, on 29 October 1867 to Diego Arteaga Lopez, from Venezuela, and Isabel Matheu. He had two siblings, Juan Jose and Herminia Isabel.

Professional career

edit

A composer and musician from Puerto Rico, Arteaga's musical performances were not limited to Puerto Rico, and he traveled to New York City often performing there as well.[3] Among his many musical awards, at a music competition in Paris he won First Prize in Piano Performance in 1890.[4]

Music school

edit

After teaching music theory and music lessons out of his home for a while,[5] in 1898 he co-founded the Asociación Musical de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Music Association). In that same year he and Felipe Gutiérrez Espinosa, another outstanding Puerto Rican composer, approached Governor Guy V. Henry with a proposal to establish a music institute in San Juan. While the project never materialized due to lack of interest in Governor Henry's administration, it gave birth to the idea of establishing music schools independent of the public instruction system.[6]

Together with his wife, Nicolasa Torruellas, he founded the Arteaga Academy in Ponce, where they taught piano, music theory, organ, and voice, among others.[7] Among his pupils was Monserrate Ferrer Otero ("Monsita Ferrer"),[8] and Mercedes Arias. This last one, Mercedes Arias, was the failed love of Juan Morel Campos, the woman he loved but could never marry,[9] and on whom Morel Campos found inspiration for several of his great masterpiece danzas, including "Maldito Amor" (Damned Love), "No Me Toques" (Don't Touch Me) and "Alma Sublime" (Sublime Soul).[10] He returned to New York City where he had studied violin and works as organist at St. Patrick's Cathedral from 1920 to 1923.[2] He died in New York City in 1923.[2]

Family life

edit

Arteaga married Daría Nicolasa Torruellas, also a musician, with whom he had five children, four boys (including Pedro [1903–], and Julio Carlos [1907–]), and a girl. The girl, Genoveva, would become an outstanding musician herself.[1]

Legacy

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Guide to the Genoveva de Arteaga Papers. Archives of the Puerto Rican Diaspora. Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños. Hunter College. City University of New York. page 3. November 1991. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Armando Torres Leon. Los Municipios de Puerto Rico y Su Historia y Su Cultura: PONCE, La Perla del Sur. Santurce, Puerto Rico: Departamento de Educación de Puerto Rico. Programa Regular de Educación. Programa Editorial. Celeste Benitez, Secretaria de Educación. 1992. p. 145.
  3. ^ Guide to the Genoveva de Arteaga Papers: Genoveva de Arteaga (1898–1991) Archives of the Puerto Rican Diaspora. Hunter College. City University of New York. page 3. November 1991. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  4. ^ La Educacion Musical Primaria en Puerto Rico. Léster López Nieves. Monograph. University La Salle. 8 June 2013.
  5. ^ La Educacion Musical Primaria en Puerto Rico. Léster López Nieves. 8 June 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  6. ^ Historia. Conservatorio de Musica de Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico Music Conservatory. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  7. ^ Guide to the Genoveva de Arteaga Papers: Genoveva de Arteaga (1898–1991). Archives of the Puerto Rican Diaspora. Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños. Hunter College. New York City. page 3. November 1991. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  8. ^ Monserrate Ferrer Otero. La Danza Puertorriquena: El Hogar de la Danza Puertorriqueña. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  9. ^ Juan Morel Campos. Archived 21 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine El Hogar de la La Danza Puertorriqueña. 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  10. ^ Mercedes Arias: entre las glorias de la historia musical de Ponce. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 35. Issue 1788. Pages 8–9. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  11. ^ Guide to the Genoveva de Arteaga Papers: Genoveva de Arteaga (1898–1991) Archives of the Puerto Rican Diaspora. Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños. Hunter College. City University of New York. p.4. November 1991. Retrieved 2 March 2018.