Juan Manuel Olivares
Encyclopedia
Juan Manuel Hermenegildo de la Luz Olivares (April 4, 1760 - March 1, 1797) was a Venezuela
n composer from the Colonial era.
Olivares was born in Caracas
. As a child, he studied under Don Ambrosio Carreño. In 1784, he began teaching in Caracas, and this same year Pedro Ramón Palacios y Sojo entrusted to him the direction of the Academia del Oratorio de San Felipe de Neri, which he held until his death; he also became organist at the academy's church, the Basílica de Santa Teresa.
On May 11, 1789, he married Sebastiana Velásquez in Caracas at the Church of San Pablo Ermitaño, which stood where the Municipal Theater now stands. Padre Sojo was the priest. Olivares was the caretaker and teacher of Lino Gallardo
. He died in El Valle, Caracas.
His Dúo de violines is the only work of chamber music
composed in colonial Venezuela which is preserved in its entirety.
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n composer from the Colonial era.
Olivares was born in Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
. As a child, he studied under Don Ambrosio Carreño. In 1784, he began teaching in Caracas, and this same year Pedro Ramón Palacios y Sojo entrusted to him the direction of the Academia del Oratorio de San Felipe de Neri, which he held until his death; he also became organist at the academy's church, the Basílica de Santa Teresa.
On May 11, 1789, he married Sebastiana Velásquez in Caracas at the Church of San Pablo Ermitaño, which stood where the Municipal Theater now stands. Padre Sojo was the priest. Olivares was the caretaker and teacher of Lino Gallardo
Lino Gallardo
Lino Gallardo was a Venezuelan composer, conductor, and string player, and was among the musicians who participated in and contributed to the Wars of Independence. Gallardo was born in Ocumare del Tuy in 1773...
. He died in El Valle, Caracas.
His Dúo de violines is the only work of chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
composed in colonial Venezuela which is preserved in its entirety.
Works
Incomplete- Lamentación primera del Viernes Santo for tenor and orchestra, 1791
- Stabat Mater for four voices and instrument, 1791
- Dúo de violines Salve Regina for three voices and orchestra
- Magnificat with final fugue.
- Vísperas de Nuestra Señora de la Merced (motetMotetIn classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
s for two voices) - Psalmes: Dixit Dominus, Beatus Vir, Laudate Dominum
Further reading
- Juan B. Plaza Juan Manuel Olivares. El más Antiguo Compositor Venezolano Separata del No. 63 de la Rev. Nacional de Cultura. Jul-Aug 1947