Juan Marulanda

Presence of Italian opera in the symbols of national identity in Latin America

The independence of Latin American countries from European empires opened the way

for diverse cultural influences to come and exert a decisive impact upon musical practice and

creation in the newly born nations. Local art music movements attempted to accommodate into

the new situation by drawing on external archetypes, particularly from European countries, with

some of the main cities serving as venues for foreign musicians and trying to assimilate different

musical trends, as well as native composers searching for paradigms to be found overseas and

striving, with diverse grades of success, for the dissemination and recognition of their works. An

indelible mark of this musical interaction between the two continents can be found in the

national anthem of almost every country in Latin America, where Italian opera served as a model

for the music to be composed on those subjects as part of constructive processes of national

identities. In this paper, I will show how this choice had to do mainly with the intention of

projecting grandeur in a musically fashioned manner, with very scarce consideration about local

identity, musical practicality and sobriety. Arguments that lead to and support the

aforementioned thesis are to be found in the characterizations of Italian opera presence in Latin

America as well as in the situation of composers born in the Americas in relation to the operatic

genre during the nineteenth century that are presented here, with a particular emphasis how these

creators were affected by European influence, and in a review of the process of composition of

various Latin American national anthems.

Italian opera in the musical life of Latin America during the nineteenth century

Throughout the eighteenth century the severe restrictions that had been imposed by the

Spanish empire on its overseas colonies regarding aspects such as trade with external countries or

the presence of foreign citizens in these territories gradually gave away to a state of greater

freedom.1 Spanish trade with its colonies in the American continent expanded in an increasing

manner between 1714 and 1796.2 This took place due to the lifting of trade restrictions to maritime

ports on both sides of the ocean that was included in the Bourbon reforms, which were

implemented after the rise of this French royal dynasty to the throne of Spain in the early

eighteenth century. The resulting increase in commercial exchange had an impact on musical life

in the Americas. In this regard, José Manuel Izquierdo states that “since the 1770s European music

seems to have been transferred to Latin American cities in larger quantities than ever before, aided

by the opening of commerce to the colonies and the increase in the production of printed editions

on the other side of the Atlantic.”3 To support his statement, Izquierdo cites various documents,

giving special attention to a price list for the sale of music scores in a bookstore in Mexico, in

1801, which he consulted in a publication by Francisco Rodríguez Erdmann.4 In regard to this

1
“Since the 15th century, Spain had repeatedly banned foreigners from entering its West Indies.” (Daniel Devoto.
“Expresiones musicales; sus relaciones y alcance en las clases sociales.” América Latina en su música, Isabel Aretz,
ed. [México: Siglo XXI Editores, 1977], p. 30.). (‘Desde el siglo XV España había prohibido reiteradamente la
entrada de extranjeros en sus Indias Occidentales). Unless otherwise indicated, throughout this document all
translations into English are by the author.
2
Kevin O'Rourke, Leandro Prados de la Escosura, and Guillaume Daudin, “Trade and Empire, 1700-1870.” Trinity
Economics Papers, tep0208. (Dublin: Trinity College Department of Economics, revised May 2008), p. 7.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/4849529_Trade_and_Empire_1700-1870.
3
José Manuel Izquierdo-König, “Being a Composer in the Andes during the Age of Revolutions. Choices and
Appropriations in the Music of José Bernardo Alzedo and Pedro Ximénez Abrill Tirado.” (PhD diss., University of
Cambridge, 2017), p. 81, https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.12398.
4
See Francisco Javier Rodríguez-Erdmann, Tesoros del AGN. Dos inventarios musicales novohispanos (México:
Archivo General de la Nación, Editorial IEV, 2013).
document, Izquierdo points out that “what was available in Mexico in 1800 was easily comparable

with what the best bookstores in Europe could offer at that time in a city like Vienna,” thus

showing that the markets were more integrated than what it might be assumed.5

The two decades between 1810 and 1830 witnessed the independence processes of almost

all Spanish American territories, except Cuba and Puerto Rico. But, as Gerard Béhague points

out, “colonial institutions remained, however, well into the 19th century, if not in theory, at least

in practice.”6 The main motivation to seek independence in the Spanish American territories

came from the criollos, a dominant class of direct descendants of Spaniards, who above all

sought to achieve a greater autonomy and to maintain their long-time privileges rather than to

generate profound changes in the colonial society. Naturally, despite an existing affinity between

Spain and the old colonies converted into new nations, the bonds between both parties were

momentarily broken after the independence. And at the same time, the strengthening of ties with

other "civilized" nations, especially from Europe, was something that was sought for. In the

quest for progress, foreign customs were brought in, no longer as something imposed but as a

sign of refinement, according to Rondy Torres, who also notes that:

Whatever happened in terms of shows during the 18th century in the Viceroyalty of New
Granada seems to have been forgotten… For those who belonged to the new liberal
generation born after 1830, all those Spanish dances and songs were a thing of the past.
New citizens were fascinated with everything that had a European –but not Spanish–
resonance, such as the waltz, polka, mazurca, redowa, gallop...7

5
Izquierdo, “Being a Composer in the Andes during the Age of Revolutions. Choices and Appropriations in the
Music of José Bernardo Alzedo and Pedro Ximénez Abrill Tirado”, p. 82
6
Gerard Béhague, Music in Latin America: An Introduction (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1979), p. 96.
7
Rondy Torres, Edición crítica de la ópera Ester de José María Ponce de León. Introducción, reducción para piano
y notas críticas (Bogotá: Ediciones Uniandes, 2017), p. 2. (“Lo que ocurrió en materia de espectáculos durante el
siglo XVIII en el virreinato de la Nueva Granada parece haber sido olvidado… Para la nueva generación liberal
nacida después de 1830, estos bailes y canciones españolas eran cosa del pasado. Los nuevos ciudadanos se
fascinaban con todo aquello que tuviera una resonancia europea, no española, como el vals, la polka, la mazurca, la
redova, el galop...”).
 In the specific case of Brazil, there are historical circumstances that significantly differentiate

its independence process in comparison with Spanish America. Unlike Spain, the Portuguese crown

did not impose such severe restrictions on commercial exchange with other countries as the

Spaniards had done for various centuries with their territories under colonial control. But mainly,

unlike what had happened in Spain, the Portuguese court managed to escape from the Napoleonic

invasion in 1808 and moved to Rio de Janeiro, a city that was, unexpectedly, to become the capital of

the empire. According to Devoto, the transplanting of the Portuguese court to South America and the

subsequent creation of the Brazilian empire “determined a sudden growth of the general level of

culture,” something which, of course, was also reflected in the music field.8

With all this historical setting taking place in the Americas it is not surprising to

encounter, just as it was happening in Europe, that songs and piano music, as well as the musical

theater –including both opera and lighter genres– would occupy a place of greater importance in

the musical life.9 The tradition of musical theater in the New World dates back to the eighteenth

century, with the presentation of tonadillas and zarzuelas as well as operas, especially in the

vice-regal palaces, where comedy was the predominant genre.10 Already by the 1820s the

performance in the Americas of operas –or fragments of them– written by the Italian composer

Gioacchino Rossini has been reported. Additionally, the change in musical tastes was not an

exclusive phenomenon of the territories that became independent from Spain. Alejo Carpentier

8
Devoto, “Expresiones musicales; sus relaciones y alcance en las clases sociales.” América Latina en su música, p.
31. (“El transplante de la corte portuguesa y el subsiguiente imperio de Brasil determinaron un súbito crecimiento
del nivel cultural general…”).
9
Béhague, Music in Latin America: An Introduction, p. 97.
10
Béhague, ibid., p. 97, and Torres, Edición crítica de la ópera Ester de José María Ponce de León. Introducción,
reducción para piano y notas críticas, p. 2.
recounts how the Spanish tonadilla was vigorously relegated by Italian opera in Cuba.11 From

1790 to about 1814, the Spanish tonadilla escénica (theater ballad) was such a “phenomenal

vogue in Havana” that some years later, when this genre had been abandoned in Spain, it

remained fully valid in the island. 12 However, by 1834 the Italian opera burst in to occupy a

predominant place in the Teatro Principal, salons and musical societies.13 Carpentier continues:

“... for more than forty years Cuban music life was to be under the domination of Bellini,

Donizetti, Mercadante, Meyerbeer, and the young Verdi. The names of Mozart, Schubert,

Beethoven, and Rossini appear[ed] only occasionally [in] concert program[mes].”14 Béhague

presents an interesting example that illustrates the growing popularity of Italian and French opera

in the Americas: “In 1854, perhaps as a result of rivalry between an Italian and a French opera

troupe, thirty operas were produced in Buenos Aires, half by Italian composers (Rossini,

Donizetti, Ricci, Mercadante, and Verdi) and half by French (Auber, Halévy, Hérold, Meyerbeer,

Thomas and others).”15 Likewise in Brazil the operatic genre, together with salon music, held a

predominant place in the music scene during the nineteenth century. In fact, as Béhague remarks,

“the reign of Pedro II was characterized by the cultivation and official protection of Italian opera;

Bellini’s Norma, in particular, was often performed.”16

11
Cuba remained under Spanish rule until 1898.
12
Alejo Carpentier and Ethel S. Cohen (tr.), “Music in Cuba (1523-1900)”, The Musical Quarterly 33, no. 3 (1947),
p. 370. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/739289.
13
Ibid., p. 370-71
14
Ibid., p. 371
15
Béhague, Music in Latin America: An Introduction, p. 106.
16
Gerard Béhague, “Brazil”, Grove Music Online. (2001). https://doi-
org.proxy.lib.uni.edu/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.03894. Born in Brazil, Pedro II (1825-1891) reigned as
emperor of Brazil between 1840 and 1889.
 The inclusion of opera arias, in adapted versions, was common even in instrumental

music recitals or concerts. And, in a similar manner as it happened in Europe, arrangements of

arias were performed by amateurs in domestic settings. Torres cites a beautiful anecdote by

Colombian writer José Caicedo Rojas (1816-1898) that recalls some amateur musical practice in

a picturesque setting; the incorporation of the guitar–a musical instrument deeply rooted in Latin

American culture–is noteworthy:

When several years later [Domingo] Maldonado and I were walking in Fusagasugá, 17 and,
sitting under the shadow of a rubber tree, or between the bushes of some copse, he with
his flute and myself with my guitar, we played beautiful duos of Tancredo or Gazza
Ladra, we remembered those happy times when we heard some of that same music in the
house of the Hortúas [being] admirably performed by Rola, Austria and other famous
Venezuelan violinists who were at that time in Bogotá.18

Regarding the tradition of public concerts, Burkholder considers what had happened in

the Americas as part of the same currents that took place in Europe.19 In fact, cities like Buenos

Aires and Rio de Janeiro rapidly entered into the circuit of major touring artists during the

nineteenth century.20 In this regard, Béhague notes that in Rio de Janeiro, by the mid-nineteenth

17
A town located around 60 km from Bogotá (Colombia).
18
Torres, Edición crítica de la ópera Ester de José María Ponce de León. Introducción, reducción para piano y
notas críticas, p. 3. (‘Cuando años después [Domingo A.] Maldonado y yo estábamos de paseo en Fusagasugá, y,
sentados a la sombra de un caucho, o entre los arbustos de algún bosquecillo, él con su flauta y yo con mi guitarra,
tocábamos bellos dúos de Tancredo o Gazza Ladra, recordábamos aquellos felices tiempos en que oíamos en casa
de los Hortúas algo de eso mismo ejecutado admirablemente por Rola, Austria y otros insignes violinistas
venezolanos que se hallaban por aquella época en Bogotá.’). This passage was taken by Torres from José Caicedo
Rojas, Recuerdos y apuntamientos (Bogotá: Ministerio de Educación de Colombia, Biblioteca Popular de Cultura
Colombiana, 1950), p. 168.
19
J. Peter Burkholder. “Music of the Americas and Historical Narratives.” American Music 27, no. 4 (2009), p. 408.
JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25652227.
20
Béhague mentions that the popularity of opera and light genres was so wide in Buenos Aires that at least ten
theaters opened in that city during the 19th century. For its part, Rio de Janeiro had venues such as the Teatro Regio
and the Teatro São Pedro de Alcántara, which in its initial design was built as a replica of the Teatro São Carlos in
Lisbon, something that shows Prince João's determination to establish Rio de Janeiro as the capital of the empire.
(Béhague, Music in Latin America: An Introduction, p. 112.)
century, the presence of top opera Italian and French singers was not uncommon and that major

works sometimes were performed just a few years after their premieres back in Europe.21 In his

work on the opera Ester,22 by the Colombian composer José María Ponce de León (1845-1882),

Torres includes a detailed account of the operas that were performed in Bogotá during the period

between 1858 and 1869. Thirty operas were staged in that timespan, in approximately 90

performances (this is an estimate made by Torres from a tracking to the press of the epoch).23 It

reflects a quantity not to be neglected considering the unavoidable difficulties of the necessary

trip to reach the Colombian capital in the interior of the country.24 The trip lasted at least three

weeks and unhealthy regions had to be crossed; the death of Italian soprano Rosina Olivieri due

to fevers contracted during the trip has been reported by Klein.25 Among the most frequently

featured titles in Bogotá during 1858-1869, the list is headed by Lucia de Lammermoor

(Donizetti), which is closely followed by Norma (Bellini), Ernani and Il trovatore (Verdi).

In the case of opera, the presence of foreign artists, especially Italians, prevailed. On this

matter, Torres argues that the technical demands posed by the bel canto repertoire generally

exceeded the possibilities of local singers.26 As a matter of fact, apparently many opera artists

21
Ibid., p. 112.
22
Ester (1874) was the first opera written by a Colombian composer and performed in the country.
23
Torres, Edición crítica de la ópera Ester de José María Ponce de León. Introducción, reducción para piano y
notas críticas, p. 4-5.
24
Bogotá was considered as one of the most inaccessible cities in the world during the mid-19th century. (See:
Alexander Klein, Oreste Sindici. Obras completas, [Bogotá: Ediciones Uniandes, 2017], p. 23, and David
McCullough, The Path between the Seas. The Creation of the Panama Canal: 1870-1914 [New York: Francis
Parkman Prize Edition, 2002], p. 63).
25
Klein, Oreste Sindici. Obras completas, p. 23
26
Torres, Edición crítica de la ópera Ester de José María Ponce de León. Introducción, reducción para piano y
notas críticas, p. 3.
found an additional occupation on their arrival to the New World, in dedicating themselves to

transmit their knowledge and experience to amateurs and aspirants to become singers through

singing and piano lessons, attaining certain impact by means of that activity.27 Opera companies

were routinely received with great enthusiasm and admiration in the cities of the Americas.

Torres and Klein agree that the opera was a great attraction for society, at least in the case of

Bogotá. According to Torres, the opera that was being produced in Europe during the nineteenth

century was closely linked to what could be called an "archetype" of civilization, “one went to

the opera to get in touch with the modern world.”28 In a complementary way, Klein points out

that more than an entertainment, opera “was regarded by Colombian elites as an inspiring event

that not only cultivated morals and noble feelings in the audience, but also promoted the advance

of the nation,”29 and for this reason, “during those times the opera was termed as a ‘civilizing

spectacle’ and attending it was regarded almost as a duty for everyone who wanted to

demonstrate high culture and education.”30 Arguments and evidence of this kind give an idea of

27
José Ignacio Perdomo, “Historia de la música en Colombia”, in Boletín Latinoamericano de Música, Año IV,
Tomo IV, ed. Francisco Curt Lange (Bogotá: Litografía Colombia, 1938), p. 389.
28
Torres, Edición crítica de la ópera Ester de José María Ponce de León. Introducción, reducción para piano y
notas críticas, p. 3. (“El Diario del general Francisco de Paula Santander contiene innumerables referencias a la
ópera, a su fascinación por La Pasta y La Malibrán a quienes escuchó durante su viaje a Europa y Estados Unidos.
Como él, todo neogranadino que viajaba a Europa acudía a la ópera para entrar en contacto con el mundo
moderno.”), (“The dairy of General Francisco de Paula Santander [1792-1840, military leader during the
Independence wars and president of New Granada from 1833 to 1837] contains innumerable references to opera, to
his fascination with La Pasta and La Malibrán [Santander is referring to famous nineteenth century opera singers
Giuditta Pasta and Maria Malibrán] whom he heard during his trip to Europe and the United States. Like him, every
neogranadino who traveled to Europe went to the opera to get in touch with the modern world.”).
29
Klein, Oreste Sindici. Obras completas, p. 22, (“…la ópera, mucho más que un espectáculo entretenedor, era vista
por estas élites colombianas como un evento edificador que no solo cultivaba [la] moral y sentimientos nobles en
sus asistentes, sino que impulsaba el adelanto del pueblo.”).
30
Ibid, p. 22, (“Por este motivo, la ópera recibió desde estas épocas el calificativo de "espectáculo civilizador" y
asistir a ella fue visto casi como un deber para toda persona que quisiera demostrar alta cultura y educación”).
the relevance of the operatic genre, particularly of Italian origin, in the Americas during much of

the nineteenth century.

Musical journeys to both sides of the Atlantic: Composition in Latin America during the

nineteenth century

A direct consequence of the transplanting of the Portuguese court to Brazilian lands that

had a noticeable impact on the country’s musical development was the presence of first-class

musicians there. In this regard, Devoto comments that “it is not a casual fact that a Brazilian

composer, Carlos Gomes, is the first South American musician who achieved European

celebrity”.31 Among the prominent musicians that arrived at the behest of the Portuguese court

were the opera composer Marcos Portugal (1762-1830) and Sigismund Ritter von Neukomm

(1778-1858), an Austrian composer, pianist and academic that had been Haydn’s pupil and who

is considered as a transitional figure between classicism and romanticism. 32 According to

Béhague, he remained at the court’s service in Brazil during 1816 and 1821 and, among other

activities, was in charge of the musical training the young Prince Pedro, who himself was an

amateur composer.33 There are other examples of the presence of European composers in the

Americas during the nineteenth century. Among them, it is worth mentioning two Italian

composers established in Peru who were the first ones to address national themes in musical

31
Devoto, “Expresiones musicales; sus relaciones y alcance en las clases sociales”, América Latina en su música, p.
31. (“no es un hecho casual el que un compositor brasileño, Carlos Gomes, sea el primer músico sudamericano que
alcanzó celebridad europea.”).
32
Rudolph Angermüller, “Neukomm, Sigismund Ritter von.” Grove Music Online. (2001). https://doi-
org.proxy.lib.uni.edu/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.19774.
33
Béhague, “Brazil”, Grove Music Online.
works written within a Romantic tradition: Carlo Enrico Pasta (1817-1898), who wrote the opera

Atahualpa (1875), and Claudio Rebagliati (1843-1909), author of the celebrated Peruvian

Rhapsody (1868) and reviser of the music to the Peruvian national anthem in 1869, which had

been composed in 1821 by José Bernardo Alzedo.34

While there are apparently some precedents of composers that had been born in the

Americas turning their look to Europe in order to learn their craft and trying to have a presence

there, it is during the nineteenth century that this trend became stronger. In a brief comparative

study on the Latin American musical output, José María Neves points out that at a certain stage,

which could be located in the mid-nineteenth century, it is possible to find composers who

carried out studies in Europe under the tutelage of renowned figures and returned to their

countries, “contributing effectively in the development of their respective musical cultures.”35

In this regard, one of the earliest cases that may be cited is that of the Cuban composer

Antonio Raffelin (1796-1882), who moved to Paris in 1836. While being there, a quartet and a

symphony of his authorship were performed. The referred symphony, which in Carpentier’s

opinion shows signs of influences from Haydn and Rossini, was published in Paris in 1836.

Some years later, Raffelin established his residence in Philadelphia, where he published a

musical newspaper entitled La lira católica.36 In 1862, “he presented a mass in the papal chapel

34
Gerard Béhague, and Thomas Turino. “Peru, Republic of”, Grove Music Online. (2001); https://doi-
org.proxy.lib.uni.edu/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40092; Carleton Sprague Smith. The Hispanic American
Historical Review 35, no. 2 (1955), p. 276. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2508727.
35
José María Neves, “Estudio comparativo dentro de la producción musical latinoamericana”, América Latina en su
música, ed. Isabel Aretz (México: Siglo XXI Editores, 1977), p. 204. (“Muchos de entre ellos tuvieron ocasión de
completar estudios en Europa bajo la orientación de compositores de renombre, volviendo a sus países de origen
dispuestos a desenvolver actividades de mayor envergadura, contribuyendo de modo eficaz en el desarrollo de las
respectivas culturas musicales.”).
36
Carpentier and Cohen (tr.), “Music in Cuba (1523-1900)”, p. 376.
in Rome.”37 But perhaps the best-known case is the Brazilian composer Carlos Gomes (1836-

1896). Due to an early recognition as a composer in his native land, Gomes was granted a

government scholarship to study in Italy, where he remained for a good part of the rest of his

lifetime. He acquired international fame stemming from his opera Il Guarany, which was

performed in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala, in 1870.38 Béhague adds that once Verdi heard this

opera in Ferrara, two years after its premiere, he “referred to it in a letter as the work of a truly

musical genius.”39

It is not surprising to find that a common trend among the composers born in the Americas

was to mold many of their works according to the musical styles prevalent in Europe. The latter

applies even for works on national themes. For instance, regarding Mexico, Béhague states, in a

very similar way to what Torres has reported about Colombia, that “European salon dances –

polkas, mazurkas, schottisches, waltzes– constituted the musical vogue, reflecting the cultural

dependence on Europe.”40 The latter is true in many places throughout the continent, where

additionally many of these musical genres made their way from the high-class salons to rural

environments rather quickly. The following quote by Nicolas Slonimsky about Brazilian music

may be regarded as valid for numerous musical genres all across Latin America: “a powerful

source of Brazilian music is represented by European folk songs acclimatized in Brazil.”41

In her analysis of the European contribution to Latin American art music, Ana María

Locatelli assumes a line of thought which seems to be closely related to what was previously

37
Ibid, p. 376.
38
Béhague, Music in Latin America: An Introduction, p. 114.
39
Ibid., p. 114.
40
Ibid., p. 98.
41
Nicolas Slonimsky, Music of Latin America (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1945), p. 114.
expressed by Burkholder. Locatelli places musical creation in the Americas within a tradition

linked to European currents, noting that “at the dawn of an independent cultural life, a great

stream of composers headed towards a heavily European influenced creation having, for

instance, art songs and operas written in French or Italian instead of the official languages of

each country as something being common”.42 She points out that composers frequently were

compelled to do so because local singers were not suitable for performing these types of works,

and “other times they might have done it because of their own cultural inertia”.43 A clear sample

of the preceding may be found in the musical activity of the Teatro Principal in Mexico City

during the mid-19th century. According to Béhague, from 1831 this theater maintained regular

opera seasons and, by the middle of the century, local composers such as Luis Baca (1826-1855),

Cenobio Paniagua (1821-1882) and Melesio Morales (1838-1908) undertook careers as opera

composers; their operas were composed to Italian libretti, and are regarded by Béhague as

“adequate imitations of the original models”.44 Another interesting case is provided by Torres

regarding the opera Ester by Colombian composer José María Ponce de León. The libretto of this

opera on a biblical theme was originally written in Spanish by Manuel Briceño and Rafael

Pombo, the latter being one of the most prominent Colombian poets of his epoch. However,

when the work was to be premiered, with the main roles in charge of Italian singers, an "against

42
Ana María Locatelli de Pérgamo, “Raíces musicales”, América Latina en su música, ed. Isabel Aretz (México:
Siglo XXI Editores, 1977), p. 46. (“Una gran corriente de compositores se abocó desde los albores de una vida
cultural independiente a una creación de marcada influencia europea, siendo comunes, por ejemplo, a comienzos de
este siglo, las canciones de cámara y las óperas en francés o italiano, y no en las lenguas oficiales de cada país.”).
43
Ibid., p. 46. (“Muchas veces se vieron obligados a ello por carecer en sus propios países de los cantantes idóneos
para hacerlo en español o portugués, y otras veces quizás lo hicieron por su propia inercia cultural.”).
44
Ibid., p. 98.
the clock" translation to Italian had to be prepared. A printed copy of the libretto and its

translation was sold at the entrance of Ester´s premiere in Bogotá.45

Review of some representative cases among Latin American anthems

In Paul Nettl´s opinion, a good part of the national anthems from Latin American

countries reflect, to a greater or lesser extent, an influence proceeding from the Italian opera of

the first half of the nineteenth century. Thomas Turino deepens in this regard by pointing out

that: “Musical nationalism in the early republics (he refers to Latin American countries) was also

incipient and grounded in cosmopolitan rather than distinctive local traditions as would take

place a century later. Music used in conjunction with state ceremony was usually in the mold of

European military band music or Italian opera.”46 Nettl also notes that these musical pieces show

the “South American predilection for fancy and pomp, for parades and processions” and links

this taste with some traditional religious processions that take place in Southern Spain. 47 On his

part, Slonimsky considers these group of anthems as “artificial compositions in an indifferent

Italian or German manner, written by some immigrant musician” which, paradoxically, are taken

by many native musicians as part of national folklore.48 Turino gives a convincing explanation

on this respect. In his opinion, at the beginning of the republican life in the Latin American

nations, there was no hurry to mark a contrast among the countries. In fact, rather than exposing

45
Torres, Edición crítica de la ópera Ester de José María Ponce de León. Introducción, reducción para piano y
notas críticas, p. 10.
46
Thomas Turino. “Nationalism and Latin American Music: Selected Case Studies and Theoretical Considerations.”
Latin American Music Review / Revista De Música Latinoamericana 24, no. 2 (2003): p. 178. JSTOR,
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3598738.
47
Paul Nettl. National Anthems (2d, Enl. ed. New York: Frederick Ungar Pub., 1967), p. 180.
48
Slonimsky, Music of Latin America, p. 66.
cultural singularity, “the official anthems were adopted to exhibit iconicity with other legitimate

states in cosmopolitan terms; that is, the assertion of legitimacy and sovereignity for emerging

states was based on similarity with existing states not difference.” 49

Slonimsky's point of view might seem a bit tough but it really doesn't get so far from

reality. The national anthems of Bolivia and Colombia were composed respectively by Leopold

Benedetto Vincenti (1815-1914) and Oreste Sindici (1828-1904), both of them had been born in

Italy. In turn, the anthems of Ecuador and El Salvador were written by Antonio Neumann (1818-

1871), of German ancestry, and Juan Aberle, “whose German name squares poorly with the

claim that he hailed from Italy.”50

Most of the national anthems from Latin American countries are based on patriotic

themes. In fact, in Latin America, there is a repertoire that can be framed within the category of

patriotic songs. According to Egberto Bermúdez, “the changes brought by the French revolution

and the emergence of nationalism boosted the appearance of patriotic song as a separate musical

genre and as part of the construction of the "national" [identity].” 51 Bermudez suggests a certain

influence related to the French revolution process in two musical pieces: the Caramañola

Americana, which is an adaptation of the well-known French revolutionary tune La Carmagnole

with the setting of Spanish texts to it, and the Canción americana (1797) by the Venezuelan

composer Lino Gallardo (c. 1773-1837).52 Orrego also points out the importance of the patriotic

song in Chile during the first decades of the nineteenth century: “Music-making was mainly for

49
Turino. “Nationalism and Latin American Music: Selected Case Studies and Theoretical Considerations.” p. 179.
50
Nettl, National Anthems, p. 182-89.
51
Egberto Bermúdez. “From Colombian «National» Song to «Colombian Song»: 1860-1960.” Lied Und Populäre
Kultur / Song and Popular Culture 53 (2008). p. 173-74. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20685606.
52
Ibid., p. 174
an upper-class audience and was largely confined to a repertory of patriotic band tunes although

occasionally this was augmented by the works of Stamitz, Haydn or Pleyel.” 53

Within the process of formation of national identities in Latin America, sooner or later a

task for composers emerged: the composition of a musical piece that served as a symbol to the

nations. An early case is the patriotic song Gloria al bravo pueblo, which was composed during

the Venezuelan independence struggle. The composition was attributed to Juan José Landaeta

(1780-1814) and the texts to Vicente Salias (1776-1814). In fact, both Landaeta and Salias were

presumably executed by the Spaniards on the charge of being supporters to the cause of

Venezuelan liberation. The patriotic song Gloria al bravo pueblo, was officially adopted as the

national anthem of Venezuela in 1881. This melody, known long ago as the Venezuelan

Marseillaise–referenced by authors like Slonimsky and Nettl–is the oldest of the national

anthems of Latin American countries and, as Nettl annotates, unlike most national anthems of

Latin American countries, it does not show the influence of Italian opera. 54 Argentina and Peru

are other Latin American countries where the national anthem was written during the

independence process. According to Peruvian academic Carlos Raygada, author of an extensive

work on the national anthem of his country, 55 the existence of this musical piece is owed to José

de San Martín, one of the main leaders of the independence cause in the southern portion of

South America. Just a couple of weeks after his entry to Lima and the proclamation of the

53
Juan Orrego-Salas, and María Ester Grebe. “Chile.” Grove Music Online. (2001); https://doi-
org.proxy.lib.uni.edu/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.05587
54
Nettl, National Anthems, p. 199-200
55
The complete title of the work, that has been reviewed by Carlton Sprague Smith in The Hispanic American
Historical Review (see Bibliography and other notes) is Historia crítica del himno nacional, con la denuncia de una
estrofa apócrifa y de otras anomalías, adulteraciones y errores en la letra y en la música, desde su creación hasta
la fecha y la presentación analizada de cincuenta versiones diferentes, un apéndice biográfico y un apéndice
documental. By Carlos Raygada. Lima, 1954. Juan Mejía Baca & P. L. Villanueva. 2 vols.
independence of Peru (July 28, 1821) he opened a contest for the composition of a "National

March". According to Smith, “on September 17, seven compositions were probably heard in the

harpsichord of José de Riglos, friend of San Martín.”56 The decision was to adopt “provisionally

and de facto for now” the proposal presented by José Bernardo Alcedo. 57 Despite the declaration

of independence, the country’s situation was still pretty unstable. In fact, the last strongholds of

loyalist resistance in that part of the Americas would only come to be controlled several years

later. In this sense it is interesting to note how, as Smith observes, the propaganda value of the

anthem was recognized promptly and, consequently, the Supreme Delegate, decreed that “from

the 21st (of April) the children from all schools will meet at Plaza de la Independencia every

Sunday at four [o’clock] in the afternoon, to sing the National March of Peru ... their teachers

must ensure that is to be performed to performed properly and with the greatest decency.”58

A remarkable account of patriotic songs performed in Colombia and attempts in search for a

Colombian national song or anthem during the 19th century is presented by Bermúdez. Citing

Caicedo and Perdomo, he notes that on July 20, 1837, on the occasion of the celebration of

Independence Day, a patriotic anthem by the Spanish playwright Francisco Villalba was performed.

As a curious fact, it may be noted that in various countries of Spanish America, musicians and

composers from Spain were related to the creation of these countries’ national anthems.59 In Bogotá,

56
Smith. The Hispanic American Historical Review 35, no. 2 (1955), p. 276.
57
Ibid., p. 276.
58
Ibid., p. 277. (“… desde el 21 concurrirán los niños de todas las escuelas a la plaza de la Independencia todos los
domingos a las cuatro de la tarde, a cantar la marcha nacional del Perú... cuidando los maestros de que lo ejecuten
con el mayor decoro y propriedad.”).
59
The group of national anthems from Latin American countries that were written by Spanish musicians includes
the following pieces: the Chilean Anthem, with music composed by Ramón Carnicer (1789-1855), who never set
foot in Chilean lands; the National Anthem of Mexico, whose music was written by Jaime D. Nunó (1824-1908),
who by the time was the conductor of the National Music Band, left Mexico “shortly after the success of his
anthem” to settle in the US where he lived the rest of his life, and “whose mortal remains were taken back to Mexico
City where they were laid to rest in great state in the Hall of the Heroes”; and the National Anthem of Panama,
authored by Santos Jorge A. (1870-1941), who transformed what originally was intended to be a school song into
on July 20, 1847, the Sociedad Filarmónica, under the baton of its founder, Henry Price, premiered a

national song along with an orchestral overture entitled El 20 de julio, both original compositions by

José Joaquín Guarín (1825-1854), which had been deliberately written for the occasion. Two years

later, also for Independence Day, Guarin´s Himno al aniversario de la independencia, for mixed

choir and orchestra, was performed, and on the following month another national song by Guarín,

“this time for women´s voices only” was heard.60 On the same holiday, in 1869, the Himno Nacional

by Daniel Figueroa (? -1887) was performed.61 Bermudez reports that, four years later, Figueroa

wrote set to music a series of verses from the aforementioned Villalba and other notable Colombian

poets. The resulting anthem was performed at the Plaza de Bolívar in Bogotá with a massive

children's choir, accompanied by two military bands.62

Finally, it was Oreste Sindici (1828-1904), an Italian tenor that had arrived in Colombia

as part of a touring opera company, who ended up being remembered–although not materially

rewarded–as the composer of Colombia’s national anthem. But to reach this point, he would

have to make five attempts during a time span of more than a decade (1874-1887) before getting

public acceptance. Official approval would take even longer, among other reasons, due to the

composer's foreign nationality.63 Klein recounts this process, which began when Sindici was

serving as a music teacher for the public education system in Bogotá, the country’s capital. In his

the anthem of the nascent country, after its separation from Colombia in 1903. (see: Nettl, National Anthems, p. 180-
196).
60
Bermúdez, “From Colombian «National» Song to «Colombian Song»: 1860-1960.” p. 175.
61
Daniel Figueroa composed an opera on local themes entitled La americana, apparently by the same time that José
María Ponce de León wrote Ester, a work recognized as the first Colombian opera. (see: Torres, Edición crítica de
la ópera Ester de José María Ponce de León. Introducción, reducción para piano y notas críticas)
62
Bermúdez, “From Colombian «National» Song to «Colombian Song»: 1860-1960.” p. 174-75.
63
Klein, Oreste Sindici. Obras completas, p. 81.
attempts, Sindici had to put aside melodies originally that had been conceived to be sung to two

voices, as well as music where he used individual settings for the stanzas and also rhythmic

schemes borrowed from salon music; those had been employed by Sindici “to please the taste of

Bogotá’s bourgeois elite” but in this case “solemnity had been taken away from an anthem

whose purposes were to encourage the soldier to give his life for the homeland”.64 At the end, the

result of Sindici's efforts was a melody that Klein describes as memorable and expressive, much

akin to Bellini's style. Klein also points out the smart emphasis of the melodic line and the

harmonic accompaniment on important words of the text by Rafael Nuñez (1825-1894) who, at

the time, occupied the position of president of Colombia.65

Bermúdez paraphrases a heavy critical comment by Caicedo Rojas on the anthem

composed by Sindici: “Without mentioning its authors, Caicedo refers to ‛recent efforts in

composing a national anthem’ as vain compared to Villalba’s setting whose text was ‛simple and

the music very simple, essential conditions for a work of this kind.’ Its ‛elevated music’, Caicedo

continues, will make the new anthem ‛fall out of grace’.” 66 From a musical point of view, up to

some point, Caicedo's criticism may not be so far-fetched. Although the melody is well written

and may prove to be not so awkward as those of other Latin American anthems, it does not lack

demanding intervals for those who are unfamiliar with the practice of singing. The high point of

64
Ibid., p. 56. (“Primero, el esquema rítmico de músicas de salón —utilizado por Sindici, entre otras, para
complacer el gusto de la élite bogotana— si bien era apropiado para otros contextos sociales, aquí le restaba
solemnidad a un himno entre cuyos propósitos estaba motivar al soldado para que diera su vida por la patria”.). In
fact, it seems reasonable to relate this with a populist trend in Colombia that Bermudez observes a decade later as
being “reinforced [in Colombia] since the suffocation of the popular revolt of 1893 and would become a key
element in recruiting the same "sons of the people" to defend the government in the bloody civil war that broke out
two months later.” (That is, in October 1899. See: Bermúdez, “From Colombian «National» Song to «Colombian
Song»: 1860-1960.” p. 176.).
65
Ibid., p. 82.
66
Bermúdez, “From Colombian «National» Song to «Colombian Song»: 1860-1960.” p. 175-76.
the melody in the original tonality of E flat (G4 for male voices / G5 for female voices) poses a

tough limit for common voices, being it practically restricted to soprano and tenor voices (see

Fig.1). Even today, when Colombia’s national anthem is to be sung by common people, this

passage, whose high note must be reached directly through a leap of a sixth, generates noticeable

musical instability.

Fig.1. A fragment of the National Anthem of Colombia by Oreste Sindici.

Source: Reed, Bristow; Reed, William L.; and Bristow, M. J. National Anthems of the World. (New York:
Blandford Press, 1987.), p. 120-21.

As it had been mentioned, the influence of Italian opera is a recurring element in the national

anthems of most Latin American countries. But Uruguay's national anthem, which was adopted in

1848, goes even further: it seems like a fragment taken from an opera. In fact, Nettl's concept

regarding this piece is not exaggerated at all:

… the anthem of Uruguay is really an operatic aria with a bombastic instrumental

introduction whose triplets in thirds with basso figures achieve a resounding effect which is
further heightened by a baldachin of violin tremolos ... Solo and chorus67 share the dramatic
melody which has everything –from coloratura passages to chromatic alterations– that a
lover of opera might ask for.68

67
Even at some point the choir comments on what the soloist is singing.
68
Nettl, National Anthems, p. 199.
 But the affinity of the Uruguayan anthem with opera does not end there. It is a widely

known fact that the beginning of its melody, in the refrain, is identical to a fragment that is sung

by Gazella, a character from the opera Lucrezia Borgia by Gaetano Donizetti, specifically in the

Stretta, near the end of the first act. The composition has been officially attributed to Francisco

José Debali–originally Debály Ferenc József– (1791-1859), a Hungarian composer who had

moved to Uruguay in 1838. However, some researchers, including Coriún Aharounian, point out

that Fernando Quijano (1805-1871), a local actor and empirical musician also took an active part

in this process. It has been observed that Quijano, who apparently was delighted with the music

of Lucrezia Borgia, most likely contributed with part of the melodic inspiration for the new

anthem and, indeed, with his native proficiency in Spanish, a language that was not familiar to

Debali. This, in turn, could have been responsible for the creation of certain melodic passages

and for writing the score in an orchestral format, a task that was practically impossible for

Quijano. The question of the similarity between the musical fragments of Donizetti’s Lucrezia

Borgia and the national anthem of Uruguay (see Fig. 2 and 3) did not arise during the lifetimes

of Debali and Quijano.69 Seemingly, the authors never spoke about it and, in fact, the use of

musical quotes of this type may have been regarded in a different manner than nowadays,

perhaps considered in this particular case more as a touch of sophistication than anything else.

69
Coriún Aharonián comments particularly on how the government position regarding the authorship of the
Uruguayan anthem has changed over time. He notes that, at last, since the military dictatorship in the decade of the
1970s, the name of Fernando Quijano was no longer given official recognition as one of the authors of the
Uruguayan anthem. See: Coriún Aharonián. “Que el alma pronuncia”: Aportes a la confusión general en torno al
Himno Nacional y sus autores”. (Lecture presented in the IV Seminario “Enfoques sobre literatura y cultura en
América Latina en el siglo XIX. Universidad de la República. Montevideo, 10/25/2012);
https://documents.tips/documents/que-el-alma-pronuncia-portal-fhce-aharonianpdf-2015-05-16-lauro.html
Most likely, in our time the Uruguayan anthem is much better known than the melodic fragment

of the opera that could have inspired it.

Fig.2. A fragment of the Stretta from Lucrezia Borgia by Gaetano Donizetti.

Source: Edmundo J. Favaro, “Antecedentes del Himno Nacional del Uruguay”, in Boletín Latinoamericano de
Música, Año IV, Tomo IV, ed. Francisco Curt Lange (Bogotá: Litografía Colombia, 1938), p. 615.

Fig.3. Opening of the National Anthem of Uruguay, attributed to Francisco José Debali.
Source: Reed, Bristow; Reed, William L.; and Bristow, M. J. National Anthems of the World. (New York:
Blandford Press, 1987.), p. 469.

In both cases presented, and quite surely in a good part of the Latin American national

anthems, an interest from dominant classes in being perceived as civilized seems to prevail, as

also Torres and Klein have suggested it. In this line of thinking, Turino makes a series of

interesting remarks on the Bolivian anthem (see Fig. 4). This musical work, as it has been

mentioned, was commissioned to the Italian composer Benedetto Vicenti. The premiere took

place in 1845, within the framework of an official celebration of a battle that allowed the

definition of boundaries between Bolivia and Peru. For Turino, the operatic of the anthem and

the circumstances of its premiere (initial performance in the presidential palace and a second one

that same day at night, in the municipal theater, this time of a five-voice choral arrangement with

orchestral accompaniment) reveal an interest centered on the cosmopolitan conformity rather

than on making a cultural difference compared to other countries.70 Furthermore, Turino adds

70
Turino. “Nationalism and Latin American Music: Selected Case Studies and Theoretical Considerations.” p. 180.
that several historians, such as LaDona Martin Frost, suggest that “the use of European-styled

music and performance contexts and the importation of European composers and artists were a

means of maintaining the cultural prestige of the criollo elites.”71 All these constitutes a way of

differentiation–to be read more clearly as discrimination– imposed by the criollo elites to less

favored social groups, which also takes into account an ethnic origin: indigenous, Afro-

American, mestizo and mulatto. This attitude, Turino states, persisted in the Latin American

countries until well into the twentieth century.72

Fig.4. Opening of the National Anthem of Bolivia, by Leopoldo Benedetto Vincenti.

Source: Reed, Bristow; Reed, William L.; and Bristow, M. J. National Anthems of the World. (New York:
Blandford Press, 1987.), p. 62.

Conclusion

Even before the independence of Latin American colonies from colonial empires occurred,

an increase in cultural interchange between both sides of the ocean led to a somewhat contrasting

state in the musical life of the future states. During the nineteenth century, these countries sought,

perhaps in despite of their own internal struggles, to take their own place among the world’s

nations. An assimilation of European musical trends took place there, being this related to the fact

that the independence movement was an initiative that arose from dominant segments of society.

Italian opera came to be part of all this process, serving as a model to follow and as a mechanism

to reinforce an established social order. As it was previously stated, the Italian opera was to leave

71
Ibid., p. 180.
72
Ibid., p. 180.
a notorious and permanent trace on the national symbols from most Latin American countries,

namely in their national anthems. As a group, these national anthems could be regarded, in

accordance with Nettl, as little clones of heroic style musical passages in Italian mid-nineteenth

century operas displaying practically no connection with the local musical heritage and, that due

to their unnecessary degree of elaboration, pose a real challenge for the musically uncultivated

masses existing in those countries.

Bibliography

Aharonián, Coriún. “Que el alma pronuncia”: Aportes a la confusión general en torno al Himno
Nacional y sus autores. (Lecture presented in the IV Seminario Enfoques sobre literatura
y cultura en América Latina en el siglo XIX. Universidad de la República. Montevideo,
10/25/2012). https://documents.tips/documents/que-el-alma-pronuncia-portal-fhce-
aharonianpdf-2015-05-16-lauro.html (accessed 12/10/2019)

Angermüller, Rudolph. “Neukomm, Sigismund Ritter von.” Grove Music Online. (2001).
https://doi-org.proxy.lib.uni.edu/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.19774 (accessed
11/14/2019).

Aretz, Isabel, ed. América Latina en su música. México: Siglo XXI Editores, 1977.

Béhague, Gerard. Music in Latin America: An Introduction. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall,
1979.

Béhague, Gerard. “Brazil.” Grove Music Online. (2001). https://doi-

org.proxy.lib.uni.edu/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.03894 (accessed 10/31/2019).

Béhague, Gerard, and Thomas Turino. “Peru, Republic of.” Grove Music Online. (2001);
https://doi-org.proxy.lib.uni.edu/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40092 (accessed
11/1/2019).

Bermúdez, Egberto. “From Colombian «National» Song to «Colombian Song»: 1860-

1960.” Lied Und Populäre Kultur / Song and Popular Culture 53 (2008): 167-261.
JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20685606 (accessed 09/19/2019).

Burkholder, J. Peter. “Music of the Americas and Historical Narratives.” American Music 27, no.
4 (2009): 399-423. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25652227 (accessed 9/19/2019).

Carpentier, Alejo; and Ethel S. Cohen. "Music in Cuba (1523-1900)." The Musical Quarterly 33,
no. 3 (1947): 365-80. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/739289 (accessed 9/19/2019).

Izquierdo-König, José Manuel. Being a Composer in the Andes during the Age of Revolutions.
Choices and Appropriations in the Music of José Bernardo Alzedo and Pedro Ximénez
Abrill Tirado (PhD diss., University of Cambridge, 2017).
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.12398 (accessed 10/4/2019).

Klein, Alexander. Oreste Sindici. Obras completas. Bogotá: Ediciones Uniandes, 2017.

Lange, Curt. Instituto de Estudios Superiores. Sección de Investigaciones Musicales. Boletín

Latinoamericano de Música. Año IV. Tomo IV. Bogotá: Litografía Colombia, 1938.
Nettl, Paul. National Anthems. 2d, Enl. ed. New York: Frederick Ungar Pub., 1967.

O'Rourke, Kevin, and Leandro Prados de la Escosura, and Guillaume Daudin. “Trade and
Empire, 1700-1870.” Trinity Economics Papers, tep0208. Dublin: Trinity College
Department of Economics, revised May 2008.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/4849529_Trade_and_Empire_1700-1870
(accessed 11/ 9/2019).

Orrego-Salas, Juan, and María Ester Grebe. “Chile.” Grove Music Online. (2001); https://doi-
org.proxy.lib.uni.edu/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.05587 (accessed 10/31/2019).

Reed, Bristow; Reed, William L.; and Bristow, M. J. National Anthems of the World. 7th Ed /
Edited by W. L. Reed and M. J. Bristow. New York: Blandford Press, 1987.

Slonimsky, Nicolas. Music of Latin America. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1945.

Smith, Carleton Sprague. The Hispanic American Historical Review 35, no. 2 (1955): 276-78.
JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2508727 (accessed 11/1/2019).

Torres, Rondy. Edición crítica de la ópera Ester de José María Ponce de León. Introducción,
reducción para piano y notas críticas. Bogotá: Ediciones Uniandes, 2017.

Turino, Thomas. “Nationalism and Latin American Music: Selected Case Studies and
Theoretical Considerations.” Latin American Music Review / Revista De Música
Latinoamericana 24, no. 2 (2003): 169-209. JSTOR,
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3598738 (accessed 12/7/2019).