Dominican Republic——Juan Bautista Alfonseca

Juan Bautista Alfonseca (1810-1965):

Juan Bautista Alfonseca was a self-taught composer, who was born in Santo Domingo in 1810. Even though he lacked musical training, he was considered the father of Dominican music as he  ”introduced merengue and mangulina folk dance rhythms to classical ballroom music” (Austerlitz 1997).  He did this while incorporating Dominican Folklore.  He incorporated the use of mangulina in the national anthem in (1844). He also led the first military band after Santo Domingo’s independence from Haiti. He later was in charge of the Regimental Band and was the music instructor along with his fellow composers. The band then preformed several concerts to the public in 1852, spreading the love of music freely to all.Although his obituary does not mention merengue by name, it speaks of the composer’s adaptation of the danza to a peculiarly local sensibility: “A musical innovator, Senor Alfonseca understood the people’s nature and modified the Latin American danza, giving it an entirely new, rhythmic, merry, and sensual air.” Most merengue researchers agree that this adaptation was merengue. Although Alfonseca was a member of the cosmopolitan gentry, titles of his pieces such as “The Sancocho” (a typically Dominican Soup) and “Oh Coconut!” indicate that his music was associated with local culture. Alfonseca performed merengue and other local forms such as the mangulina at ballroom dances, and his obituary mentions that his music was characterized by a “national style.” Alfonseca believed that local music was a fitting symbol for the young nation, but when he composed the country’s first national anthem, he made it a mangulina, not a merengue.

   He was not only known for his creation of the merengue but he was also known as the composer that gave a rebirth to Latin American danzas. His other works can be found in Christian Masses and waltzes.

Discography:

Juan Bautista Alfonseca’s manuscrips didn’t survive so there was little information found on his works. These are some of his compositions that were remade.

Juana Quilina

Remade by Flerida Nolasco 1956

Oh Coconut,

Remade by: Rodriguez Demorizi

 The Sancocchio.

Two masses, Merengues, Manguilinas, Danzas, and several band pieces. (Austerlitz 1997)

Works Cited

Steward, S. and Colon, W., 1999. Musica, .Chronicle Books. San Francisco, California. Pgs 101-108.

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

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

Coopersmith, J. Music and Musicians of the Dominican Republic a Survey. Part two. 1945. The Music Quarterly. Oxford University Press. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/pss/739510

Thanks for Aurelio Cunha' s work.
Photos by Angelica Bautista.