José Eulalio Samayoa (1781-1855)
- Sinfonía en Mi bemol mayor, No.7 'Batalla de Jiquilisco' (1834)
Performers: Orquesta Millеnnium; Dieter Lеhnhοff (conductor)
Further info: José Eulalio Samayoa (1781-1855)
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Guatemalan composer. He honed his musical skills within the traditional
guild system, later benefiting from the tutelage of Manuel Mendilla
Retalhuleu. In 1813, he joined the choir of Guatemala Cathedral as the
third tenor. On July 2, 1813, he founded the Sociedad Filarmónica del
Sagrado Corazón de Jesús. From its inception, this society included the
annual celebration of the 'Día del Músico' (Music Day), dedicated to the
Sagrado Corazón de Jesús as atonement for any musical errors committed
during liturgical services. Music Day was marked by a Mass and public
concerts, which significantly stimulated the local musical scene.
Certain restrictions imposed by the Ecclesiastical Chapter, prohibiting
the performance of dawn carols, compelled Samayoa to explore the realm
of absolute music, a previously neglected genre in Guatemala. To replace
these carols or instrumental pieces by the likes of Joseph Haydn or
Antonio Vivaldi, he composed instrumental works such as 'Tocatas' for
strings and horns, as well as 'Piezas para tocarse en la iglesia' for
larger orchestras. Music scholar Dieter Lehnhoff notes that "the
necessity of delving into larger musical forms (initially limited to
small, two-part forms leading to the sonata-allegro form) spurred his
experimentation, making him one of the first American musicians to
venture into the symphony genre." The earliest surviving example is his
'Sinfonía No.7' (1834), dedicated to 'al triunfo de las Armas Federales
en la batalla de Jiquilisco (El Salvador).' Among his other extant
works, the 'Sinfonía Cívica' and the 'Sinfonía Histórica', the mentioned 'Tocatas' and 'Piezas para tocarse en la iglesia', and eight masses, a
Requiem, psalms, vespers et al,. In 1842 he wrote the history of the
Sociedad Filarmónica del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, with an extended
historical appendix on the development of Music in Guatemala since the
earliest days of the Spanish missions, thus becoming the first music
historian in Central America and perhaps all of Latin America.
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