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Scan 60
Harvard Dictionary Of Music(1950), 1950
20 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1ARCO
3Lit.: A. Koczirz, in SIM ix; Shohé Tanaka, in VMW vi; W. Dupont, Geschichte der musikalischen Temperatur (1935), 51ff.
5Arco [It.]. Bow (of violins, etc.). See *Coll' arco.
7Arditamente [It.]. Boldly.
9A re, Are. See *Hexachord III.
11Argentina. The beginnings of musical life in Argentina, as in other parts of Latin America, are associated with the efforts of the early missionaries to teach the arts and crafts of Europe to the native population. In the La Plata region, especially, important missions were established, with music playing a prominent role in their organization. The most gifted and zealous of these missionaries as regards the teaching of music was the Jesuit Father Luis Berger (1588–1641), under whose guidance the Indians became adept at playing many kinds of European musical instruments. His activities extended throughout the provinces, and even into Chile.
13It is not until the period of Independence that we find other names which need claim our attention. First of all may be mentioned the composer of the Argentine National Hymn (1813), Blas Parera, a rather obscure teacher of piano and violin, of whose life little is known. In 1817 he was in Spain, where he died. His Hymn, officially adopted by government decree, has firmly entrenched itself in the affection of the Argentine people. The outstanding composers of the 19th century were amateurs who cultivated music in the midst of various kinds of public activity. They were Amancio Alcorta (1805–62), Juan Pedro Esnaola (1808–78), and Juan Bautista Alberdi (1810–84). All three were of Basque descent. Their music shows scarcely any local influence, being largely dominated by Italian tendencies. All the works composed by Alcorta from 1822 to 1830—his most prolific period—have been lost. From 1832 he lived in Buenos Aires and continued to compose while holding various official positions. The works dating from this period were published by his family at Paris in two volumes (1869, '83), comprising chamber music, piano pieces, and songs.
15Esnaola, a native of Buenos Aires, studied at the conservatories of Paris and Madrid and became an accomplished pianist. Upon returning to Buenos Aires in 1822 he founded there the Academia de Música. He composed orchestral works, church music, songs, and piano pieces, mostly unpublished. Alberti, born in Tucumán, had a distinguished career as a man of letters and composed music simply as a pastime. Most of his compositions have been lost, but some were published in a periodical called La Moda, founded by Alberdi himself (1837–38). His works are mostly for piano, and in 1832 he published a piano method for amateurs.
17The dean of contemporary Argentine composers is Alberto Williams (b. Buenos Aires, 1862), grandson of Amancio Alcorta, of English descent on his father's side. After initial studies in Buenos Aires he attended the Paris Conservatory, studying piano and composition. In 1893 he founded the Conservatory of Buenos Aires, which now has many branches throughout the country, and of which he was still director in 1940. A prolific composer, he has written nine symphonies and several symphonic poems, concert overtures and suites for orchestra, many piano pieces, songs (to his own texts), choral works, chamber music, and technical treatises. Although his technique is entirely European and academic, he has essayed a national style in his Argentine Suites for strings, his Aires de la Pampa for piano, etc.
19The contemporary Argentine school is vigorous and varied. Juan José Castro (b. 1895), pupil of d'Indy at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, is active as conductor and as composer (Sinfonía Argentina, Sinfonía Bíblica, etc.). In 1941 he appeared as guest conductor of the NBC Orchestra in New York. His brother, José María Castro (b. 1892), is a member of the "Grupo Renovación," which includes also Honorio Siccardi (b. 1897), Luis Gianneo (b.
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