Venezuela Art Music

Welcome to the webquest group 3 website for Venezuela Art Music. We hope you find our information interesting and useful!!

Group Members: Joanne Wall, Rob Nelson, Poy Fagundes, Heather Leary, and Emanuel Chicha

Timeline of Venezuela

A chronology of Key Events

1498-99 - Christopher Columbus and Alonso de Ojeda visit Venezuela, which is inhabited by Carib, Arawak and Chibcha peoples.
1521 - Spanish colonisation begins on the north-east coast.
1739 - DON PEDRO PALACIOS Y SOJO BORN
1749 - First rebellion against Spanish colonial rule.
1810 - Venezuelan patriots take advantage of Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Spain to declare independence.
1811 - Independence Act signed.
1829-30 Venezuela secedes from Gran Colombia and becomes an independent republic with its capital at Caracas.
1832 OCTOBER 2 - JOSE ANGEL MONTERO BORN
1870-88 - Venezuela governed by Antonio Guzman Blanco, who attracts foreign investment, modernizes infrastructure and develops agriculture and education.
1887 DECEMBER 8, - VINCENT EMILIO SOJO BORN
1893 AUGUST - LAUDELINO MEJIAS BORN
1898 APRIL 11, - JUANA MARIA DE LA CONCEPCION BORN
1998 JULY 19, - JUAN BAUTISTA PLAZA BORN
1902 - Venezuela fails to repay loans and, as a result, its ports are blockaded by British, Italian and German warships.
1908-35 - Dictator Juan Vicente Gomez governs at a time when Venezuela becomes world's largest exporter of oil.
1917 APRIL 3, - FREDY REYNA BORN
1930 APRIL 2, PANCHO PRIN BORN
1943 JULY 11, - OSCAR D’LEON BORN
1947-48 - President Romulo Gallegos, Venezuela's first democratically elected leader, overthrown within eight months in military coup led by Marcos Perez Jimenez, who forms government with backing from the armed forces and the US.
Democratic rule
1958 - Admiral Wolfgang Larrazabal ousts Marcos Perez Jimenez; leftist Romulo Betancourt of the Democratic Action Party (AD) wins democratic presidential election.
1960 - Movement of the Revolutionary Left splits from AD and commences anti-government work.
1964 - Venezuela's first presidential handover from one civilian to another takes place when Dr Raul Leoni (AD) is elected president.
Boom and bust
1973 - Venezuela benefits from oil boom and its currency peaks against the US dollar; oil and steel industries nationalised.
1983-84 - Fall in world oil prices generates unrest and cuts in welfare spending; Dr Jaime Lusinchi (AD) elected president and signs pact involving government, trade unions and business.
1989 - Carlos Andres Perez (AD) elected president against the background of economic depression, which necessitates an austerity programme and an IMF loan. Social and political upheaval includes riots, in which between 300 and 2,000 people are killed, martial law and a general strike.
1992 - Some 120 people are killed in two attempted coups, the first led by future president Colonel Hugo Chavez, and the second carried out by his supporters. Chavez is jailed for two years before being pardoned.
1993-95 - Ramon Jose Velasquez becomes interim president after Perez is ousted on charges of corruption; Rafael Caldera elected president.
1996 - Perez imprisoned after being found guilty of embezzlement and corruption.
1998 - Hugo Chavez elected president.
1999 - Severe floods and mudslides hit the north, killing tens of thousands of people.
2000 - Foreign Minister Jose Vicente Rangel discloses plot to kill Chavez. Chavez wins another six years in office and a mandate to pursue political reforms.
Chavez becomes the first foreign head of state to visit Iraq since the 1991 Gulf war, in defiance of strong opposition from the US.
Reform controversy
2001 November - President Chavez appears on TV to hail 49 reform laws which his government has introduced, including land and oil industry reforms, under powers which did not require them to be approved by the National Assembly.
2002 February - National currency, the bolivar, plummets 25% against the US dollar after the government scraps exchange rate controls.
2002 25 February - Chavez appoints new board of directors to state oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela in move opposed by executives.
2002 9 April - Trade unions and the Fedecamaras business association declare general strike to support Petroleos de Venezuela dissidents.
Chavez ouster
2002 11 April - Some 150,000 people rally in support of strike and oil protest. National Guard and pro-Chavez gunmen clash with protesters - more than 10 are killed and 110 injured. Military high command rebels and demands that Chavez resign.
2002 April 12 - Armed forces head announces Chavez has resigned, a claim later denied by Chavez. Chavez is taken into military custody. Military names Pedro Carmona, one of the strike organisers, as head of transitional government.
2002 April 14 - Chavez returns to office after the collapse of the interim government.
2002 December - Opposition strike cripples the oil industry. Organisers demand that Chavez resign. The nine-week stoppage leads to fuel shortages.
Referendum petitions
2003 May - Government, opposition sign deal brokered by Organisation of American States (OAS) which sets out framework for referendum on Hugo Chavez's rule.
2003 August-September - Opposition delivers petition with more than three million signatures demanding referendum on Chavez's rule. Electoral body rejects petition saying it fails to meet technical requirements.
2003 December - Second petition demanding referendum on rule of Hugo Chavez is delivered. Opposition says it contains 3.4 million signatures.
2004 March - Several people are killed and many are injured in clashes between opponents and supporters of President Chavez.
2004 August - President Chavez wins referendum in which Venezuelans are asked whether he should serve out the remaining two-and-a-half years of his term.
Land reform
2005 January - President Chavez signs decree on land reform which aims to eliminate Venezuela's large estates. President says land redistribution will bring justice to rural poor; ranchers say move is an attack on private property.
Bitter dispute with Colombia over the capture of a Colombian rebel Farc leader on Venezuelan soil. The presidents of both nations resolve the affair at talks in Caracas in February.
2005 June - Venezuela and 13 Caribbean states launch a regional oil company at a summit in Caracas. Venezuela, a major producer, agrees to supply the nations with cheap fuel. Critics accuse President Chavez of using oil to increase diplomatic influence.
2005 December - Parties loyal to President Chavez make big gains in parliamentary elections. Opposition parties boycott the poll, leaving parliament entirely made up of supporters of the president.
2006 July - President Chavez signs a $3bn (£1.6bn) arms deal with Russia, including an agreement to buy fighter jets and helicopters.
2006 December - Hugo Chavez wins a third term in presidential elections with 63% of the vote.
Nationalisation drive
2007 January - President Chavez announces that key energy and telecommunications companies will be nationalised.
National Assembly grants President Chavez sweeping powers to rule by decree for the next eighteen months.
2007 March - President Chavez says 16 large farms have been seized for redistribution under a land reform plan.
2007 May - Government takes control of oil projects in the Orinoco Delta as part of the nationalisation drive.
Thousands gather in Caracas to mourn, or celebrate, the government's closure of the RCTV channel which has been critical of President Chavez.
2007 June - Two leading US oil companies, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhilips, refuse to hand over majority control of their operations in the Orinoco Belt to the Venezuelan government.
2007 December - Mr Chavez suffers his first defeat at the ballot box, when voters in a referendum narrowly reject proposals to extend his powers and accelerate his socialist revolution.
Diplomatic crisis
2008 January, February - After President Chavez's mediation with the Farc, the Colombian rebel group releases six hostages.
Relations with Colombia deteriorate after Colombian President Alvaro Uribe rejects Mr Chavez's call for left-wing rebels to be treated as insurgents instead of terrorists.
2008 March - Diplomatic crisis after Colombian armed forces make cross-border raid into Ecuador, a Venezuelan ally, killing senior Farc rebel Raul Reyes. Mr Chavez mobilises troops along Venezuelan-Colombian border.
2008 July - Relations with Colombia begin to improve again in the wake of the freeing of Farc's most high-profile hostage, Ingrid Betancourt. Mr Uribe visits Venezuela for talks with Mr Chavez.
2008 August - President Chavez announces plans to nationalise one of the country's largest private banks, the Spanish-owned Bank of Venezuela.
Mexican cement giant Cemex seeks World Bank arbitration over Venezuelan nationalisation of local subsidiary, which the company deems illegal.
Government lifts some price controls on staple foods in an attempt to avert shortages.
Ties with Russia
2008 September - Government approves nationalisation of household fuel distributors and petrol stations.
Venezuela and Russia sign oil and gas cooperation accord. Russian warplanes visit Venezuela, with Russian warships heading there for November joint exercises - first return of Russian navy to Americas since Cold War.
Venezuela expels US ambassador in solidarity with similar Bolivian move. US reciprocates.
2008 October - First Venezuelan telecommunications satellite launched from China.
2008 November - Opposition makes gains in regional elections and wins Caracas mayoral poll. President Chavez's allies retain control of 17 out of 22 governorships.
Russia and Venezuela sign accord on joint civilian nuclear cooperation.
2009 February - Voters in a referendum approve plans to abolish limits on the number of terms in office for elected officials; this would allow President Chavez to stand again when his current term expires in 2012.
Tensions with Colombia
2009 July - Relations with Colombia begin to deteriorate again after plans are announced to allow US troops to use Colombian military bases as part of a drive to curb drug-trafficking.
2009 August - Tensions between the two neighbours increase still further after Bogota accuses Venezuela of supplying arms to Farc rebels, and Mr Chavez accuses Colombia of allowing its troops to stray over their common border.
2009 November - The diplomatic row escalates after the Colombian government and the US sign their long-trailed deal on the use of Colombia's military bases. President Chavez orders 15,000 troops to the Colombian border, citing increased violence by Colombian paramilitary groups.
2010 January - President Chavez devalues Venezuela's currency, the bolivar, by 17% against the US dollar for "priority" imports and by 50% for items considered non-essential, in an effort to boost revenue from oil exports.



Timeline found on: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1229348.stm , additional facts (in orange) were added by the group to the timeline.

Pictures

Click the following link to find images of the composers located on this website!


http://www.flickr.com/music_of_venezuela

Father Sojo

Father Sojo

During the Spanish domination, Venezuela was one of the poorest and most neglected colonies of the American continents. These conditions made it difficult for the flourishment of the arts. However, by the end of 1770 circumstances were beginning to change. At that time there lived in Caracas a young priest by the name of Don Pedro Palacios y Sojo who, after finishing his studies at the Caracas Seminary, made a trip to Rome and Madrid in order to arrange for the founding of an Oratory of St.Philip Neri in Caracas. Father Sojo, on his return from Rome in 1770, brought with him various musical instruments as well as the scores of sacred works by famous composers of the time. Sojo and his friends or disciples gathered at his small ranch in Chacao, to hear the interpretation of the scores brought over from Italy. It is still unclear what exactly the part of Father Sojo in these meetings was. In one of the 1826 issues of the periodical, El Repertorio Americano, which was edited in London by Don Andres Bello, there is an article in which Father Sojo is called “the founder of music in Venezuela”. There is no doubt that in his school, and under his spiritual guidance, were developed the first Venezuelan composers whose works we know today.

http://web.cfa.arizona.edu/sturman/CLAM/Pub1/Labonville_Fig6.html

Juan Bautista Plaza

Juan Bautista Plaza

Juan Bautista Plaza was one of the most important musicians in the history of Venezuela. He was born in Caracas on July 19th, 1898. He began music studies at the age of 15 with Jesús María Suárez; within a year he was asked to lead the choir and to teach music to his fellow pupils in the Caracas French School. Afterwards he studied law and medicine while continuing as a choirmaster at the French School where he produced his first large work, the zarzuela Zapatero a tus zapatos.After studying the piano in his native city he went to Rome where he studied organ, composition, Gregorian chant and the history of music at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, obtaining in 1923 his diploma for sacred composition. Back in Caracas he became choirmaster and organist of the cathedral, founder and director of the “Juan Manuel Olivares” school of music, professor at the “José Angel Lamas” school of music, as well as Director of Culture.
Most of Plaza’s compositions are vocal pieces, written for the church or for the choruses at the schools in which he taught. Throughout his career he was active as a writer and lecturer. In 1990 the Fundación Juan Bautista Plaza was established to preserve and catalogue not only his musical works but most of his writings. Most of the archive of the Fundación can be found in Venezuela’s National Library.

Bibliography:
Aretz, Isabel, and Norman Fraser. "Juan Bautista Plaza." Journal of the International Folk Music Council 18. (1966): 80-81. Web. 6 Mar 2010. .
Planchart, Alejandro. "Juan Bautista Plaza." Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, Web. 6 Mar 2010. http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/articles/grove
Discography of Works:
Cantata de Navidad
Dos cánones vocals ( Music Press, N.Y)
El Picacho Abrupto
Las Campanas de Pascua
La Fuente Abandonada
La Fuga Criolla
Las Horas
La Fuga Romantica
Siete Canciones Venezolana (Associated Music Publishers, N.Y.)
Somatina Venezolana (Schirmer, N.Y.)
Poema Sinfonico

Vincent Emilio Sojo

Vicente Emilio Sojo

Emilio was a Venezuelan composer, conductor, educator, and musicologist. Both his grandparents were chapel masters, so he was indeed born into a musical background. He first began his studies under Regulo Rico in 1896. By 1906 he had moved to Caracas, and entered the school of music. During this period he was also teaching himself humanities. About a decade later he was appointed music professor in the school of music and declamation. Around 1928 he wrote his first polyphonic opus.

He was the founder of Venezuela symphony orchestra, and conductor of the Orfeon Lamas. Along with several other composers, he created the first songbook for Venezuelan children. After the 1930’s he was devoting his time mostly to the music school. At this point he was writing very few music. He music was influenced by impressionism, but was rooted in Venezuelan folklore. He had collected as well as published many traditional songs. Some of his guitar works have become a standard repertoire. In 1982 the institute Vicente Emilio Sojo was founded. Much of the devotion of his institute goes toward music research. He is regarded as a big part of the reason why modern Venezuelan music schools are still around. He also composed and harmonized over two hundred songs of very popular folklore. He is credited as part of the reason why Venezuelan music tradition still exits. Sojo died at the age of 86.


DISCOGRAPHY
1911 Himno a Bolívar
1912 Romanza sin palabras
1913 Cuarteto en Re, for strings
1914 Partitura para festiva
1914 Tres motetes para la iglesia Santa Capilla
1915 Misa Coral
1918 Salve Reina
1920 Obertura Treno
1922 Ave María
1923 Misa Cromática
1924 Ocho responsorias y un Te Deum
1925 Palabras de Cristo en el Calvario
1926–1927 27 canciones de ayer
1928 Por la Cabra Rubia
1929 Requiem Inmemorian Patris Patriae
1930–1933 Misa Breve
1935 Misa a capella en honor a Santa Efigenia y a su fallecida esposa,La Noche, La Carretera, Rondel Matinal and Hondie nos Fulgebit Lux
1939 Tres canciones infantiles
1952 Tres piezas para guitarras
1953 Misa para Santa Cecilia
1958 10 canciones infantiles venezolanas
1964–1969 9 Canciones infantiles


Sources:
Oxford Music Online.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicente_Emilio_Sojo

Juana Maria de la Concepcion

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