Campos-Parsi, Héctor (1922–1998)

Héctor Campos-Parsi (b. 10 October 1922; d. 30 January 1998), Puerto Rocan composer, music critic, teacher, and concert manager. Campos-Parsi completed his early education in Ponce and then went on to study biology and psychology at the University of Puerto Rico. In 1945 he entered the school of medicine at the National University of Mexico, but ill health forced him to abandon this pursuit. He received a fellowship to the New England Conservatory from 1947 to 1950 and, while in New England, also studied with Aaron Copland who arranged for him to work in Paris under Nadia Boulanger from 1950 to 1953. He was named director of the music division of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture in 1958 and in 1970 to the Academy of Arts and Sciences. A prolific composer in various styles, he is best known for his Sonatina para piano y violín for which he won the Maurice Ravel Prize in 1953, Tres fantasías para piano (1950), and Juan Bobo y las fiestas (1957). Copland's influence is most evident in Campos-Parsi's folkloric works such as Yerba bruja (1962) and Arawak (1970). In addition, his work was featured on the album Sonetos Sagrados (1992) which commemorated the 500th anniversary of Columbus's voyage and features sonnets based on the music of Spain in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

See alsoMusic: Art Music .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

General overviews of his life and work can be found in Fernando Callejo y Ferrer, Música y músicos puertorriqueños (1971) and Fernando H. Caso, Héctor Campos-Parsi en la historia de la música puertorriqueña del siglo XX (1980).

Additional Bibliography

Montalvo, José A. Héctor Campos Parsi His Life and Music: A Biographical Study with an Analysis of Four Selected Works. New York: New York School of Education, Health, Nursing and Arts Professions, 1992.

                                 Jacquelyn Briggs Kent