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Jesus Garcia Leoz
Olite, Navarra 1904-1953
Born in Olite (Navarre) on January 10, 1904, Jesus Garcia Leoz sang in a boys choir and studied piano and harmony in Pamplona, where he was a member of the city's Choral Society. He went on to study music in Madrid with Jose Balsa, Conrado del Campo and Joaquin Turina.
At the age of 16 he moved to Argentina where he taught music, played the piano in cafes, and composed or scored a number of works.
He returned to Madrid to do military service and finish his music studies with Joaquin Turina, with whom he collaborated in the composition of several film scores. He devoted a large part of his work as a composer to this genre, and wrote 104 sound-tracks, including "Bienvenido Mr.Marshall", "Balarrasa", "Surcosâ", "Niebla y sol"and "Botin de ancla"
Garcia Leo"' s career as a composer of concert music began late, with his First Quartet in F Sharp Minor, which was followed by the Cuarteto con piano (1946). In 1947 he composed the operetta La duquesa del candil, followed by the Symphony in A Flat Major (1948), the ballet La zapatera y el embozado (1950) and a piano Sonatina. He wrote numerous songs based on poems by J. Ramon Paredes, Antonio Machado, Federico Garcia Lorca, Gerardo Diego, Rafael Alberti, RosalÃia de Castro and other poets. His Christmas cycle Primavera del portal (1952), based on texts by Calderan de la Barca, Tirso de Molina, Lope de Vega, Luis de Gangora and the Cancionero de Išbeda, won him great acclaim.
Jesus GarcÃia Leoz died in Madrid on February 23, 1953. |