Lamarque Pons, Jaurés (1917–1982)

Jaurés Lamarque Pons (b. 6 May 1917; d. 11 June 1982), Uruguayan composer and pianist. Lamarque Pons was born in Salto, where he began his music studies with María Victoria Varela (piano). Later he moved to Montevideo and took advanced piano lessons with Wilhelm Kolischer. He took courses in harmony, counterpoint, and instrumentation with Tomás Mujica and Guido Santórsola. In 1949 he enrolled in the composition classes of the Spanish composer Enrique Casal-Chapí. His Aires de milonga premiered in 1943. Lamarque's earlier music was universalist in character and included piano pieces, chamber music, and vocal works. He later composed in the nationalist style, using popular urban melodies, such as old tangos and milongas and the rhythms of the Afro-Uruguayan tamboril. From that period came his opera Marta Gruni (1965), with a libretto from the Uruguayan playwright Florencio Sánchez. After its 26 February 1967 premiere at the Teatro Solís under his baton, it became one of the most frequently performed Uruguayan operas. Other important works of Lamarque Pons include the ballet Suite según Figari (1952), Suite Rioplatense (1954), and the ballet-pantomime El encargado (1956). He also composed music for stage and films. Lamarque Pons died in Montevideo.

See alsoMusic: Art Music; Theater.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Composers of the Americas, vol. 16 (1970), pp. 102-107.

Susana Salgado, Breve historia de la música culta en el Uruguay, 2d ed. (1980).

Additional Bibliography

González Puig, Beatriz. Jaurès Lamarque Pons. Montevideo: Arca, 1995.

                                      Susana Salgado