Francisco Mata was a Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

n singer and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

.

Born in Juan Griego

Juan Griego

Juan Griego is a city on the northern side of Isla Margarita, and is the most northern port in Venezuela. It has a population of 28,256 inhabitants and is capital of the Marcano municipality of the Nueva Esparta state.-History:...

, from a young age Mata learned to play the cuatro

Cuatro (instrument)

The cuatro is any of several Latin American instruments of the guitar or lute family. The cuatro is smaller than a guitar. Cuatro means four in Spanish, although current instruments may have more than four strings....

 and the guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

. Along with his father, Alexander Marcano Gómez, he learned to sing a variety of Venezuelan eastern songs, and with his mother Rosa, understood the importance of loving his traditions and religious belief. Mata started to sing in 1939, but, it was not until 1945 that he made his professional debut in appearing at the Beneficent society of Juan Griego. In 1960, Mata joined the Guaiquerí group, with whom he traveled to Caracas

Caracas

Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...

 to record his first album, Cantos Margariteños. While in the group, he created the well-known sub-genre, Motivo Guaiquerí.

Because of his work and legacy, Mata was considered to be the musical smbassador of Margarita island

Isla Margarita

Margarita Island is the largest island of the state of Nueva Esparta in Venezuela, situated in the Caribbean Sea, off the northeastern coast of the country. The state also contains two other smaller islands: Coche and Cubagua. The capital city of Nueva Esparta is La Asunción, located in a river...

 and a living patrimony of Nueva Esparta State. Mata's musical proficiency allowed hin to compose in eastern genres such as: eastern gaitas, polos

Polo (music)

Polo designates two forms of Venezuelan folk music. One that originates from Margarita Island and another one that is played in Coro, in the state of Falcón. In main lines, this genre is interpreted using cuatro, maracas, mandolin, guitar and voice...

, malagueñas

Malagueña (genre)

The Malagueña is a typical folk music from the Venezuelan east. In this genre, the mandolin is the main instrument, simultaneously that the cuatro and the guitar serve as companions. It is characterized that the malagueña songs, have sad and melancholic melody, in tribute to the Virgen del Valle,...

, fulía

Fulía

Fulía is a typical musical style of the Venezuelan coast, it is sung or recited, and is interpreted with: cuatro, guitar, mandolin, maracas and a square drum in the east of Venezuela, and the tambora of velorio or tamborita in the central region...

s, sabanablancas, puntos

Punto (Venezuela)

The punto is a musical genre characteristic from the east of Venezuela, that is interpreted along with the galerón and Fulía at the celebration of the velorios de cruz....

, jotas, galerones, zumbaquezumba, lololós, gaitones and estribillos, among others, as well as joropos, waltzes

Venezuelan waltz

- History :Between the hall dances that arrived to Venezuela during the 19th century, waltz has been the one of greater root and dispersion. Waltz consists of a musical expression derived from an Austrian popular dance, the ländler...

, merengues

Venezuelan merengue

The word merengue designates a musical form extended through all the Caribbean. The first occurrences of merengue in print in Venezuela are from scores of “dance merengue” of the second-half of the 19th century . As a dance craze, merengue acquired popularity in Caracas during the 1920s. It is...

, bolero

Bolero

Bolero is a form of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms which are both significant and which have separate origins.The term is also used for some art music...

s and pasodoble

Pasodoble

Pasodoble is a typical dance from Spain march-like musical style as well as the corresponding dance style danced by a couple. It is the type of music typically played in bullfights during the bullfighters' entrance to the ring or during the passes just before the kill...

s. Together his famous compositions, emphazised: La pesca (first composition of the Motivo Guaiquerí), Amigo Turista, Polo margariteño, Malagueña, and "Son para gozarlas", among others.

Source

Fundación Glorias del Folklore