Isabel Aretz
Encyclopedia
Isabel Aretz was an Argentine-Venezuelan
researcher, writer
, ethnomusicologist and composer
.
. She was educated at the National Conservatory of Music and Performing Arts, studying pedagogy, piano with Rafael González
and harmony, counterpoint and composition with Althos Palma. She earned a doctorate in music from Catholic University of Argentina in 1968.
After completing her initial studies, Aretz became a senior lecturer at the National Conservatory and began work as a ethnomusic researcher and composer. In 1937 her orchestral work Punto premiered at the Teatro Cervantes. In the next decade, she collected and recorded traditional music, traveling in Argentina
, Paraguay
, Uruguay
, Chile
, Bolivia
and Peru
. In 1947 she married Venezuelan musician and writer Luis Felipe Ramón y Rivera
.
She was asked that same year to organize the music section of the Folklore Research Service established in Venezuela, and she continued her research on folk music there. In 1966 she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
to record native melodies in Mexico
, Colombia
, Ecuador
and Central America
.
Aretz-Thiele founded the American Institute of Ethnomusicology and Folklore (INIDEF) in Venezuela and chaired the institution from 1990 and 1995. She became a professor of ethnomusicology at the School of Arts, Central University of Venezuela, and at Indiana University in the United States. She was also a guest lecturer at other universities in Mexico and Colombia
.
Aretz-Thiele published a number of journal articles and about twenty-five books on American folklore, plus an autobiography. After her husband died in 1992, she was appointed a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in Argentina, and she returned to San Isidro
to live and work until her death in June 2005.
Venezuelan people
Venezuelan people are from a multiethnic nation in South America called Venezuela. Venezuelans are predominantly Roman Catholic and speak Spanish, and a majority of them are the result of a mixture of Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians.-Demography:...
researcher, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, ethnomusicologist 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...
.
Biography
Isabel Aretz-Thiele was born in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
. She was educated at the National Conservatory of Music and Performing Arts, studying pedagogy, piano with Rafael González
Rafael González
Rafael González is an Argentine Olympic fencer. He competed at the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics.-References:...
and harmony, counterpoint and composition with Althos Palma. She earned a doctorate in music from Catholic University of Argentina in 1968.
After completing her initial studies, Aretz became a senior lecturer at the National Conservatory and began work as a ethnomusic researcher and composer. In 1937 her orchestral work Punto premiered at the Teatro Cervantes. In the next decade, she collected and recorded traditional music, traveling in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
and Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
. In 1947 she married Venezuelan musician and writer Luis Felipe Ramón y Rivera
Luis Felipe Ramón y Rivera
Luis Felipe Ramón y Rivera, composer, teacher, musician, folklorist and writer, was born in San Cristóbal, Táchira, August 23, 1913. He lived his first years in the Venezuelan city of San Cristóbal. Between 1919 and 1921 he lived, with his parents and siblings, successively in Cúcuta, San Luis and...
.
She was asked that same year to organize the music section of the Folklore Research Service established in Venezuela, and she continued her research on folk music there. In 1966 she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
to record native melodies in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
and Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
.
Aretz-Thiele founded the American Institute of Ethnomusicology and Folklore (INIDEF) in Venezuela and chaired the institution from 1990 and 1995. She became a professor of ethnomusicology at the School of Arts, Central University of Venezuela, and at Indiana University in the United States. She was also a guest lecturer at other universities in Mexico and Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
.
Aretz-Thiele published a number of journal articles and about twenty-five books on American folklore, plus an autobiography. After her husband died in 1992, she was appointed a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in Argentina, and she returned to San Isidro
San Isidro, Buenos Aires
San Isidro, Buenos Aires is a municipality in Greater Buenos Aires and one of the most affluent municipalities in Argentina. It is located in San Isidro Partido in the Buenos Aires Province....
to live and work until her death in June 2005.
Awards and honors
- Order of Andrés Bello of the Government of Venezuela
- Premio Nacional de Música "José Angel Lamas"
- First Prize for Musicology by the National Endowment for the Arts *Emeritus, Argentina Academy of Music in 1999
- Master Teacher, Catholic University of Valparaiso in 2000
- Gabriela Mistral International Prize of Arts and Music, awarded by the Organization of American States (OAS), Washington, USA
- Robert Stevenson International Musicological Award for research in ethnomusicology, Washington, USA
Works
Aretz-Thiele composed works for orchestra, symphonies, symphonic plays and choral works, and piano and harpsichord suites. Selected works include:- Puno, premiered at the Teatro Cervantes in Buenos Aires.
- Páramo, ballet premiered at the Aula Magna of the Universidad Central de Venezuela.
- Jew's harp, premiered at the International Festival of Mérida, Venezuela.
- Yekuana, premiered at the Aula Magna of the Universidad Central de Venezuela.
- Argentina to death, orchestra work after a poem by César Fernández Moreno, premiered at the Teatro Humboldt, Caracas.
- Kwaltaya, ethnodrama premiered at the Teatro Municipal, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Constellation spectral, symphony premiered by the Orquesta Sinfónica Municipal.
- Father Liberator, symphonic and choral work, premiered at the American Music Festival at the John F. Center Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington.
- Cries of a city released in Concert Mark May, New York.
- Cosmos man works for piano and tape released in Chirst and St. Stephen's Church in New York.