A fundamental institution for the modernity of choral music in 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...

, was the Orfeón Lamas, being pioneering at this genre and in the compilation of Venezuelan popular songs, before it, any choral group in Venezuela exist.

The history of the Orfeón Lamas, has its origins at the January, 1928 carnival

Carnival

Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...

. A group of amateur musicians, all disguised as Ukrainians, started to sing at the Caracas streets, surprising people with their wonderful melodies. That group of young musicians were formed by Vicente Emilio Sojo

Vicente Emilio Sojo

Vicente Emilio Sojo was a Venezuelan musicologist, educator and composer, born in Guatire, Miranda.- Biography :...

, the brothers Emilio and Jose Antonio Calcaño, Juan Bautista Plaza

Juan Bautista Plaza

Juan Bautista Plaza Alfonso was a classical composer. He began studies in medicine at the Central University of Venezuela but, with time, left in order to dedicate himself to music. His first teacher was Jesus Maria Suárez. He studied in Rome from 1920 and 1923 and obtained the title of...

, Miguel Ángel Calcaño and William Werner. The idea to sing in a chorale, occurred to them after making contact with a Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 vocal group, that presented at the Caracas Municipal Theater in 1927. This contact, was the motivation for this young musicians to conform what later became the Orfeón Lamas. On March, 1929, they began to meet at the residence of José Antonio Calcaño, trying to sing pieces of Venezuelan composers, months later a group of female voices were added, completing therefore the chorale. After a year of tests and arduous work, the Orfeón Lamas offered its first presentation at the Caracas National Theater, on July 15, 1930.

The repertoire of the Orfeón Lamas, was constituted by works of Venezuelan composers of the Santa Capilla Music School, disciples of Vicente Emilio Sojo

Vicente Emilio Sojo

Vicente Emilio Sojo was a Venezuelan musicologist, educator and composer, born in Guatire, Miranda.- Biography :...

, and sacred works of 18th and 19th centuries Venezuelan composers. Many of this colonial works only existed in old manuscripts, in badly conservation and had to be reconstructed partially. The sacred concerts of the Orfeón Lamas caused a great diffusion and the rescue of this repertoire. The Venezuela Symphony Orchestra

Venezuela Symphony orchestra

The Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela was founded by a group of 26 professional musicians met at the invitation of the maestro Vicente Emilio Sojo following the dissolution on January, 1929 of the Union Filarmónica Nacional.This meeting took place January 15, 1930 in the Caracas Musical Declamation...

 always accompanied the Orfeón Lamas at the famous Sacred Concerts initiated by Sojo in 1933, and, from that, were carried out with regularity during several years, under the direction of Vicente Emilio Sojo

Vicente Emilio Sojo

Vicente Emilio Sojo was a Venezuelan musicologist, educator and composer, born in Guatire, Miranda.- Biography :...

 (all Fridays of Holy Week

Holy Week

Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...

), at the Caracas Municipal Theater. It is memorable, the sacred concert made on March 31, 1933 at the Caracas Municipal Theater, where participated at the choir, approximately one hundred singers, and the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, that concert was transmitted live through the "Broadcasting Caracas" to all the country. In 1938, the Orfeón Lamas was invited to the celebrations of the Bogotá

Bogotá

Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...

´s IV Centenary. The chorale, presents three successful concerts at the Columbus Theater of the Colombian Capital.

Vicente Emilio Sojo, compiled and harmonized old Venezuelan aguinaldo

Aguinaldo

Aguinaldo is a folk genre of Christmas music in Puerto Rico, and is based on an archaic form of Spanish Christmas carols. Aguinaldo music is often performed by what is called parrandas—a casual group of people, often family or friends, who go from house to house.- Puerto Rican aguinaldo :In...

s, and folklorical songs, taking them to be presented for more than twenty years by the Orfeón Lamas, occurring therefore the rescue of the Venezuelan musical culture. The Orfeón Lamas was a pioneering chorale at the Venezuelan musical movement, leaving a great contribution and legacy.