Pedro Elías Gutiérrez 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 musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

 who is mainly remembered by the joropo

Joropo

The Joropo is a musical style resembling the waltz, and an accompanying dance, having African and European influences originated in Venezuela and performed in Colombia and Venezuela. It's a fundamental genre belonging to its typical music or música criolla...

song Alma Llanera, whose music he composed.

Life and valoration

Gutiérrez was born in La Guaira

La Guaira

La Guaira is the capital city of the Venezuelan state of Vargas and the country's chief port. It was founded in 1577 as an outlet for Caracas, to the southeast. The town and the port were badly damaged during the December 1999 floods and mudslides that affected much of the region...

. He began to study music at the age of 15, although not with much method. Many Venezuelan women remember having danced in their Débutante Ball

Debutante

A débutante is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "début" presentation. It should not be confused with a Debs...

, celebrated when they complete 15 years old, some waltz

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...

 by Pedro Elías Gutiérrez, like Geranio, Laura
or Celaje. But the composition of Gutiérrez that is widely known by all Venezuelans is undoubtedly Alma Llanera

Alma Llanera

Alma Llanera is a popular Joropo song composed by Pedro Elías Gutiérrez and with lyrics of Rafael Bolívar Coronado. It was part of a zarzuela whose premiere was on September 19, 1914 at the Teatro Municipal de Caracas....

. He wrote several other zarzuelas like Percance en Macuto and Un Gallero como Pocos. He died in Macuto, Vargas

Macuto, Vargas

Macuto is a city in Vargas state, Venezuela.Macuto was founded in August 1740 on the site of an indigenous village called Guaicamacuto . It is known for its beaches, and for the town of Galipán, famous for its flowers....

.

Alma Llanera

This popular joropo

Joropo

The Joropo is a musical style resembling the waltz, and an accompanying dance, having African and European influences originated in Venezuela and performed in Colombia and Venezuela. It's a fundamental genre belonging to its typical music or música criolla...

, which is regarded as the unofficial second National Anthem of 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...

, is part of the zarzuela

Zarzuela

Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...

 of the same name that was premiered in Caracas on 19 September 1914, and was originally known as Canción Patriótica del Alma Llanera or, at a more popular level, as Joropo del Alma Llanera. The lyrics of Alma Llanera

Alma Llanera

Alma Llanera is a popular Joropo song composed by Pedro Elías Gutiérrez and with lyrics of Rafael Bolívar Coronado. It was part of a zarzuela whose premiere was on September 19, 1914 at the Teatro Municipal de Caracas....

were written by the poet Rafael Bolivar Coronado

Rafael Bolivar Coronado

Rafael Bolívar Coronado was born in Villa de Cura, , Venezuela, on 6 June 1884. He is the author of the lyrics of the popular joropo song "Alma Llanera"...

. Inexplicably, only the name of Pedro Elías Gutiérrez has been immortalized, and many Venezuelans ignore the name of the author of the lyrics. Gutiérrez was director of the Martial Band of 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...

 for 43 years, from 1903 to 1946, the same band that still regularly performs the popular Retreta in the Plaza Bolívar of that city. Listen Alma Llanera