Colonel Juan Bautista Alfonseca Baris (23 June 1810, in Santo Domingo – 9 August 1875) was a military officer and composer in the Dominican Republic, known for his role in the development of merengue music. Though the music written by Alfonseca was not, at the time, specifically labeled as "merengue", its incorporation of Dominican folk motifs into Latin formal music such as the danza paved the way for that genre,[1] causing many to label him "the father of merengue".[2]

In addition to his proto-merengue, Alfonseca served as a chapelmaster in Santo Domingo, writing two masses,.[3][4] Alfonseca also wrote patriotic music; following the Dominican Republic's successful secession from Haiti in 1844 he produced the nation's first proposed national anthem, though it was not adopted.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Malena Kuss (2004). Music in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Encyclopedic History. University of Texas Press. pp. 221–. ISBN 978-0-292-78498-7. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  2. ↑ Ángel G. Quintero Rivera (2009). Cuerpo y cultura: las mâusicas mulatas y la subversiâon del baile. Iberoamericana Editorial. pp. 260–. ISBN 978-84-8489-421-6. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  3. ↑ Suzanne S. Tiemstra (1992). The choral music of Latin America: a guide to compositions and research. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 4–. ISBN 978-0-313-28208-9. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  4. ↑ Donna M. Di Grazia (5 March 2013). Nineteenth-Century Choral Music. Routledge. pp. 455–. ISBN 978-1-136-29409-9. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  5. ↑ Pedro Henríquez Ureña (1989). La Utopía de América. Fundacion Biblioteca Ayacuch. pp. 431–. ISBN 978-84-660-0001-7. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
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