César Pérez Sentenat

Pianist and composer. Prestigious pedagogue. As a composer, Pérez Sentenat's work is framed in a nationalism where the rhythmic atmosphere fluctuates between Afro-Cuban hints and rural accents.

Born in La Habana. He studied solfège and music theory with José Molina; piano with Antonio Saavedra, Rafaela Serrano and Hubert de Blanck; between 1913 and 1922, he traveled to París where he was a student of Joaquín Nin Castellanos: musical pedagogy and musicology, and at the Schola Cantorum, harmony and composition with Saint Requier.

Nin Castellanos had him study Robert Schumann's Album for the Young, as well as French, Spanish and English harpsichordists. In 1917 he heard Claude Debussy's Sonata for Violin and Piano, performed by the author at the piano and violinist Gastón Poulet. During this period he would meet in Spain Manuel de Falla, Joaquín Turina, Jean Aubry and pianist Ricardo Viñas. Upon returning to La Habana, he studied modern harmony with Pedro Sanjuán and Amadeo Roldán, 1924-1926.

In 1933 he performed with the Orquesta Filarmónica de La Habana under the direction of Amadeo Roldán, and performed, as a soloist, works by Manuel de Falla, Nights in the Gardens of Spain and the Concerto for Harpsichord and Orchestra; and in "The Three-Cornered Hat", the piano part. Later he traveled to the United States, where he continued his studies with John M. Williams, children's music pedagogy, 1939-1940, and in Chicago he was an affiliated professor at the Sherwood Music School, 1940.

In 1953 he traveled to Madrid in order to take courses in musical folklore and general folklore at the Conservatorio of that city, with professor Manuel García.

In 1922 he entered as a professor at the Conservatorio Nacional in the subjects of piano and harmony. That same year he collaborated with Gonzalo Roig and Ernesto Lecuona in the founding of the Orquesta Sinfónica de La Habana, and in 1924 he joined Amadeo Roldán, as pianist, to create the Orquesta Filarmónica de La Habana.

In 1931 he founded the Escuela Normal de Música, and at the Conservatorio Internacional de Música, directed by María Jones de Castro, in collaboration with Caridad Benítez, the first Kindergarten and Musical High School known in Cuba.

He was a piano professor at the Conservatorio Municipal de Música, and from 1931 he was its director. In 1945 he was appointed provincial music inspector of La Habana, and in 1949, general inspector. In 1961 he is appointed piano professor and director of the Conservatorio Guillermo M. Tomás de Guanabacoa. In 1965 he was general director of music of the Consejo Nacional de Cultura and president of the commission for reform of music education.

As a composer, Pérez Sentenat's work is framed in a nationalism where the rhythmic atmosphere fluctuates between Afro-Cuban hints and rural accents. Brief pages for piano, which alternate with other freer ones where some Spanish features appear; and, on the other hand, some songs tinged with a lyrical creole sentiment.

Works

For Piano
El jardín de Ismaelillo, 1931, elementary pieces on Cuban rhythms and melodies; Scales, arpeggios and exercises.
La pequeña Rebambaramba, 1932
Transcription for piano of the Dance of the Congos by Amadeo Roldán, 1945
Six inventions for two voices by Juan Sebastián Bach, 1950, transcribed to be performed four hands.
Two Spanish prints, 1954
Humorous Carnival, 1955
Cuban Suite in G minor, 1956
Prelude in All Keys, 1957, First series. Four preludes.
Four prints for a pioneer, 1962

Voice and Piano
Martianas, 1931, two short songs and a sung poem on verses by José Martí
Three rural songs, 1931-1957
The colored earth... of sowing, street cry, 1947
Triptych of Cuban Christmas carols, 1949
Christmas gift of the Christian Black man, 1952