José María Vitier García-Marrúz

Keyboardist and composer, founder of the group Síntesis, has composed music for theater, film, and television. Together with his brother Sergio, he has created the soundtrack for television serials including: En silencio ha tenido que ser, La frontera del deber, and many others. He received the National Music Prize in 2021.

Born in La Habana, he is the son of distinguished poets Cintio Vitier and Fina García Marruz.

He began his piano studies in 1962 with Cecilia Echevarría, continued them in 1965 with Margot Rojas, and between 1968 and 1975 was a student at the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory, where he studied under César López. That same year he moved to Matanzas to work as a professor at the Provincial School of Music.

In 1977 he joined Grupo Síntesis as a pianist and composer, and was also a professor at the National School of Art; in 1979 he traveled to Bulgaria to participate as an accompanying pianist for violinist Rosa María Estrada in the Bandera for Peace Festival; in 1983 he founded and directed his own group, made up of José María Vitier, director and pianist; Lázaro González, violin and keyboards; Nicolás Sirgado, electric bass and guitar; and Miguel A. Rodríguez, Eugenio Osorio, and Antonio Carreras, percussion.

In 1984 he traveled to the GDR to participate in the World Festival of Youth and Students; in 1986 he composed the theme that identifies the Latin American New Film Festival; he participated in the Latino Festival of New York; he toured Mexico, where he performed at the Ollin Yolixtli theater in Mexico City, and also performed in Mexicali, Guadalajara, and Guanajuato; that same year, on a second tour to that country, he participated in the Cervantino Festival; in 1987 he traveled with his group to Indianapolis, United States, and performed at Jazz-Plaza'87 and at the Varadero International Festival; in 1988 he participated for the second time in the Cervantino Festival in Mexico, and received the Ocella award for best film music for Un señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes at the Venice International Film Festival; in 1990 he traveled with his group to Venezuela to perform at the Mérida International Film Festival; in 1991 he performed with his group at the jazz festivals in Montreal and Toronto, Canada; he went to Paris with his group, where he participated in the Afro-Caribbean Culture Festival, which was his last performance with his group, and he dedicated himself to working as a soloist.

In 1992 he received the Coral award for the music of the Venezuelan-Spanish film Mascaró, el cazador americano.

In 1993 he traveled to Canada, where he gave concerts with his piano music, accompanied by Canadian saxophonist Jane Bunnet, bassist Carlos del Puerto, his son, and pianist Frank Emilio, with whom he performed at the Glenn Gould Theatre in Toronto; later he moved to Mexico to participate in the Cervantino Festival with singer Miriam Ramos and Carlos del Puerto.

In 1994 he traveled to Spain with Pablo Milanés; that same year he received the Pananbí award for the music of the film Fresa y chocolate at the V Festival of Asunción, Paraguay; this film was nominated for the Oscar award. In 1995 he was a jury member of the Second International Piano Competition held in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

As a composer, his work is characterized by its lyricism, and in it one can note the influence of rock, jazz, and trovador music, as well as a creative assimilation of the European classical tradition. It could be said that his music has the particularity of summarizing the sounds that are most familiar and attractive to us from the different musical genres that nourish it; it is, perhaps, a new expression of Cuban popular music.

He was nominated for the Grammy Award for Salmo de las Américas as best classical music album 2000, and at Cubadisco with Canciones del buen amor, award in the 2002 compilation category.

Works
Film
Polvo rojo and Techo de vidrio, 1982; El corazón sobre la tierra, 1983; En tres y dos, 1985; Un señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes, 1988; Río Negro, 1989; El siglo de las luces, 1992; Mascaró, el cazador americano, 1992; Fresa y chocolate, 1993; El elefante y la bicicleta, 1994; Salón México, 1995; C'osas que dejé en La Habana, 1997; Un paraíso bajo las estrellas, 1999.

Various Instrumental Combinations
Trío, 1977, for flute, cello, and piano; Riesgo, for flute, double bass, percussion, and piano; Añoranza, for synthesizers, double bass, drums, and two pianos; Despedida, for oboe, double bass, percussion, and piano; Julito el pescador, for flute, guitar, tres, double bass, percussion, and piano; El héroe, for two flutes, double bass, synthesizers, and piano; Rebeldía, for flute, two guitars (six and twelve-string), double bass, drums, and Chinese box; Son dos, for two guitars, two flutes, double bass, percussion, and piano, 1979; La Soledad, for flute, four cellos, double bass, synthesizers, and drums; and Balada para un combate, for flute, double bass, synthesizers, percussion, and piano, 1980; Opening I and II, string quartet, for flute, saxophone, synthesizer, Cuban percussion, drums, and piano, 1984; Ludwig, Tres encuentros, Barrock, Balada y rito, Tesoro azul, and Acerca de una canción antigua, 1985, string quartet, for flute, saxophone, synthesizer, Cuban percussion, drums, and piano; Ellos heredarán la tierra, string quartet, for synthesizer and percussion; and Varias formas de esperar, for flute, trumpet, electric guitar, synthesizer, double bass, percussion, and two pianos; and Pasatiempo, Dime sí, Señales en la vía, Rondó, Diálogos, El corazón sobre la tierra, and Isabel, string quartet, for flute, saxophone, double bass, synthesizer, Cuban percussion, drums, and piano, 1986; Tango del nuevo pueblo viejo, string quartet, for piano and synthesizer, 1988; Tango del desierto, for violin, harp, guitar, harmonica, and piano; and Cortesanas I and II, violin, cello, and harpsichord, for flute, double bass, and piano, 1992; Cine de barrio, for guitar, synthesizers, vocals, and piano, 1995; Sexy sax, for solo tenor saxophone, electric piano and guitar, double bass, drums, synthesizer, 1996.

Jazz Band
Rumba del salón México, De La Habana a Santiago, and Calentando la pista, 1996, for piano, two alto saxophones, two tenors, baritone, trumpets, trombone, double bass, Cuban percussion: bongó, tumbadora, paila criolla, maracas, and güiro, drums, and piano.

Vocal Work
En las horas de riesgo y de combate, 1978, text: José Martí, for voice and piano; Ojos negros, 1992, text: Juan B. Ubago, for voice, synthesizer, and piano; Se dice cubano, text: José Martí, for voice and piano; Llama de amor viva, text: San Juan de la Cruz, for voice, piano, and double bass; Ilusión de realidad, text: Silvia Rodríguez Rivero; Tengo miedo de perder la maravilla, text: Federico García Lorca, for voice, synthesizer, and piano, 1993; Por un campo florido, text: José Martí; and El aire que te rodea, text: José María Vitier, 1994; Bastos y espadas, 1995, for voice, synthesizer, and piano.

Chamber Orchestra
Visión interior, 1980, for solo guitar, strings, and woodwinds; El corazón sobre la tierra, 1983, for strings and woodwinds; Te seré fiel, 1986, for solo piano, strings, and woodwinds.

String Orchestra
Domingo, 1979, for flute and accompanying piano; Tema de María Fernanda, 1989, for piano and oboe.

Symphony Orchestra
Evasión, 1979; En las entrañas, Para empezar a vivir, and Tu verdadero rostro, 1980; Por el mismo camino, 1982; Resplandor, 1986; Vuelo real, 1988; Vals de la Casa Dorada, 1989; and Concierto campestre, 1992.

Piano
Tema para Silvia y José Adrián, 1974; Mediopunto, 1977; Bolero de trova, 1978; En silencio ha tenido que ser, 1979; Caleidoscopio and Balada del amor adolescente, 1989; Contradanza núm. 1 and Contradanza núm. 2, 1991; Contradanza núm. 3 ("Contradanza de fin de siglo"), Contradanza núm. 4 ("Fuera del baile"), Preludio de Sofía (tema de Sofía), and Paloma de la tarde, 1992; Contradanza núm. 5 ("Juego de muchachos"), 1993; Fresa y chocolate, 1994; Pequeña oración, Fugado, son montuno, El manisero se fue, and Danzón imaginario, 1995.

Piano and Percussion
Fugado and son montuno, 1992; Palabras en la calle, Balada y rito, and Contradanza núm. 1, 1995; Caleidoscopio, 1996.

Piano and Synthesizer
Rondó, 1989; Tango con historia, 1991; Raíces ocultas, Cartas de Esteban, Carlos en la casa de Madrid, Entrada en La Habana, and Brindis de Esteban, 1992; Tema de Marina Soledad, 1993; Tema de amor de Mercedes, 1995.

Television Series
En silencio ha tenido que ser (in collaboration with Sergio Vitier), 1979; Julito el pescador (in collaboration with Sergio Vitier), Para empezar a vivir, and Martí y los niños, 1980; El regreso de David, 1981; Por el mismo camino, 1982; Salida 19 and Relatos de Lenin, 1983; La frontera del deber, 1986; Finlay and Juego en defensa propia, 1988; Día y noche, 1989; and El siglo de las luces, 1992.

Synthesizer
Despegue and Una nueva aurora, 1983; Del lado del deber, 1985; Milagros, 1988; Nurami and Día y noche, 1989; Adagio, 1990; Vals del circo, Samba del circo, Volanta campiña, Danza de la guillotina, Piratas, Exploración submarina, and Barco que va a Cayena, 1992; Tema con fliscornio, Tema de Diego con oboe, Acecho, Vidriera, and Pizzicato librería, 1993.

Violin and Piano
Variaciones, 1978; Intimidad, 1980; Milagro de la flor, 1988; Tango apache, 1992; Danzón imaginario and Miradas furtivas, 1995.

Beatitudes for Piano and Flute 2021
In the many months elapsed in confinement, time, so important in music, has lost part of its meaning in everyone's life. The days pass quickly and slowly at the same time, the present has become pressing, the past blurs, and the future is perceived, at best, as uncertain, invisible, unsettling. Creation has been for this reason a great refuge for artists and musicians, who from the solitude of their homes have sought to find within themselves the ability to break discouragement and seek essences, imperishable truths ruled by another tempo, immaterial stimuli dictated by the need to express the most sincere and transcendent aspects of their spirit.

Something like this can explain the emergence of these Beatitudes for flute and piano created by José María Vitier and inspired by the captivating interpretive ability of flutist Niurka González. The suite is dedicated to her, because the beauty of her interpretations and the possibility of recording together to leave this testimony of friendship and art was the fundamental incentive for the composition of these works.

Small pieces, like beads on a rosary, brief prayers of hope, spiritual wonders and games drawn with music, is what you will find in the CD we propose. Beatitudes is a suite of 21 brief pieces that, from its eclecticism and variety, proposes expressive alternatives converging in the same participatory and convening gaze of hope.

Each fragment has its own language and proposes a different response to the urgent and passionate challenge of the search for beauty.

The realization of this project found total support from the Unicornio Label of Producciones Abdala, and it is always fortunate to be able to record in these magnificent studios with engineer Orestes Águila.

Additionally, the distinguished filmmaker Lester Hamlet filmed a documentary during the rehearsals and recordings at Abdala. Imbued with the delicate spirit of these works and with great sensitivity, he managed to capture in images every detail, the magic, the complicity, and the clear enjoyment of these immense musicians during the performance of these works.

Awards and Recognition
1977 First Prize of the National Contest "La Edad de Oro" for his "Suite of Children's Songs No. 1" with texts by Mirta Aguirre.
1988 "Ocella" Award for best music composed for a film at the Venice International Film Festival for the music created for the film "Un señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes".
1992 "Coral" Award for best film music at the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema for the music of the Venezuelan-Spanish film "Mascaró, el cazador americano".
1993 EGREM Award for best instrumental music recording and the Grand EGREM Prize for best recording released in 1993 for the music of "El Siglo de las Luces".