Ignacio Cervantes

Ignacio Cervantes Kawanagh (Havana, 31 July, 1847 – Havana, 29 April, 1905) was a Cuban virtuoso pianist and composer, considered to be one of the most influential to the Music of Cuba.

A child prodigy, he was taught by hometown pianist Juan Miguel Joval, later by composer and tutor Nicolás Ruiz Espadero (1859) and the visiting American composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk who encouraged Cervantes to study at the Conservatoire de Paris (1866-1870) under
Antoine François Marmontel and Charles-Valentin Alkan, where he was awarded first prizes in composition (1866) and harmony (1867), as well as performed with Christina Nilsson and Adelina Patti. Back in Havana (1870) he got involved in disputes with renowned José White and had to leave the country (1876-1879) for USA.

Cervantes wrote one opera ("Maledetto", 1895), various chamber pieces ("Scherzo cappricioso", 1885), zarzuelas, and the famous forty-one "Danzas Cubanas". He also conducted for the Opera company at Havana's Payret Theater.His "Fusión de Almas" was written to his daughter, María Cervantes (1885-1981), who became a well-known composer and pianist.

External links

*IMSLP|id=Cervantes, Ignacio|cname=Ignacio Cervantes
* [http://www.ignaciocervantes.icm.cu ignaciocervantes.icm.cu] , international performance contest
* [http://www.classical-composers.org/cgi-bin/ccd.cgi?comp=cervante Ignacio Cervantes] at the [http://www.classical-composers.org/cgi-bin/ccd.cgi?comp=_phome Classical Composers Database]
* [http://hdl.handle.net/1802/2013 Six cuban dances] (1899) From Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection