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María Grever, child prodigy of music, universal composer and 'Madonna of the song'

2021-02-11T15:19:38.691Z


The most famous artists in the world have covered some of the more than 800 songs composed by the versatile Mexican


Photo of composer María Grever taken from Paramount Pictures or 20th-Century Fox Studios for whom she worked from 1920 until her death in 1951.

María Grever

exploited all the facets that music allows throughout her life.

At the age of nine he stood out in his first musical composition at school and, from that moment, thanks to his talent and also to the economic possibilities of his father, his training focused on music after receiving classes from the teacher Claude Debussy and Franz Léhar in France.

Years later, the unstable political situation in Mexico forced her to travel to the United States, where she became a figure of international fame: she was a singer, composer of popular songs and boleros as well as background music for films, orchestra director, businesswoman and even artist representative.

Grever broke the imposed rules and made a niche for himself in the history of

music

in a field that until then was exclusively for men.

Thanks to her prolific work as a songwriter, the most famous artists internationally covered her songs and placed them at the top of the charts for long periods of time.

However, the personal life of the

Mexican composer

was not always easy and successful: her first daughter passed away at six months and she was determined to leave music.

Years later, in the United States, the more famous she was, the poorer, and she had to do everything to support her family, from embroidering handkerchiefs to ending up selling her piano ...

More information

  • The best songs of María Grever

The rest of her life was spent on horseback between the United States and Mexico, where she was always received as a music diva who placed her country and her music in the world.

Although he died in New York, his last wish that his mortal remains rest forever in Mexico City was also fulfilled.

María Joaquina de la Portilla Torres, her real name, was born in the Mexican city of León on September 14, 1885. Her father, Francisco, was a successful Andalusian merchant, and her mother, Julia, was a Mexican of Spanish descent.

Three more brothers made up the large family, whose first home was the San Juan de los Otates farm, owned by their maternal grandfather, the Spaniard Gerónimo Torres.

The father's businesses moved the entire family to Spain when Maria was six years old.

In Seville, and thanks to the commercial successes of the head of the family, the four brothers received a careful education that included private teachers of English, French, piano and singing.

Thanks to this strict training, little

Maria Grever

soon excelled in the musical field.

His first known composition was made when he was nine years old.

It was a simple Christmas carol performed as a homework assignment, but it was performed at the Christmas parties at his school, the Sacred Heart, in December 1894. A plaque with the inscription "To María Joaquina de la Portilla, child prodigy" recalls her passing through the Sevillian classrooms.

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His progress in music was recognized by all, so his father heeded the advice and decided to invest in his daughter's talent by putting the best

piano

and singing

teachers

of the time

at her disposal

, first in Seville, then in Madrid and, finally, in Europe.

Once again, Don Francisco's possibilities allowed Maria to travel to Paris and receive classes from the most important composer in France at that time, Claude Debussy.

María Grever

was also a disciple, later, of the Austrian composer

Franz Lehár

, whose influence she always recognized and was grateful for “advising me not to be subject to musical technique, to be spontaneous and sincere.

And all my music has that stamp, I felt it and wrote it almost without thinking and I owe it to Lehár to a large extent ”.

In 1900 he returned to

Mexico

and continued his musical studies at the music theory school run by his aunt Cuca Torres.

At the age of 18, María published her first song, A una ola, of which it sold millions of copies and was later covered by numerous artists.

She continued studying music, perfecting her technique and also combining it with the ease she discovered to compose.

In 1906, at the age of 21, she met León Augusto Grever in Mexico City, an executive of an American oil company whom she married a year later.

From him he took the surname to go down to posterity as María Grever.

The first years of happiness and success gave way to difficult and painful moments, making the decision to move to the United States: on the one hand, the riots caused by the Mexican Revolution, and on the other, and fundamentally, the death of his first daughter. at six months of birth.

Maria confessed later that she was determined to quit music and that she did so for a few months, but in the end she realized that it was the only thing she could take refuge in.

In the famous 1920s she recorded two albums as a singer and also began working as a composer of background music for films for Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox studios.

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His second return to Mexico occurred in 1929, when he was 44 years old.

María Grever,

already nicknamed the Madonna of the song, was received upon arrival as a diva who was recognized as the most international Mexican artist.

However, some time later she recognized that the more famous she was in the United States, the poorer she was, because the copyright of her songs did not give her to live on and she had to dedicate herself to sewing handkerchiefs and even sold her piano to be able to meet the expenses. .

The slump, however, passed, and upon his return to the United States the success was unquestionable and continuous.

Grever began to realize how easy it was to compose and became interested in

jazz

and modern rhythms that were emerging in the United States, but with the objective of making Mexican music known to the American people.

María Grever's

first international success

was Júrame, a habanera-bolero performed masterfully by the tenor José Mojica.

The song became one of his most recognized hits in universal music since its premiere and was performed by artists such as Nelson Ned, Plácido Domingo, Hugo Avendaño, Luis Miguel and Libertad Lamarque.

Other hits followed, such as I'll Be Back, I Love You, You Said, written for Esther Williams' 1944 film

Bathing Beauty

, as well as

When

I Come Back

to Your Side

, with which she won a

Grammy

in 1959 sung by jazz legend Dinah Washington.

On February 11, 1938, Grever recorded Tipitipitin, a waltz about the serenade to loved ones that became another of his greatest hits.

  • "In music, what tears the soul works"

Artists of different styles and nationalities have interpreted the songs of María Grever.

Besides those already mentioned, other world famous singers who have covered their songs have been Enrico Caruso, Ray Conniff, Bobby Darin, Nicolás Urcelay, Andy Russell, Dean Martin, Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart, Alfonso Ortiz Tirado, Juan Arvizu, Néstor Mesta Chayres, Barry Manilow, Natalie Cole, Gloria Estefan, and Amy Winehouse.

Throughout her life, María composed the lyrics and music for more than 800 songs that were recorded in English and Spanish.

Many of them became international hits in America and Europe by grabbing the top spots on music radio charts.

In 1949 he returned for the last time to Mexico and received all kinds of tributes: he was awarded the Keys of Mexico City, the Medal of Civic Merit and the Medal of the Heart of Mexico.

She took advantage of that trip to work as a presenter on the XEW television network, participate in radio programs telling anecdotes of her life and write an autobiographical book before returning to New York.

Together with Cuban María Teresa Vera and her compatriot Consuelo Velázquez they formed the triumvirate of women composers who stood out in the world of bolero internationally.

María Grever

died in New York on December 15, 1951 at the age of 66.

His mortal remains rest in the Spanish Pantheon in the Mexico City cemetery, the artist's last will.

More information

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Two years after his death, in 1953, Tito Davison made the biographical film

When I go

to, a melodrama about the life and work of

María Grever

starring Libertad Lamarque.

In her hometown in

Guanajuato

, León, there is a statue in homage to the composer and a theater also has her name.

María Grever

was a cultured person who always carried Mexico in her heart.

His lyrics and musics capture the soul of those who listen to his songs because harmony was a virtue added to his great talent.



Source: elparis

All life articles on 2021-02-11

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