Luis Advis

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Luis Advis Vitaglich (February 10, 1935 - September 9, 2005) was a Chilean university professor of philosophy, musical composer and author. He was born in the City of Iquique in the remote north of Chile. He graduated in philosophy from the Universidad de Chile and held numerous academic post in various schools of higher learning in his country.

Despite not entering the conservatorium or being formally trained in the field of music, he studied piano with Albert Spikin and composition with the Chilean academic and musician Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt (to whom the amalgamation of the European classical music traditions with Latin American musical expressions is owed to). Although Advis recognized his great appreciation for traditional classical music he still saw the need to revitalize and develop popular/folk music through works such as cantatas, symphonies and other musical forms.

Prominent in his repertoir for vocalists are the "Cantata Santa María de Iquique” (a milestone of the New Chilean Song movement), the ”Canto por Una Semilla” (Song for a Seed) based on poems by Violeta Parra (recorded by Inti-illimani, Isabel Parra and Edmonda Aldini) and the symphony “Los Tres Tiempos de América”, which was recorded by Quilapayún with the Spanish singer Paloma San Basilio in 1988.

In 1979 he published the book “Displacer y Transendencia en el Arte” “(Displeasure and transcendence in Art).”

In the latest part of his life and the most recent musical creations were the piece “Del Salón al Cabaret la Belle Epoque Chilena”/From the Saloon to the Cabaret the Beautiful Chilean Epoc.” This is a theatrical, musical and choreagraphic recreation of styles of that era, it involved 70 musicians and actors from the Escuela de Teatro de la Pontificación Universidad Católia(Theatrical School of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile) and recorded in 2002. In addition, he composed “Cinco danzas breves” / Five brief dances (cha-cha-chá, Cuban son, waltz, habanera and rag-time) for the Saxophonic Quartet Villafruela, which were released in the “Saxofonos de Latinoamérica"/Saxophones of Latin America CD.

Advis recognizes the importance of popular/folk music; when he begins to listen to Violeta Parra. Advis –like his colleague, Sergio Ortega- provides the sound of Chile; a sound conveyed by the fundamental works of the Nueva canción chilena: Cantata Santa María de Iquique, Canto Por una Semilla and Los Tres Tiempos de América, Suite Latinamericano, music for theatre, cinema and television, in a musical catalogue that comprises more than 150 works that covers all spheres and goes from the classical to the popular/folk. Advis is undoubtfully a fundamental figure in Latin American art for his music outlined a new architectural pholyphony for Latin America.