Pedro Elías Gutiérrez (March 14, 1870 – May 31, 1954) was a Venezuelan musician who is mainly remembered by the joropo song Alma Llanera, whose music he composed.
Gutiérrez was born in La Guaira. He began to study music at the age of 15, although not with much method. Many Venezuelan women remember having danced in their Débutante Ball, celebrated when they complete 15 years old, some waltz by Pedro Elías Gutiérrez, like Geranio, Laura or Celaje. But the composition of Gutiérrez that is widely known by all Venezuelans is undoubtedly Alma Llanera. He wrote several other zarzuelas like Percance en Macuto and Un Gallero como Pocos. He died in Macuto, Vargas.
This popular joropo, which is regarded as the unofficial second National Anthem of Venezuela, is part of the zarzuela of the same name that was premiered in Caracas on 19 September 1914, and was originally known as Canción Patriótica del Alma Llanera or, at a more popular level, as Joropo del Alma Llanera. The lyrics of Alma Llanera were written by the poet Rafael Bolivar Coronado. Inexplicably, only the name of Pedro Elías Gutiérrez has been immortalized, and many Venezuelans ignore the name of the author of the lyrics. Gutiérrez was director of the Martial Band of Caracas for 43 years, from 1903 to 1946, the same band that still regularly performs the popular Retreta in the Plaza Bolívar of that city. Listen Alma Llanera