Sylvia Rexach

Sylvia Rexach

Rexach was the founder of the "Las Damiselas", the first Combo in Puerto Rico consisting entirely of women.
Background information
Born January 22, 1922
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Died October 20, 1961
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Genres Bolero
Occupation(s) Comedy scriptwriter, poet, singer and composer

Sylvia Rexach (January 22, 1922 – October 20, 1961), was a comedy scriptwriter, poet, singer and composer of boleros .

Early years

Rexach was born and raised in Santurce, Puerto Rico. There she attended public school and received her primary education. She then went to a private school where she finished her secondary education before attending the Central High School of Santurce. During her high school years, when she was 14 years old, she wrote several poems which were to become part of her musical compositions. She amazed her teachers when she composed "Di, Corazón" (Tell me, Heart) and "Matiz de Amor" (Calm Love). Rexach also learned how to play musical instruments, such as the guitar, the piano and the saxophone at a young age.[1]

World War II

Rexach enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico where she was going to take a pre-legal course, however when the United States entered World War II in 1942, Rexach dropped-out of the university and joined the United States Army as a member of the WACS (Women Army Corps Service) where she served as an office clerk.[1][2]

Post WW II

After the war, Rexach was discharged from the armed forces. She married William Riley with whom she had three children which included actress/singer Sharon Riley.[3] The marriage eventually ended in a divorce and she returned to Puerto Rico where she went to work for a radio station as a comical script writer, first for producer Tommy Muñiz, and later for comedian Ramón Rivero "Diplo". She was the founder of the first Combo in Puerto Rico consisting entirely of women. They were named Las Damiselas, and besides Rexach included: Idalia Rosario, Marta Romero, Millita, Elena Rita Ortiz, and Ketty Cabán.[1]

Singing career

In 1951, Rexach had a newspaper column called "A Sotto Voce" where she was a music critic.[1] She was also a co-founder of The Puerto Rican Society of Authors, Composers and Music Editors (Sociedad Puertorriqueña de Autores, Compositores y Editores de Música).[1] She was its Secretary Director, a position which held until the day of her death.

The tones of Rexach's compositions varied from the soft and romantic to the harsh and tormented. Among the songs written by her and which were "hits" in Puerto Rico and aboard were: "Alma Adentro" (Inner Soul, actually a homage to a brother who died in an accident), "Idilio", "Olas y Arenas" (Waves and Sands), "Mi Versión" (My Version), "Nave sin Rumbo" (Wandering Ship), "Di, Corazón" and "Matiz de Amor". She even wrote a humorous novelty song, "Cuchú cuchía", which features Rafael Hernández Marín as a co-composer.

Sylvia Rexach, an alcoholic at the time,[4] died on October 20, 1961 in San Juan, Puerto Rico from stomach cancer.[1]

Legacy

Her compositions have been recorded by many other artists, such as Marco Antonio Muñiz, Danny Rivera, Gilberto Monroig, Chucho Avellanet, Lucecita Benítez, Juan Luis Barry, Linda Ronstadt, Ednita Nazario and Lunna. Two television specials were made about Sylvia's life, "Sylvia, en tu Memoria" (Sylvia, in your Memory) and Ángela Meyer's "El fondo del Dolor" (In the Deepest Pain) starring Sharon Riley, Sylvia's daughter.[1]

In 2001, Rexach was posthumously inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame.[5] There is a theater named after Rexach in San Juan and in the Luis A. Ferre Center of Fine Arts, there is a Sylvia Rexach Cafe Theater.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Oliveras, Carene. "Sylvia Rexach". Biografías (in Spanish). Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular.
  2. ↑ Punto Fijo
  3. ↑ Santiago, Javier (September 25, 2009). "Sharon Riley". Biografías (in Spanish). Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular.
  4. ↑ Dávila Gonçalves, Michele C. (June 2009). "Pop-culture en la literatura puertorriqueña contemporánea" (PDF) (in Spanish). 2009 Congress of the Latin American Studies Association: 14.
  5. ↑ Solá, Vicki (December 1, 2000). "A Bite from the Apple". Latin Beat Magazine.
  6. ↑ "Nuestras facilidades" (in Spanish). Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferré.
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