Luis Advis


Luis Advis Vitaglich was a Chilean professor of philosophy, and a noted composer of traditional and New Chilean music. He was officially recognized as a Fundamental Figure of Chilean Music in 2003.

Biography

Advis was born in Iquique in northern Chile. He graduated in Philosophy from the Universidad de Chile and held numerous academic posts in various schools of higher learning in his country.

Musical work

Advis did not formally study music or composition at university, but he studied piano with Alberto Spikin and composition with Chilean academic and musician Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt. Although Advis recognized his appreciation of traditional classical music, he felt the need to revitalize and develop popular and folk music through works such as cantatas and symphonies.
Prominent in his repertoire for vocalists are the cantata Santa María de Iquique , the Canto para una Semilla based on poems by Violeta Parra, and a symphony, Los Tres Tiempos de América, which was premiered and recorded in 1988 by Quilapayún with the Spanish singer Paloma San Basilio and an orchestra of Spanish musicians. In 1979 he published the book Displacer y Transendencia en el Arte.
Among his last projects was an arrangement for Del Salón al Cabaret la Belle Epoque Chilena - this was a theatrical, musical and choreographic recreation of styles of that era, which involved 70 musicians and actors from the Escuela de Teatro de la Pontificia Universidad Católica; it was recorded in 2002. He composed Cinco danzas breves for the Saxophonic Quartet Villafruela, which were released in the Saxofonos de Latinoamérica CD. In his final days he completed an oratorio titled La Pampa del Tamarugal, which has not yet premiered.
Advis recognized the importance of popular-folk music when he began to listen to Violeta Parra. Advis – like Sergio Ortega - provided the sound of Chile, a sound conveyed by the fundamental works of the Nueva canción Chilena: Santa María de Iquique and Canto para una Semilla. Other compositions include the orchestral Suite Latinoamericana, a wind quintet, 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 was a fundamental figure in Latin American art for his music.

Compositions