Juan Bautista Plaza and Musical Nationalism in Venezuela

16. Plaza as the Subject of Reportage

16 Plaza as the Subject of Reportage Plaza’s relationship with the press was reciprocal. While he enriched the pages of Caracas periodicals with his contributions, the press in turn publicized his activities, contributing to the growing esteem in which he was held. As a result, within a few years of beginning his career he was acknowledged as the national authority on sacred music, and he later gained the same status in the areas of music history and Venezuelan colonial music. This visibility and credibility helped him to carry out his projects. The price of having such a high profile, however, is that one often attracts enemies as well as acclaim. Fortunately, Plaza attracted far more of the latter than the former. The earliest articles about Plaza dealt with his activities as new chapel master, but as he expanded his influence into other spheres, the press kept in step. Because nationalist sentiment was so prevalent, reporters viewed nearly all of his activities in a patriotic light. Therefore many articles about him, especially from 1923 to the mid-1940s, sought to exalt him as a Venezuelan artist, doing praiseworthy work on behalf of his country. A number of these articles are readily identifiable by their titles, e.g., “For Church and Fatherland,” “A Musical Glory of the Nation,” “Juan Bautista Plaza, Venezuelan Musical Figure,” “Venezuelans One Hundred Percent: Maestro Juan B. Plaza,” and “Justice Toward Authentic National Figures.”1 Some of these articles, and others with less nationalist titles, were the result of conversations between Plaza and a reporter. Because he was an “expert,” Plaza was frequently interviewed about his work, ideas, and personal reminiscences.2 Some interviews were serious and lengthy, while others were short or light-hearted. Less frequently, his opinions on musical questions were sought by means of a query published in a newspaper.3 His non-musical facets were also explored in the Caracas press. Venezuela Gráfica, for example, printed the terse yet thorough analysis of his character reproduced in chapter 2. Even his childhood memories found their way into local newspapers. One interviewer investigated Plaza’s youthful affection for astronomy and another his recollection of the first time he wore long trousers.4 On several occasions, artistically inclined contributors sought to capture his essence in caricatures.5 Plaza’s death in 1965 inspired a great many articles, including several featuring reminiscences and commentary by those who knew him. In later years, anniversaries of his birth and death also inspired articles and other publications, as well as editions of his music, reprints of writings by and about him, and commemorative events. Published Opinions of Plaza as a Composer Plaza’s music received somewhat more attention in the press at the beginning of his career than it did later on, for two principal reasons. First, he composed more during the first two decades of his career than he did during the second two. Second, during the latter two decades a number of new composers appeared, drawing part of the attention away from Plaza and his generation. His works that tended to receive the most attention in the press included his early sacred compositions and the Requiem of 1933, as well as his nationalist works, particularly those premiered during the first half of the 1930s. Local music criticism, during the first decade of Plaza’s activity as a composer, was in its infancy and few people had sufficient musical training to write objectively and articulately about compositions and performances. Consequently journalists often avoided strictly musical issues by exalting Plaza’s patriotism and high artistic standards, or by describing emotions aroused on hearing his music. An example—an effusive 1928 article about his Audivi vocem de coelo—was quoted in chapter 6. Here is another, applauding Plaza’s nationalist Sonatina venezolana (1934) after it was premiered by Claudio Arrau during a concert featuring contemporary Venezuelan piano music: But what can I, a lay outsider, say about the musical structure of the three beautiful pieces that Arrau performed day before yesterday in homage to Venezuelan art? I can scarcely express how they assailed, deep inside me, the heartstrings joined 198 / Plaza’s Life and Works like roots to the motherland. They moved me almost to pour myself out completely in shouts or in tears. I found motives of folk tunes transmigrated, ennobled, in the “Criollerías” of Calcaño and in the “Sonatina [venezolana...