MADRID, Spain.- On April 29, 1905, the musician Ignacio Cervantes Kawanagh, who triumphed in Cuba and in other parts of the world, and whose works occupy a prominent place in the artistic creation of the Island, died in Havana.
He was born in the Cuban capital in 1847, in the bosom of a family with a good economic position and high culture, a context that influenced his ability to show his musical aptitudes from an early age. He received his first teachings from his father and then studied with the Havana composer and pianist Nicolás Ruiz Espadero (1832-1890).
At a very young age, he composed his first contradanza, “La Solitaria”, dedicated to his mother. He studied for a time in Paris, where he obtained the First Prize in 1866 in a contest held at the Conservatoire of that city; later he would receive other laurels in piano and harmony.
In 1870 he returned to Cuba; he dedicated himself to teaching and offering concerts. In 1875 he was expelled from the Island, together with the important Cuban violinist Joseph White, with whom he gave concerts to raise funds for the fight for independence. Based in Mexico and the United States, he continues to support the cause of liberation.
He performs recitals and concerts in churches and philharmonic societies and gives piano classes to support the large family that he procreated with María Amparo Sánchez, among which stood out the pianist, composer and singer María Cervantes (1885-1981), who stood out in the song, the bolero, the romance and the point.
Ignacio Cervantes returned to Cuba in 1879 and resumed his work as a teacher and soloist. During the following fifteen years he wrote pieces for piano, symphonic and chamber works, a zarzuela and an opera and concluded his long series of 45 Cuban Dances for piano, considered his great consecration.
When the War of 1895 began, he went into exile again, until the last year of the century. Considered one of the most important composers and pianists of the Cuban 19th century, with a transcendental influence on the music of the largest of the Antilles, he identified his musical work with nationalist sentiment.
