Rafael Hernandez Monument - Honoring a Talenteed Musician
If you walk around the central plaza of Aguadilla you will find an interesting statue of a man on top of a circular platform. This is the Rafael Hernandez Monument and it depicts the world-famous composer Rafael Hernandez-Marin. Hernandez was considered to be one of the most important Puerto Rican musicians to emerge in the 20th century. His influence spread across the globe and today his efforts are honored, not only by this monument, but by the naming of several places in his honor.
Today not many people will even recognize the name ‘Rafael Hernandez-Marin’. Who was this influential man? Where did he come from? Hernandez was born in Aguadilla on 24 October 1892 to quite an impoverished family. As a child he made a modest living from making cigars. But it wasn’t the cigars that caught his interest – it was music. By just twelve years of age he had decided that he wanted to become a full-time music student and so, with his parents' permission, he packed up and headed to San Juan where he was able to study his passion under the guidance of Jose Ruellan Lequenica and Jesús Figueroa. He mastered the clarinet, the tuba, the piano, the guitar and the violin and also learnt to play many other instruments. He also learnt to read and write music. Such was his talent that just two years after arriving at the music academy, he played for the Cocolia Orchestra at the young age of fourteen.
After a time, Hernandez started to make his way in the world. In 1917 he had traveled to America where he’d landed a good job as a musician in North Carolina. Here he enlisted in the army and this enabled him to travel the world. As part of the Orchestra Europe he toured not only France but much of Europe. After the war he returned to New York City where he started writing songs. Before long he organized a musical trio called ‘Trio Borincano’ that was later followed by a quartet known as ‘Cuarteto Victoria’. Both groups toured the US, Latin America, Cuba, Mexico and Puerto Rico. In 1932 he moved to Mexico where he furthered his music knowledge while working as an actor and movie score composer. He also married a Mexican and spent many happy years in the country. During his very full life Rafael Hernandez composed patriotic music, Christmas carols, lullabies, boleros, waltzes, dance music and much, much more. His music became an integral part of Puerto Rican culture and it might be said that there was not a person in his home country who had not heard of him or enjoyed his music. Today his legacy continues to live on, but all that visitors will see of him is the accurate likeness of him represented by his statue in his hometown of Aguadilla. So visit the Rafael Hernandez Monument in Puerto Rico and pay homage to a legendary musician.
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