José Ángel Lamas
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| José Ángel Lamas | |
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| Born | August 2, 1775 Caracas, Venezuela |
| Died | December 10, 1814 Caracas, Venezuela |
José Ángel Lamas (August 2, 1775 - December 10, 1814), Venezuelan classical musician and composer born in Caracas Venezuela. He was the main representative of the classical period in Venezuela.
Author of the immortal sacred piece, POPULE MEUS, his most important and universally known piece. It was composed in 1801, and premiered in the Caracas Cathedral during the colonial-provincial period. Lamas, away from politics and the whirlpool of the independence war, dedicated his life to music and specifically the religious one. As a member of the School of Chacao, in 1789 he played Tiple and Bajón Chirimía in the Cathedral Orchestra. The Chirimía (pronounced chee-ree-mea), an ancient medieval Spanish instrument, which preceded the oboe. It had 9 or 10 holes, two canes, conical section, there are also single reed cylindric Chirimías. It can be buit in three sizes: as tiple or alto, tenor and bajón or bassoon. It's sound has elements of the microtonal Arab structure, the instrument is well known in Spain and spread rapidly in Latin America. From 1796 until his death on the December 10, 1814, José Ángel Lamas was Maestro Bajonista or Main Bassoonist of the orchestra.
Among his pieces are, En Premio a tus Virtudes (As a Price to Your Virtues), Sepulto Domino (Sepulted Lord), Ave Maris Stella (Ave Star Mary), Misa en re (Mass in D), Benedicta et Venerabilis (Blessed and Venerable).
José Ángel Lamas died at 39 on December 10, 1814, and was buried in Saint Paul's church in Caracas. His bones were never found when later Antonio Guzmán Blanco demolished the church and subsequently built the Teatro Municipal de Caracas' (Municipal Theatre of Caracas) on it.
