Abstract

Cántico Fúnebre is a musical piece for tenor and orchestra written by nineteenth century Venezuelan composer Jose Maria Velasquez with lyrics by the politician and writer Francisco Conde. Cántico was written for the funeral of Juan Jose Conde, an independence leader and one of the founders of the local Masonry. The particular features of this piece are the remarkable influence of opera and the Masonic symbolism in the poem. This article provides, firstly, a vision of opera in Latin America and its use as a tool to emulate European culture. Then, it considers the process by which the opera penetrated Masonic rituals until fully manifested in the funeral ceremony, and finally, how the ruling elites, composed mostly of members of the order and the middle classes, adopted appreciation of opera as one of their main cultural values.

Keywords: Venezuelan musicians of the Nineteenth Century; Francisco Conde; Juan José Conde; funeral rites