Leopoldo Américo Miguez was born in Rio de Janeiro. Still a child, he went to Lisboa, Portugal, with the purpose of learning the violin with Nicolau Ribas. In Bruxelas, he attended the conservatory being a pupil of César Franck in harmony lessons.
He went back to Rio when he was twenty-one, but his father made him to work in business. His passion for music remained, however. In that period, he used to write compositions at night. He became a full-time composer at the age of thirty-two.
As what happened to many composers of that period, Miguez could not resist the influences of Liszt and Wagner. His style, however, is distinguished by spontaneity and enchanting melodies.
His main works are the operas Il Salduni and Pelo Amor, the symphonic poems Ave Libertas and Puríssima, a sonata for violin and piano, a symphony, several piano pieces, and the award-winning offical Brazilian "Hino da Proclamação da República" (Hymne for the Proclamation of the Republic).
article by Felipe Sarro
