This guide is part of our overview of the essential classical guitar repertoire. Antonio Lauro (1917–1986) was Venezuela's most celebrated guitar composer — a nationalist whose Valses Venezolanos transformed a nineteenth-century parlour form into concert works of lasting beauty. John Williams described him as "the Strauss of the guitar."
The Waltz and Venezuelan Identity
Born in Ciudad Bolívar to an Italian immigrant father, Lauro grew up in Caracas and studied piano and composition at the Academia de Música y Declamación. The pivotal moment came in 1932 when he attended a recital by Agustín Barrios and resolved to dedicate himself entirely to the guitar. From 1933 he studied with Raúl Borges, entering an influential circle that also included Alirio Díaz.
Lauro was above all a cultural nationalist, driven to elevate Venezuela's musical heritage to the concert stage — as Bartók had done for Hungary and Granados for Spain. His primary material was the vals venezolano (Venezuelan waltz), a nineteenth-century form characterised by a distinctive syncopation produced by hemiola: two bars of 3/4 compressed into one bar of 3/2, creating a lilting, rhythmically ambiguous quality that is immediately recognisable. His four Valses Venezolanos — nicknamed Tatiana, Andreína, Natalia, and Yacambu — are his most beloved works. The Suite Venezolana and the Joropo Seis por derecho extend his range further.
His political convictions cost him dearly: the military junta imprisoned him in 1948, yet he continued composing. After his release he taught at the Juan José Landaeta Conservatory and shortly before his death received Venezuela's Premio Nacional de Música, the country's highest artistic honour.
