José Bernardo Alcedo

José Bernardo Alcedo ( born August 20, 1788 in Lima, † December 28, 1878 ibid ) was a Peruvian composer.

Alcedo joined in 1822 the Chilean army in as head of the military bands. In 1846 he was Kapellmeister at the Cathedral of Santiago de Chile. After forty years of living in Chile in 1864, he returned to Peru, where he was Director General of the Peruvian military bands and president of the Philharmonic Society.

Alcedo is the composer of the Peruvian national anthem, " Somos libres, seámoslo siempre " ( to a text by José de la Torre Ugarte 1822). He composed in addition to church music (masses, hymns, litanies ) predominantly military music. In his work Filosofía elemental de la música, published in 1869, it deals with structures of the music of the Quechua.

His catalog of works includes approximately 30 works.

Writings

• Filosofía elemental de la música, o sea, la Exegesis de las doctrinas conducentes a su mejor inteligencia. Imprenta Liberal, Lima 1869. (PDF, 43.1 MB).