Sylvia Regina Rexach González (January 22, 1922 – October 20, 1961) was a Puerto Rican comedy scriptwriter, poet, singer and composer of boleros. Rexach was born and raised in Santurce, Puerto Rico. Her parents were Julio E. Rexach of Fajardo, and María Teresa González, of San Juan, Puerto Rico. There she attended public school and received her primary education. She then went to a private school where she finished her secondary education before attending the Central High School of Santurce. During her high school years, when she was 14 years old, she wrote several poems which were to become part of her musical compositions. She amazed her teachers when she composed "Di, Corazón" (Tell me, Heart) and "Matiz de Amor" (Calm Love). Rexach also learned how to play musical instruments, such as the guitar, the piano and the saxophone at a young age.
The tones of Rexach's compositions varied from the soft and romantic to the harsh and tormented. Among her compositions that became hits in Puerto Rico and abroad were: "Alma Adentro" (Inner Soul, actually a homage to a brother who died in an accident), "Idilio", "Olas y Arenas" (Waves and Sands), "Mi Versión" (My Version), "Nave sin Rumbo" (Wandering Ship), "Di, Corazón" and "Matiz de Amor". She even wrote a humorous novelty song, "Cuchú cuchía", which features Rafael Hernández Marín as a co-composer. Described as "exquisitely fine" and relying on nostalgia and beauty to grasp the listener, Rexach's work was also popular in Venezuela, Mexico, Argentina and Peru, among other Spanish-speaking countries. Her compositions have been recorded by many other artists, such as Marco Antonio Muñiz, Danny Rivera, Gilberto Monroig, Chucho Avellanet, Lucecita Benítez, Juan Luis Barry, Linda Ronstadt, Ednita Nazario, Lourdes Pérez, Lunna, and Maritzaida. Two television specials were made about Sylvia's life, "Sylvia, en tu Memoria" (Sylvia, in your Memory) and Ángela Meyer's "El fondo del Dolor" (In the Deepest Pain) starring Sharon Riley, Sylvia's daughter.
She worked as a radio station as a comical script writer, first for producer Tommy Muñiz, and later for comedian Ramón Rivero "Diplo". She was the founder of the first Combo in Puerto Rico consisting entirely of women. They were named Las Damiselas (The Damsels), and besides Rexach included: Idalia Rosario, Marta Romero, Millita Quiñones, Elena Rita Ortiz, and Ketty Cabán. In 1951, Rexach had a newspaper column called "A Sotto Voce", where she was a music critic. She was also a co-founder of The Puerto Rican Society of Authors, Composers and Music Editors (Sociedad Puertorriqueña de Autores, Compositores y Editores de Música). She was its Secretary Director, a position she held until the day of her death.La Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular Musicologist Cristóbal Díaz Ayala described Rexach as "virtually unclassifiable" within the Latin American music of her time, noting how her boleros projected frank sexuality and a calm defiance unusual for the genre. Emilio E. Hyuke described Rexach as not only an artist, but a "skillfull and shrewd writer of great humorist blood, who also possessed an unlimited imagination and creativity". Her writing has been described as "dreamy" and "ahead of her time".
Artistic career Early life While graduating first grade at Escuela Padre Rufo, Rexach was tasked with reciting the poem Analfabeta. In 1932, she joined her sister Dinorah in playing the "heralds of spring" in an event organized by Carmelia Herrera of Central High School. The following year, both girls were cast as jockeys in Reinado Infantil: La Corte del Circo as part of the San Juan Carnival. In 1935, she participated in another school event at La Fortaleza. In 1937, Rexach sisters participated in the Baile Internacional, an event regarded as "traditional" in those days, as part of the delegation that represented Scotland. In March 1937, she was honored at the Puerto Rico Bar Association's building. At the Baile de Coronación del Rey del Palacete, Rexach served as the third year ambassador. Later that year, Rexach appeared as one of the Three Spirit Genies in an adaptation of Mozart's The Magic Flute. She returned to the Baile Internacional in 1938, serving as the flag bearer of the United Kingdom in an edition held at the Ballajá Barracks.
In August 1938, Rexach debuted as part of the play Cuando las flores de pascua son flores de azahar, a comedy of local traditions that was presented at Teatro Paramount. During the winter, she made a presentation at the Casino de Puerto Rico, singing "Mama, Oh, Mama" and was already promoted as a child artist. The following year, Rexach played the court's in an adaptation Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto organized by the Central High School's Music Department. Later that year, she was part of a té danzante dance held in honor of Frieda de Galindo. Rexach began her artistic career at the age of 13, having learned how to play the guitar, saxophone and piano.
By 1940, Rexach began gaining recognition for the "beauty" of her compositions, when her bolero Matiz de Amor was sung by Josefina Guillermety de Buscaglia in a dance to help Emma Cardona's candidacy to Reina de Mayo of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR). When actor Errol Flynn visited Puerto Rico two months later, he commented on the bolero after Rafael Muñoz and his orchestra played a rendition in his honor. She kept a public profile from that moment onwards making appearances in small events, like a swimming contest in the Escambrón Beach Club and a té danzante organized by the Gamma Gamma sorority. At the age of 15, Rexach's compositions were already well received in Latin America and parts of the United States.
By the age of 21, Rexach had composed 22 boleros, among which were also "Matiz de Amor", "Amargo Amanecer" and "Flor de Amor". In 1943, "Amargo Amanecer" won recognition in a contest held at New York. In Puerto Rico, Rafael Muñoz and his orchestra debuted "Flores de Amor" at the Normandie Hotel. Local cultural magazine La Voz Antillana described her music as "something that raises our spirits and makes us reborn in the hope of something that we never dreamed of". She was joined by half a dozen women from Puerto Rico in these corps. In February 1943, it was announced that Rexach would be traveling abroad to continue superior studies. By August, she had concluded her WAACs basic training at Fort Devens in Massachusetts. While there, she was often asked to sing in clubs, parties and hospitals near the base. In one such visit, a group of Puerto Rican soldiers asked her to sing "La Borinqueña" to them, she took notice of their emotional response. With other artists in the WAACs, Rexach went on tour to Southern California, making stops to perform at various military facilities and Hollywood.
In January 1949, Rexach joined the Cofradía de Artistas Nómadas in an event held at La Fortaleza. In August 1949, Trío Los Murcianos recorded the Rexach and Rafael Hernández collaboration "El amor es una cruz", which was distributed by Casa Mardi. By the end of this year, the local media was already referring to her as a "first order composer". She was one of a group of young Puerto Rican women that were becoming prolific writers, along Aurea Mercedes Balseiro and Ivonne Lastra. Rexach joined Ramito, Diplo and Bobby Capó in a tour to New York, where they made appearances at the Teatro Puerto Rico. During the holidays, Rexach would join Tuti Umpierre, Edmusdo Disdier and other friends to organize parrandas, traditional door to door concerts. Fellow composer Amaury Veray was among his friends. In February 1950, she attended a concert by pianist Glauco D'Atilli at Santurce along her brother Antonio. Two months later, Rexach performed at the Luquillo Country Club as a part of a trio along Millita Quiñones and Elena Rita Ortiz that became known as Las Damiselas, which was accompanied by pianist Andrés Tallada. During the summer, she wrote the script of an episode of WAPA's Como nacieron mis canciones about Puerto Rico's more prolific composer, Rafael Hernández. Rexach and Las Damiselas were brought to perform in a Monday prime time slot at WTIL, which recorded at Teatro San José Mayaguez.
Radio, music and theatre In 1950, Rexach wrote Como nacieron mis canciones for WAPA-TV, featuring dramatizations of Hernández's music. She also anticipated that, due to the world becoming easier to travel, dances like the Colombian porro and Venezuelan joropo would become known internationally. The show ran throughout the summer. During this time, Rexach also sang with Ketty Cabán as the first voice in a duo.
In the role as a radio writer, she was responsible for convincing Tommy Muñiz to cast her friend Alma Rosabal de Balines for ¡Que sirvienta!. Besides this show, Rexach also wrote Familia Pérez, Gloria y Miguel, Lluvia de Estrellas, Caravana Camel and Canciones sobre el arcoiris along the producer, José Miguel González and A. Guadalupe. In April 1951, she and Las Damiselas made an appearance at the Coamo Hot Springs along José Miguel Agrelot, Muñiz and other artists. Later in the month, the group joined both of them and Ramón Rivero, Juan Boria, Jose Luis Torregrosa, Pérez Navarro, Violeta Flores, the Pérez Rodríguez duo and the cast of El Colegio de la Alegría in a star studded show held at Teatro Metropolitan in San Juan. This collective of artists was responsible for raising funds for the San Juan Olympic Track Club. Rexach and Las Damiselas were booked to perform at New York. In June 1951, journalist Ernesto Juan Fonfrías donated a locale so that the Sociedad de Autores, Compositores y Editores de Música (SACEM) could organize, when the organization's board for the following year was constituted Rexach was elected to serve in it. That same week, she and Las Damiselas joined the transmission of several WKAQ shows from Camp Buchanan. In April 1951, Rexach participated in a fundraiser for the San Juan Olympic Club held at Teatro Metropolitan in Santurce.
The group joined Muñiz, Boria, Ramón Moreno and the cast of El Colegio de la Alegría at the Colonia Hispanoamericana at Bayamón. Rexach continued balancing the different aspects of her career and making occasional appearances with Las Damiselas, such as in a concert held to celebrate the "Day of the Accountant" in May 1952, joining Torregrosa, Trío Los Sultanes and Carmencita Figueroa. In June 1952, Rexach participated in a homage to composer Manuel G. Tavárez held at Teatro La Perla in Ponce. She also had a participation at the Sociedad de Ingenieros de Puerto Rico's annual assembly held at the Cangrejos Yacht Club and her comedy was interpreted in various events sponsored by Chevrolet and Chrysler at Caribe Motors. On January 29, 1953, the show Fiesta Caribe Motors began transmitting through WKAQ, WPAB and WKJB with Rexach writing the comedy segments. Las Damiselas continued active making appearances appearance in various venues, such as Esther Comas' La Bodega and Don's Night Club.