Francisco Gabilondo Soler

Francisco Gabilondo Soler 6 October 1907 Orizaba Veracruz - 14 December 1990 Texcoco Was A Mexican Composer And Performer Of Children's Songs. He Recorded And Performed Those Songs Under The Name Of Cri-Cri El Grillito Cantor "Cri-Cri The Little Singing Cricket" In English . During His Childhood He Read The Stories Of The Brothers Grimm And Hans Christian Andersen As Well As The Adventure Stories Of Such Writers As Jules Verne And Emilio Salgari. He Also Taught Himself To Play The Pianola. In 1928 He Entered The National Observatory Of Mexico To Study Astronomy But Unfortunately His Studies Were Cut Short By A Lack Of Resources. Before Dedicating Himself To Music Full-Time He Practised Boxing Bullfighting And Swimming. He Also Worked For A Time As A Lino-Typist. When He Was 25 Years Old He Began Performing As A Professional Musician Interpreting Humorous Subjects Of His Inspiration. At First He Played In Public Bath Houses. He Entered The New Radio Field To Become One Of The Main Figures In The "Golden Age Of Mexican Radio " Beginning With Humorous And Social Criticism Programs Using The Sobriquet El Guasón Del Teclado The Keyboard's Joker . He Used The Experiences Of His Childhood To Write Some Children's Songs And On October 15 1934 He Appeared For The First Time On Radio Station XEW In Mexico City Singing Many Of The Songs He Had Previously Written. This Marked The First Performance In His Persona As 'Cri-Cri'. The First Songs To Be Played Were "El Ratón Vaquero " "Los Mosquitos Trompeteros " "Negrito Sandía " "Cucurumbé" And "La Muñeca Fea.". Between 1941 And 1944 He Served In The Mexican Merchant Marine Travelling Around South America. He Returned To Radio Station XEW In 1944 And Continued His Shows There For The Next 28 Years. He Retired In 1962 Despite Never Finishing His Astronomical Studies He Maintained A Lifelong Passion For The Field Being Inducted Into The Sociedad Astronómica De México Astronomical Society Of Mexico And Having An Observatory Built In Tultepec. A Film About His Life Was Made In 1963 Called Cri-Cri El Grillito Cantor Starring Ignacio López Tarso And Marga López. In 1984 He Was Honored In A Special Ceremony Dedicated To Him Where He Was Just Accompanied By The Piano. Francisco Gabilondo Soler “The Singing Cricket” Died On 14 December 1990 Of Cardiac Disease At The Age Of 83 Years. Francisco Gabilondo Soler Was Able To Mix A Variety Of Styles In His Songs Including The Fox Trot Tango Such As In The Song “Che Araña” U.S. Country Music “El Raton Vaquero” And Mexican Ranchera Music Always Employing Remarkably Imaginative Orchestration And Rhythm. Cri-Cri's Songs Of Which He Wrote Both The Music And The Lyrics Became Fables Of Sorts That Had Both An Educational And An Entertainment Aspect. Some Of His Songs Became So Popular Over The Decades That A Few Of His Characters Have Become Forever Engrained In Mexican Popular Culture Such As "La Muñeca Fea." This Translates To "The Ugly Doll" A Song That Tells The Story Of An Old Broken Doll Who Is Sadly Forgotten In An Attic And Is Befriended By A Mouse. Cri-Cri Was A Historically Unique Musician Due To The Multi-Generational Endurance Of His Songs And Lyrics. When Francisco Gabilondo Soler Was 25 Years Old He Started His Professional Career In Music. At First He Did Not Write Children’s Songs But He Soon Realized That Most Of His Fans Were Children. Therefore He Decided To Concentrate His Efforts To Write Songs For Children. Francisco Gabilondo Soler Composed 210 Songs Of Which Three Have Been Lost. Almost All His Songs Are Stories That Teach Values To Children. He Had The Tendency To Personify Animals And Things. He Wrote Songs About Dolls Animals And Toys With Something Special That Identifies Them From The Rest. 3 On October 15 1934 He Performed For The First Time On The XEW Radio Singing His Own Songs. On That Day "CRI-CRI" The Singing Cricket Was Born. On 1944 Gabilondo Soler Created His Own Radio Show On XEW Where He Played His Songs For People Of All Ages. 2 Gabilondo's Songs Have Also Been Recorded By Opera Singer Plácido Domingo French Singer Mireille Mathieu And Argentine Singer Libertad Lamarque Among Other World-Famous Performers. He Recorded Cri-Cri El Grillito Cantor 1956 Homenaje A Cri-Cri 1957 Mas Canciones Del Grillito Cantor 1958 Los Amigos De Cri-Cri 1959 Cuentos Y Canciones De Cri-Cri 1963 Todo El Año Con Cri-Cri 1963 30 Aniversario De Cri-Cri 1964 Conejo Blas A Dónde Vas 1964 And Several Other Collections Of His Songs. His Songs Are Being Translated To Many Languages Like French English And Russian Among Others. More Than Songs He Composed Stories With Music That Make Kids Dream All Around The World. Some Songs Performed By Cri-Cri Abuelito Acuarela Al Agua Todos Barquito De Nuez Batallon De Plomo Bombon I Caminito De La Escuela Campanita Y Juan Pestañas Canción De Las Brujas Cáncion De Reyes La Negrita Cucurumbe La Marcha De Las Letras Orquesta De Animales La Patita El Chorrito Cochinitos Dormilones La Rata Casamiento De Los Palomos El Comal Y La Olla La Merienda Negrito Bailarín Papá Elefante read less