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Posted - 2026/05/18 :00:53:31Segundo Cueva Celi, (1901-1969) – musician, author, composer, violinist, pianist-, was born in the city of Loja, (Loja), Ecuador on January 10, 1901. He died in the city of Quito, (Pichincha), Ecuador, on April 17, 1969.
“One of the biggest,... to sing the glories of our race
His parents were Dr. Juan Cueva García and Doña Zoila Filomena Celi. His songs and songs, for the most part, were performed by the most famous and renowned Ecuadorian artists, having also arrived in the international field given his extensive and harmonious work.
His music and songs are heard primarily in Ecuador, the United States, Canada, Latin America and Europe.
Segundo Cueva Celi was an early musician. From a very young age he expressed his penchant for music and learned to play the guitar and the rondín (harmonic) on his own. He entered elementary school in La Salle, the School of the Christian Brothers in the city of Loja. It was Brother Antonino, of French origin, violinist and director of the school, who discovered it and taught him the first rudiments of musical art, and then recommended it to the Franciscan father Antonio Vega, a notable Celican musician entitled of Teacher in Lima, Peru. So that he could continue his musical learning. Eventually he dominated the piano, accordion, bandolin and violin.
At the age of eight he made his first artistic presentation.
At twelve years of age, his creative activity is more precisely outlined. His first pieces are religious, then comes another of a varied nature.
At fourteen years of age he became a student of his uncle Salvador Bustamante Celi, who provided him with a range of theoretical and practical resources that Cueva Celi boasts, highlighting the self-learning work of the composer himself.
At sixteen years of age, “No Importa, No“, the first corridor composed by Segundo Cueva Celi, with the lyrics of his close friend, the poet Emiliano Ortega Espinosa, emerges.
When he enters the magisterium he is already a prestigious artist with a renowned talent for instrumental performance and composition. From his experience as a teacher of music in primary schools and since 1935 at the Bernardo Valdivieso School, he is given the title of Teacher of Secondary Education in 1945, an event that stands out because he obtained it on his own merits as a teacher.
However, because of his blindness, he decided to resign from the Bernardo Valdivieso School and moved to the City of Quito, capital of the Republic of Ecuador. In 1947 he was incorporated as a Member of the House of Ecuadorian Culture – Nucleus of Loja.
Segundo Cueva Celi was part of the Lojano septet organized by Salvador Bustamante Celi, composed of Francisco Rodas, Segundo Alberto Larriva, Manuel Torres, Sebastián Valdivieso Peña and Antonio Eduardo Hidalgo. He also formed choral and student groups in various schools. It was part of the orchestra of the Conservatory of Loja and led to the foundation of the “Centro Cultural Independencia”.
Second Cave Celi Incursed in different musical genres, from religious and school music, marches and hymns, waltzes, mazurcas, Yaravíes, boleros, tangos, pasodobles and other songs, to classical melodies. But what has reached the greatest popular diffusion are its corridors. Among her most famous themes we have: Glass of tears, Heart that does not forget, Bitter remnants, Little Citizen, For your eyes, Mary, My last memory, My longing, Afternoons of Zamora, Reproche, waltz On the waves and pathetic Waltz.
Currently, the “Central Bank of Ecuador” owns by the delivery of its heirs, the musical instruments, its personal belongings, the numerous decorations it received throughout the country, the ministerial agreements, and the scores in original manuscripts.
He obtained numerous decorations; he is considered a renovator. His work covers more than three thousand compositions among popular, sacred, academic, school and patriotic music. From its authorship, the books have been published: Famous Halls and School Music.
He died on April 17, 1969 at the age of 68, leaving a fruitful musical work and the under-and-go-down memory of his pleasant personality, his genius, and his great charisma.
The family of Segundo Cueva Celi is composed of his parents, Segundo Juan Cueva Garcia and Zoila Filomena Celi Castro, and his wife Amalia Victoria Espinosa Ruiz. His uncle Salvador Bustamante Celi, a renowned Lojan artist, who was his mother's brother, is also mentioned.
Parents: Segundo Juan Cueva Garcia: and Zoila Filomena Celi Castro.
Spouse: Amalia Victoria Espinosa Ruiz .
Remarkable relatives: Salvador Bustamante Celi: (his mother's nephew).
Children:
Juan Cueva Serrano (Children: Vinicio, Juan, Pablo, Isabel, Dolores, Patricio and Augusto). Libya Serrano Cueva Matilde Cueva Espinosa (Sons: Eunice, Diego, Sarita, Pedro, Leonardo). Laura Cueva Espinosa (Sons: Carlos, Fausto). Maria Eugenia Cueva Espinosa (Daughter: Maria Augusta).
Segundo Cueva Celi, (1901-1969) – musician, author, composer, violinist, pianist-, was born in the city of Loja, (Loja), Ecuador on January 10, 1901. He died in the city of Quito, (Pichincha), Ecuador, on April 17, 1969.