Jaime Nuno

Jaime Nunó Roca was a Spanish composer and conductor from Catalonia, celebrated for composing the music of the Mexican National Anthem. Born into poverty as the youngest of seven children and orphaned by age nine, he moved to Barcelona under his uncle’s care and displayed exceptional musical talent as choir singer, organist and soloist. Awarded a scholarship, he studied in Italy under Saverio Mercadante. In 1851 he became director of Spain’s Queen’s Regimental Band and traveled to Cuba, where he befriended ex-Mexican president Antonio López de Santa Anna.

During his time in Cuba he also developed a close friendship with Governor and Captain-General Manuel Concha, who introduced him to Santa Anna. When Santa Anna returned to Mexico in 1853, Nunó was invited to lead the military bands, and in April 1854 he became director of the National Conservatory of Mexico. His arrival coincided with a renewed competition for the national anthem after the rejection of an earlier winning composition by Giovanni Bottesini. Nunó’s music was declared the winner on August 12, 1854, and the anthem debuted on September 15, 1854 at the Santa Anna Theater, performed by Claudina Florentini and Lorenzo Salvi and conducted by Master Vitessiri with the orchestra of the Great Italian Opera Company.

After political upheaval he emigrated to the United States, working as an opera director and conductor, including concerts with Sigismond Thalberg. He also founded a music school in Buffalo before eventually settling in New York/Buffalo. In 1901 he was rediscovered by Mexican media and honored in Mexico.

Nunó died in New York on July 18, 1908 and was buried in Buffalo. In 1942 his remains were reinterred in Mexico’s Rotonda de los Hombres Ilustres beside the poet Francisco González Bocanegra. In 2010 researchers located his only known descendant and gained access to his personal archive of roughly 5,000 unpublished documents, which enabled the publication of the first complete biography of Nunó and led to increased scholarly interest. His hometown later opened a museum in his birth house, and previously unpublished works were subsequently performed and published.

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