Artist and Architect
Orrego-Salas pursued his interests in art and architecture throughout his life. He originally studied architecture alongside music, graduating from the Universidad Católica de Chile in 1943. Here are some examples of how art and architecture interacted with his compositions.
Orrego-Salas’s talent as an artist can be seen in this illuminated title page for his manuscript of Alabanzas a la Virgen, op. 49 from 1959.
A self-portrait from 1945, when Orrego-Salas was studying in the United States.
In 1987, Orrego-Salas wrote an essay for a talk given at the Bienal de Arquitectura titled Presencia de la arquitectura en mi música, in which he recognized the connection between his compositions and his early training as an architect. Included in the essay are several examples of his very regular handwriting. Here can be seen sketches of the examples before publication.
Orrego-Salas, J. (1988). Presencia de la Arquitectura en mi Música. Revista Musical Chilena, 42 (169), p.5-20.
Orrego-Salas was passionate about art, creating many watercolor paintings such as this one.