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SPAIN
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Introduction
Spain has had a long and honourable musical history, whose fortunes have
fluctuated with that of the country. By the 19th century it was dominated
by Italian opera, but in the second half of the century Spanish composers
(in common with a number of other European countries) started to seek a
nationalist expression. Francisco Asenjo Barbieri (1823-1894),
musicologist, composer, itinerant performer and conductor, brought
authentic Spanish folk material into his works, with considerable influence
on the next generation of Spanish composers. His example was emulated by
Tomás Bretón y Hernández (1850-1923), Ruperto Chapí (y Lorente)
(1851-1909), and Amadeo Vives (1871-1932), all of whom concentrated on the
traditional form of the zarzuela, the Spanish comic light opera that
usually incorporated spoken dialogue. But the major turn-of-the-century
nationalist composer was the Catalan Felipe Pedrell (1841-1922, not to be
confused with his nephew, the Uruguayan composer Carlos Pedrell,
1878-1941). Known as the `Spanish Wagner' for his epic operatic trilogy Los Pirineos (The Pyrenees), Pedrell revived the
classical elements of the zarzuela, drawing on folk music and folk tales
and on the tonadilla escénica, a popular lyrico-dramatic comic
form usually revolving around characters from the lower strata of society.
Pedrell was a distinguished teacher, and his most famous pupils, Isaac
Albéniz (1860-1909), Manuel de Falla
(1876-1946) and Enrique Granados (1867-1916), are the most distinguished
Spanish composers of any period. Albéniz's major contribution were the four
books of piano pieces titled Iberia (1909) evoking Spain
(especially the music of Andalusia) with all her colours and traditions.
Granados combined a Spanish passion with classical restraint, especially in
his suite of piano pieces after Goya, Goyescas (1911) and
the related opera of the same title (1916), first heard in New York. Their
early deaths (Granados died trying to save his wife after the ship he was
travelling on to play for President Wilson was torpedoed) were a blow to
Spanish music, but they had introduced the now-familiar idioms of
traditional Spanish music world-wide. Falla helped
establish the nationalist idiom in orchestral music, hitherto largely
ignored in favour of stage or piano works for economic reasons.
Most of the composers of the first half of the century developed the
nationalist idiom, with a noticeable divergence into local identities. In
Catalonia, the choral society Orfe Catal had been founded in 1881 to
present the Spanish polyphonic tradition and to explore Catalan folk music.
Francisco Ali (1862-1908) collected Catalan folk-songs, while Federico Mompou (1893-1987) and, in his earlier
music, Roberto Gerhard (1896-1970)
utilized Catalan themes. Valencia was represented by Eduardo López-Chavarri
(1881-1970), poet and considerable writer on and editor of music as well as
composer (including a major study of Spanish folk-music, Música popular española), with such works as Valencianas
for orchestra and Danzas Valencianas for piano, and by
the much better-known composer Joaquín Ro drigo (1901-1999). Oscar Esplá (1886-1976) utilized
Alicante traditions, and Falla, Joaquín Turina (1882-1949) and the guitar
virtuoso and composer Angel Barrios (Fernandez) (1882-1964, not to be
confused with the Paraguayan guitarist-composer Pio Agustin Barrios,
1885-1944) those of Andalusia, which, with their strong gipsy and flamenco
elements, have become most associated in the popular mind with the Spanish
folk tradition. The lyrical and Romantic elements of this Spanish tradition
were continued by Ernesto Halffter (born
1905), who was for some time considered to be the inheritor of Falla's style, until it was realised that Halffter's
essentially vivacious outlook materially differed from the lean Spanish
concision of Falla's last works. The music of Esplá, influential and
important in Spain but little known outside, aimed for the spirit of
folk-music rather than its transliteration. From the Vio lin Sonata of 1915 he started using a 9-note scale that reflected
certain aspects of the music of his native Alicante. His major work is the
symphonic episode Don Quijote verlando las armas ( Don Quixote Guarding his Arms, 1924), though he is probably best
known outside Spain for his simple and affecting piano music.
A movement away from nationalism and towards a more modern European idiom
was initiated by the Grupo de los Ocho (the 'Madrid Group'), founded in
1930, which aimed at a more abstract musical idiom, and whose chief members
were Ernesto Halffter (though traditional
Spanish idioms continued to play a role in his subsequent works), his
brother Rodolfo Halffter (1900-1987 - see
under `Mexico'), Salvador Bacarisse (1898-1963) and Julián Bautista
(1901-1961). Bacarisse moved to Paris in 1936, where he spent the rest of
his life. His earlier music was advanced for the Spain of the time,
employing strong dissonances and polytonality and little Spanish idiom, but
he later mellowed, and turned to works with nationalist subjects,
particularly the heritage of older Spanish music. The works written in
Paris are more neo-Romantic, although he returned to the Spanish tradition
in the Fantasia andaluza for harp and orchestra, and in
the marvellous Guitar Concertino (1957), combining it
with neo-Baroque elegance and charm. The concertino is symphonically laid
out in four movements, and with its appealing neo-Renaissance opening
movement, a slow movement that rivals Rod rigo in its beauty and Spanish feel, a light scherzo, and
a courtly dance of a finale, it is one of the most attractive of all guitar
concertos. Bautista spent much of his life in South America, moving to
Buenos Aires in 1940. Many of his scores were lost in the Spanish Civil
War, but his surviving music embraces Impressionism, nationalist subjects,
neo-classicism and a more contemporary idiom. Among his better known works
are the resonant Tres ciudades (Three Cities,
1937, to texts by Lorca, and a tribute to Andalusia) for voice and piano or
orchestra, which display his concise idiom, sensuous feel, and a use of a
raw folk-like Andalusian vocal style, fusing the traditional with the
contemporary. Spain's heroic past is evoked in a number of later works,
including Catro poemas calegos (Four Galician Poems,
1946) for voice and orchestra or piano, which combines archaic and modern
elements, honours famous characters from Galicia's past, and contrasts the
rustic and the sophisticated, and Romance del Rey Rodrigo
(1955-1956) for a cappella choir, which describes the defeat of Moors by
the last Visigothic King of Spain with polyphonic ideas vying with
dissonant harmonies and polyrhythms. Most of his neo-classical works date
from the 1930s.
The influence of Schoenberg and then the
neo-classicism of Stravinsky surfaced in the music of Rodolfo Halffter, who later developed a
strongly polytonal idiom, while outside this group, Mo mpou explored his own brand of minimal structures and
sounds known as `neo-Primitivism'. At the same time, during the period of
the Republic in the early 1930s, Barcelona, fervent with new political and
artistic ideas, blossomed as an international centre for the performance of
new music, thus introducing the latest European trends to Spanish
composers.
The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and Franco's victory effectively
destroyed modern music in Spain for more than a decade. The majority of the
more advanced Spanish composers were of Republican convictions, and left
Spain: Falla and Bautista to Argentina, Rodolfo Halffter to Mexico, Bacarisse to
Paris, Gerhard to Cambridge, England. None of them (apart
from the minor composer Enrique Chapí) returned. Much of Spain's better
modern music was then written outside the country. The finest modern
Spanish composer, Gerhard, turned in the 1950s to the development of his
own free ideas of the combination of free 12-tone techniques with tonal
elements, especially in his orchestral works.
However, in the 1950s a new generation of composers who had not experienced
the Civil War as adults emerged. Throughout the 20th century, a consistent
thread of Spanish music had been its associations with developments in
French music. Pedrell studied with d'Indy
, and many of the succeeding generation studied in Paris or were influenced
by Debussy and the Impressionists, who
were themselves influenced by Spanish music. Similarly, two the more
successful of this new generation of composers, Xavier Benguerel (born 1931) and Luis de Pa blo (born 1930), after briefly discovering 12-tone
techniques, came under the influence of the circle of Bou lez, though the former then followed the example of the
exploration of timbre and sonority of the modern Polish composers. Cristóbal Halffter (born 1930), nephew of
Rudolpho and Ernesto, was briefly influenced by Ba rtók and Stravinsky
before also turning to the mainstream avant-garde ideas. All three are
European rather than Spanish composers, following a trend observable right
across the continent, though Benguerel turned to the incorporation of
Spanish medieval material into his contemporary idiom, thus continuing the
Spanish tradition of incorporating older Spanish elements into modern
idioms. However, the finest of this generation with Spanish connections,
Maurice Ohana (born 1914), preferred to work in France.
Although of Andalusian parentage, his father was born in Gibraltar (thus
conferring on his son British citizenship), and he was born in Morocco,
under which heading he will be found. Of the less well-known composers of
this generation, Josep Soler (born 1935) has developed Impressionistic
elements and come under the influence of Me ssiaen, while Josep Maria Mestres-Quadreny (born 1929) has
been eclectic in his exploration of avant-garde means of expression. None
of these composers are well-known outside Spain, and throughout the past
three decades the music of Spain has been more popularly represented by the
works of the conservative Joaquín Rodrigo, whose guitar
concerto Concierto de Aranjuez, for better or worse, is one of the
best known pieces of classical music from any period.
Throughout the century, the guitar has been the predominant Spanish
instrument, heightened by its popularity in `pop' music world-wide from the
middle of the century on, displacing the piano as the most often
encountered household instrument. Most of the major 20th-century Spanish
composers have written for it in some form or another, or been influenced
by its techniques (for example, in piano writing) and the influence of
Spanish idioms has filtered through to works written by composers of other
nationalities for the instrument. Guitar music or guitar concertos are
still the most likely modern Spanish works to be encountered outside Spain,
apart from the music of Albéniz, Granados and Fa lla; the absence of any Spanish symphony or opera in the
general international repertoire is conspicuous.
Mention should also be made of the influence of Spanish musical nationalism
on the serious music of South America, both from indigenous traditions, and
from the influence of those Spanish composers who settled in South America
at the end of the Spanish Civil War. Some of T urina's idiom, for example, is comparable with the works
of Mexican nationalism. Through Mexico, the Spanish influence then seeped
through to influence some of the American composers.
Spain has also produced some exceptional interpreters, notably the pianist
Ricardo Viñes (1875-1943), closely associated with many French composers,
who introduced contemporary Spanish piano music to international audiences.
The cellist Pau (Pablo) Casals (1876-1973), perhaps the finest of this
century, left Spain in 1939 but remained attached to his Catalan heritage.
More recently, the singers Victoria de Los Angeles and José Carreras have
both included 20th-century Spanish songs in their repertoire, while the
pianist Alicia de Larrocha and the guitarist Narciso Yepes have performed a
similar service for the modern Spanish piano and guitar repertoires. Those
seeking a cross-section of the more conservative 20th-century Spanish
repertoire will find it in their recorded recitals.
Spain is not a member of the International Music Information Centre system.
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BENGUEREL
de
FALLA
GERHARD
HALFFTER C
HALFFTER
E
de
PABLO
RODRIGO
TÓRROBA
TURINA
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BENGUEREL
Xavier
born 9th February 1931 at Barcelona
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Benguerel is one of the more interesting Catalan and Spanish composers of
his generation, who has achieved some prominence in Germany as well as
Spain, although he is little known elsewhere. He left Spain as a child and
studied in Argentina, but returned to live in Spain in 1954. His earliest
music shows the influence first of Bartók, and then of his
studies of the 12-tone methods of Sc hoenberg. There then followed a number of concertante
works, including the Concerto for Two flutes and Strings (1961),
which has a lucidity of lyrical orchestration and melodic line and lively
interplay between the two solo instruments, while following 12-tone and
strongly contrapuntal ideas. The overall feel is almost pastoral, though
with the injection of a more ominous mood in the centre of the slow
movement.
With Música para Tres Percusionistas (1967) and Paraules de cada dia (Words for Everyday, 1967, to poems
by his father) for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble of three flutes, two
clarinets, harp, vibraphone, piano, celesta and percussion, he turned to
the influence of Boulez. Paraules de cada dia is a song cycle of detailed textures, the
colours determined by the Boulez-like instrumentation. Its wide-ranging
vocal line and its close match between words and music create a descriptive
effect with contemporary means.
During the late sixties Benguerel extended the idiom to include aleatoric
devices, and turned his exploration to timbre and sonority, in the manner
of such Polish avant-garde composers as Lutosl awski and Penderecki.
The interest in symphonic colour had been heralded by the Simfonia per a un Festival (Symphony for a Festival,
1966); by the Quasi una fantasia (1971) for cello and chamber
ensemble his idiom had joined the mainstream avant-garde. It is built on
the effects of the orchestration of wind, brass, piano and three
percussionists (but no strings), and on the juxtaposition of solos and
tuttis. The colours and effects are extreme and inventive, with extended
technique, often percussive, for the soloist (it was written for the
virtuoso Siegfried Palm), and constantly changing rhythmic effects, though
its overall impact does not match its details.
A second concertante work for cello and orchestra, the much more effective Cello Concerto of 1977, opens with an extended solo veering
between lyricism and extended technique effects. It draws some of its
material from early music (the 1137 Codex Calistinus), in common with some
of Benguerel's other later work, thus continuing a tradition observable
throughout 20th-century Spanish music of combining the heritage of Spain's
musical history with the latest in contemporary techniques. The primary
expression is of tension and contrast, sometimes with a blaring intensity,
though with an atmospheric central section that directly quotes the Codex
material against complex modern orchestral textures. The Pe rcussion Concerto (1975), with aleatoric elements, is a study in
sonorities from the delicate to the massed. The reworking of medieval
material in modern means is most obvious in Astral (1979)
for guitar, piano four-hands, two percussionists, cello and bass, where the
solo guitar has sections that are not only obvious in their medieval
heritage, but also in their Spanish cast, surrounded by contemporary
instrumental textures and the deconstruction of phrases; for anyone
following the development of Spanish elements in Spain's modern music this
work is of interest, as well as curiously affecting. Similarly, Raices Hispanicas (1978) for orchestra is a collage of
various influences, from folk-music and the Spanish tradition to a theme
from a Renaissance source, with the final emphasis on a formal nobility.
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works include:
- Simfonia per a un Festival
- cello concerto; concerto for two flutes and strings; organ concerto;
percussion concerto
- Destructio, Dialogue Orchestrale and Raices Hispanicas for orch.
- Estructura III for solo cello; Duo for clarinet and
piano; Astral for guitar and six instrumentalists
- Estructura IV for piano
- cantatas Arbor, Balada de la dona que canta en la lanit
(Ballad of the Woman Who Sings in the Night),Cantata d'Amic i d'Amat andLa creación del mundo según Pablo de Santa Maria (Creation of the World According to Pablo de Santa Maria); Metamorphosis for chorus; Paraules de cada dia for
mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble
- chamber opera Spleen
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recommended works:
Astral
(1979) for guitar and six instruments
Cello Concerto (1977)
Paraules de cada dia
(1967) for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble
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de
FALLA
(Y MATHEU) Manuel Maria
born 23rd November 1876 at Cadiz
died 14th November 1946 at Alta Gracia (Argentina)
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In spite of his small output, the Andalusian Manuel de Falla (usually known
simply as `Falla') remains the central figure in the music of 20th-century
Spain. He brought orchestral mastery to a national music that had
concentrated on opera or guitar or piano pieces, and an aesthetic that was
steeped in both a sense of history and a strong expression of spiritual
heritage.
The impact of his music has its roots in two personal qualities. His
fastidiousness ensured that all his mature works have a feeling of total
surety about them, each element having a consistency of purpose; it was
responsible for his small output. His deep religiousness and personal
self-discipline emerge in an asceticism through which the richness of the
Spanish idiom was filtered; his works gradually became leaner, more
concentrated, and more direct. Combined with this asceticism is above all a
fervent rhythmic energy, often in repeating patterns that sometimes reflect
guitar sounds and tuning, and a tendency towards mixing two or more keys.
His contribution to Spanish music was to show that the traditional and
colourful Spanish styles could be transmuted into a personal idiom, while
retaining their essence, and that this heritage was not incompatible with
the move towards compression and the abstract that was taking place
elsewhere in Europe. This combination of distinctly Spanish colours and
rigorous musicianship has ensured his universal popularity.
Falla's earliest adult works were zarzuelas (popular operettas),
but his sense of musical heritage was subsequently developed by studies
with Felipe Pedrell. His orchestral skills were then honed in Paris
(1907-1914), with the advice of Albéniz, De bussy and Dukas. Before
moving to Paris, he had already written the opera La v ide breve (Life is Short, 1904-1905), whose weak drama
and characterization, apart from the central character Salud, has hindered
its wider acceptance on the dramatic stage; consequently it is best known
through excerpts that have found a popular place in the repertoire. It is
primarily an opera of atmosphere and colour, with Spanish folk-traditions
on the one hand and the influence of the French opera composer Massenet on
the other. Salud's aria (`All est!') in Act II is the distillation of the
Andalusian gipsy in the earthiness and colour of the music, eventually set
against a song from a guitar player; the choral dances are vividly
exciting. The later comic opera Fuego fatuo, with the
music based on Chopin, has not survived in full.
The influence of Falla's Parisian friends is clear in theNoches en los jardines de España ( Nights in the Gardens of Spain, 1909-1915), a triptych of
seductive nocturnes which combine the soft allusiveness of Impressionism
with the more direct images of Spain in a work for piano and orchestra. The
solo part is an integrated element of the orchestra rather than a
concertante role. The four Pièces espagnoles (1909) for piano were
influenced by Albéniz (to whom they were dedicated), though the last, Andaluza, uses the modal harmonies that were to feature in Falla's
later work. His attitude to the folk tradition emerged in the 7 Canciones populares españolas ( Seven Spanish Popular Songs, 1914) for voice and piano. While
using actual folk-tunes, they attempt to recreate the essence of the idiom
rather than presenting them in straightforward arrangements. Although the
overall effect is lean and intimate, the piano writing is sometimes
complex, with reminiscences of the guitar (the songs, like other Falla
works, including Nights in the Gardens of Spain, have been
successfully transcribed for guitar).
This attitude to the folk heritage is amplified in the ballet El amor brujo (Love the Magician, 1914-1915 for
chamber orchestra, revised for full orchestra), which is steeped in the
Andalusian flamenco style without ever directly quoting folk material. It
is a fiercely exciting work, vivid with the light and colour of southern
Spain, with a vocal part in the gipsy style contrasting with slow
Impressionist sections. Its fervour reflects its fast rate of composition,
the rich orchestration built around string sonorities, biting brass, and a
touch of Moorish inflection.
The next major work, El Corregidor y la molinera ( The Corregidor and the Miller's Wife, 1917), was revised for
Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes as El Sombrero de tres picos ( The Three-Cornered Hat) in 1919, in which version it is
usually heard, either full-length or in the suite of dances. It makes
reference to folk-tunes, but it is the taut vigour of the rhythms, their
repetitive patterns, and the orchestration that is arresting. Its idiom is
steeped in local colour, including castanets and `olés', but allowing
neo-classical moments. The evocations of the cuckoo (by a song for
soprano), a cuckoo clock, and a musical box, have a Ravelian magic. The
original version, however, is also worth hearing in its own right, for the
effect of its chamber-sized orchestration, more austere than the revision,
is quite different, with an intimate, charged atmosphere that looks forward
to the Harpsichord Concerto.
Falla's idiom then became more stylized in the Fantasa Bé tica (1919 - Baetica was the Roman name for Andalusia), his best
known piano work, with echoes of guitar figurations, characteristic dance
rhythms, but also a use of modes and polytonality as the basic harmonic
material. El Retablo de Maestre Pedro (M aster Peter's Puppet Show, 1919-1922, based on a episode in Don
Quixote) is a delight. It is a puppet-show within a puppet-show and an
opera all at once. The guests from the inn, who include Don Quixote, are
larger marionettes, and the puppet show they have come to see is played by
glove puppets. The singers are placed in the orchestra. A boy narrates the
story of rescue and abduction in Charlemagne's time, in a recitative style
taken from the story-tellers of Spanish street-corners. In the middle, Don
Quixote gets confused between artifice and reality, and attacks the wicked
glove-puppets. The score includes elements of medieval music and a residue
of folk-music. It is now given all too rarely, and is usually presented
with singers replacing the larger marionettes, which destroys some of the
theatrical magic.
With the small orchestra of the puppet opera (including harpsichord), the
development of Falla's idiom towards a wider variety of effects with leaner
forces continued, and reached its culmination in what is perhaps his
masterpiece, the short Harpsichord Concerto (1923-1926) for
harpsichord and flute, oboe, clarinet, violin and cello. Traditional
Spanish elements are now totally integrated into his individual style, the
inheritance of history being expressed in harpsichord writing that is
modern while echoing that of Domenico Scarlatti. The gradual concentration
of material, evident throughout Falla's work, is complete. He creates a
rarefied but expressive effect full of fervour and excitement, with
characteristic energy and vigour in the ostinato rhythms, a solemn slow
movement, a wide range of colours and instrumental detail, and often a
feeling of more than one key. One of the reasons it is not more often heard
is that it was written for a modern Pleyel harpsichord, of much larger
sonority than the harpsichords usually encountered.
For the final two decades of his life Falla laboured on an enormous `scenic
cantata', Atlàntida (1928-1946), for five sopranos, three
mezzo-sopranos, three contraltos, three tenors, baritone, bass, children's
chorus, chorus and orchestra, which was to be his expression of the essence
of the spirit of Spain. Sung in Catalan, it ranges from the myth of
Hercules in Spain to Columbus's discovery of the New World. Its language
continued the spare distillation of the Ha rpsichord Concerto but without its concentration, ranging from
grandeur to lyricism, and with the influence of medieval modes and forms.
It was left in a complex state of partial completion on Falla's death, and
his pupil Ernesto Halffter eventually
created a performing version (1961, revised 1976), inevitably uneven but a
major Spanish work. Its failings originate in the text by the 19th century
Catalan poet Jacint Verdaguer: the epic is, for a musical work, over-packed
with legend, heroic allusion, and an allegory of the spiritual connection
between classical legend, Spain, and the New World. Both the sentiment and
the language belong to the 19th-century. So does much of the setting of the
first of three parts, in an oratorio style beloved of late 19th-century
choral societies. However, the central Part II is more dramatic, musically
more individual, and rhythmically more excitingly varied, as in the
powerful chorus `Dixit Dominus', with its half-chanted, half-spoken choral
lines. This part deserves to be heard on its own, given the problem of
forces, scale, and the lack of a clear sense of dramatic or musical shape
of the entire work. The other main work completed in this period is Homenajes (1920-1939) for orchestra, built on the
orchestral version of two instrumental works of tribute,Le tombeau de Claude Debussy (1920) for guitar and Pour le tombeau de Paul Dukas (1935) for piano, with the
addition of a further movement honouring Pedrell (Pedrelliana).
Besides having a number of noted Spanish composers as his pupils, Falla
founded the Orquesta Bética de Cámera, and in 1938 Franco named him as
president of the Spanish Institute. However, the composer accepted an
invitation from Argentina in 1939, and did not return to Spain, although on
his death his body was returned for burial in Cadiz Cathedral. The orders
in his will that none of his works were to be performed on stage after his
death has happily been ignored.
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works include:
- harpsichord concerto; Noches en los jardines de Espãña ( Nights in the Gardens of Spain) for piano and orch.
- Homenajes for orch.
- 7 Canciones populares españolas and 3 Mélodies for
voice and piano; Soneto a Cordoba for voice and harp or piano;Psyché for voice, flute, harp and string trio; scenic cantata Atlàntida (unfinished, completed by E.Halffter)
- Le tombeau de Claude Debussy for guitar;Fantasia bética, Pièces espagnoles and Pour le tombeau de Paul Dukas for piano
- ballets El amor brujo (Love the Magician), El Sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat);
puppet ballet El Retablo de Maestre Pedro ( Master Peter's Puppet Show)
- opera La vide breve
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recommended works (English titles):
ballet El amor brujo (Love the Magician, 1914-1915)
Harpsichord Concerto (1926)
Nights in the Gardens of Spain
(1911-1915) for piano and orchestra
ballet The Three-Cornered Hat (1918-1919)
puppet opera Master Peter's Puppet Show (1923)
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bibliography:
S. Demarquez Manuel de Falla, trans. S.Attansio, 1983
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GERHARD
Roberto
born 25th September 1896 at Valls (Tarragona)
died 5th January 1970 at Cambridge (U.K.)
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The public reputation of Roberto Gerhard has been obscured by his twin
allegiances, for although in origins and sometimes aesthetic he is a
Spanish composer (albeit with Swiss family origins), he left Spain
following Franco's victory in 1939, and settled in the U.K., eventually
becoming a British citizen in 1960. His striking idiom then followed broad
European trends, concentrating on orchestral works, of which the main
legacy is his attempt to extend the formal parameters of the idiom in his
four symphonies (a fifth was left incomplete). Although complex formal
ideas underlie his later work, notably groups of intervals and an extension
of serial ideas into rhythm and duration, Gerhard was at pains to downplay
this aspect of his idiom in favour of the purely aural effects of the
sonorities and contrasts he developed. His music seems clearly designed to
appeal to the emotions more than the intellect, and in this he succeeded.
His orchestration is particularly compelling (in the later works always
including percussive piano), especially in the clear but busy and almost
pointillistic details that are in part the heritage of Schoenberg.
He studied in Spain with the Catalan Felipe Pedrell, and then with Schoenberg, although the influence of the
latter was not to fully emerge until after World War II, apart from the few
early works written before his mid-thirties, mostly chamber music and songs
(notably the Seven Haiku, 1922, revised 1958, for high voice, wind
instruments and piano). On his return to Spain in 1928 he turned to his
Spanish heritage rather than atonal or 12-tone music, including works with
specific Catalan ties, such as the cantataL'Alta naixença del rei en jaume (1932),Albada, interludi i dansa (1936) for orchestra, and the fourteen Cançons populars catalanes (1928) for soprano and piano (six of
which he orchestrated). The first works written in England follow this
trend, including three ballets. Of these, Don Quixote
(1940-1941), from which he made a number of suites including the attractive
1957 suite for orchestra with a prominent piano part, is full of delightful
orchestral mosaic detail and wit, exemplified in the use of a tone-row that
arises from Quixote's theme to represent the other side of his nature, and
which happily merges into the predominantly tonal cast. Al gérias (1942), usually heard in the suite of extracts, is a
marvellous flamenco evocation, a combination of ironic pastiche and Spanish
colour, taking as its concept the analogy of a bullfight to a wooing, the
wooer as the bull, the girl as the torero; it includes a quote from the
funeral march of Chopin's Piano Sonata No.2 in B ? minor. Two works from this period pay tribute to the
heritage of Pedrell, the Cancionero de Pedrell (1941) for
soprano and chamber orchestra and the symphony (not listed in the numbered
symphonies) Homenaje à Pedrell (1941) on themes from Pedrell's
opera La Celestina.
Gerhard then returned to Schoenbergian ideas, notably in the Violin Concerto (1942-1943) (it borrows a tone-row from Schoenberg's String Quartet No.4 for the slow
movement), though still with touches of the Spanish heritage (including a
reference to Chabrier's España). But Gerhard uses 12-tone
ideas within a strong emphasis on lyricism and sonic effect, hovering on
tonality. The Violin Concerto oscillates between tonal
passages and a more dissonant idiom, and the solo line has some of the
infectiousness of a dancer in the outer movements, whimsically lyrical in
the slow movement. With the Symphony No.1 (1952-1953), he
rejected traditional forms: although in three movements, it is
non-thematic. Instead each movement grows from within, without repetition
or restatements, in a continuously unfolding weave, the final movement
building into complex and dramatic climaxes. The result is robust,
effective, with a wealth of clear orchestral detail (notably the harp,
adding a Spanish touch) combined with a rhythmic flow that is lyrical in
impulse, and an harmonic idiom that again revolves around tonal
associations. In the String Quartet No.1 (1950-1955) he
developed an individual extension of 12-tone ideas to rhythm (a
time-series), and the subsequent use of this gives his later music its
particular rhythmic impulse (his series use prime numbers, so that one idea
may use five beats, another simultaneous idea seven, and they will not
coincide again until 35 beats later). He also started unifying works by
corresponding the overall architecture to these internal divisions, and his
subsequent music is invariably cast in one continuous structure divided
into sections of movements without breaks. Such series are used in the Symphony No.2 (1957-1959), which was partly revised in
1967, though that revision is incomplete and the published score reverts to
the original in the last of the four movements, played without a break. It
is a more austere, less individual and rather uncharacteristic work, more
obviously related to the contemporary avant-garde, the orchestration being
dominated by percussion, the interest in unusual sonorities being reflected
in the use of an accordion.
In the 1960s Gerhard continued his exploration of sonorities, developing
unusual string effects in the String Quartet No.2
(1960-1962). In the programmatic Symphony No.3 `Collages' (1960)
he heightened the drama by opposing the orchestra with an electronic tape
using musique concrète sounds. Inspired by a plane flight, it is in one
movement cast into seven sections, each corresponding to a hymn of praise
for a different hour between sunrise and sunset. Alternating between drama
and repose, and with a meditative central section without tape, the
wide-ranging sonorities from the large orchestra (including piano) match
the other-worldliness of the tape, whose sounds are very successfully
integrated into the complete pattern. The path of Gerhard's development
then reached a logical conclusion in the Concerto for Orchestra (1964-1965) and in the Symph ony No.4 `New York' (1966-1967, named for the commissioning
orchestra, the New York Philharmonic). The concentration is now entirely on
texture and sonorities: structures are built on the contrasts of textures,
using all his command of orchestration, and durations predominate over
pitch. In the Concerto there is a very wide range of sounds,
including extensive use of strings as percussion instruments. It is a
virtuoso orchestral score, characteristically intense and concentrated,
combining three layers: orchestral colour in fast movement, static
figurations, and long-breathed slower unfolding. The Symphony No.4
feels marvellously organic in its progression of contrasts, in its
constantly fluctuating orchestral shapes, in its huge variety of
instrumental effect and colour.
Gerhard's late works continue the exploration of non-thematic evolution and
of colourful instrumentation and effect, as in the kaleidoscope of
instrumental combinations and figuration in Libra (1968)
for flute, clarinet, violin, guitar, percussion and piano, or in the more
disparate Leo (1969) for flute, clarinet, horn, trumpet,
trombone, violin, two percussionists, piano and celesta, his last completed
work. Both works (from a group known as the Astrol ogical Series) end with the moving use of the same folk-tune.
Two dramatic scores occupy an important place in Gerhard's other works. The
opera The Duenna (1945-1947, after Sheridan's play) is a
neo-classical pastiche, combining tonality for the songs and a more
chromatic idiom in a free 12-tone style for the interlinking passages and
motifs. The Plague (1963-1964, after Camus's novel) is
unexpectedly a melodrama with narrator, chorus (whose range extends to
whispering and shouting) and orchestra. It is for concert rather than stage
use, taking ten episodes from the novel. The Concerto for Piano and Strings (1951) moves from a harmonically
free idiom to 12-tone, and the tonal associations of 12-tone technique were
further explored in the bright Concerto for Harpsichord, Strings and Percussion (1956). Among his
handful of electronic pieces is a setting of Lorca's Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter (1959) for speaker and tape,
paralleling Ohana's masterly setting.
Gerhard's music shows a consistent development to the mature and individual
works of the 1960s. The earlier Spanish pieces, with their evocative
colour, will give pleasure in themselves, but it is the later works which
command attention on a number of levels. With his personal use of
post-Schoenbergian ideas, and the integration of tonal elements with serial
elements, they appeal through their emotional impact and their range of
sonorities and colour. This is an idiom that may well appeal to those still
hesitant about, or sceptical of, serial developments in music. To those
versed in such an idiom, his free and individual concepts, especially in
their application to the concept of the symphony, are fascinating, although
the very surety of his instincts sometimes make analysis difficult.
Gerhard also edited the quintets of Soler, and was noted for his incidental
music, particularly for productions of Shakespeare at Stratford. Although
he lived in Cambridge from 1939, he did little formal teaching (except at
the Dartington and Tanglewood summer schools), but he lectured widely and
was visiting professor at the University of Michigan in 1960.
---------------------------------------
works include:
- symphony Homenaje a Pedrell; 4 symphonies (No.3 Collages for tape and orch., No.4 New York)
- Concerto for Harpsichord, Strings and Percussion;Concerto for Piano and Strings; violin concerto; Concerto for Orchestra
- Albada, interludi i dansa and Epithalamion for orch.
- Capriccio for solo flute; Gemini for violin and piano;
piano trio; 2 string quartets; wind quintet; Concerto for Eight; Hymnody, Libra and Leo for chamber ensemble
-14 Cançons populars catalanes (1928) for soprano and piano (6
orchestrated); Cancionero de Pedrell (1941) for soprano and
chamber orch.; Seven Haiku for high voice, wind instruments and
piano and other song cycles; cantata L'Alta naixença del rei en jaume
- ballets Algérias, Ariel, Don Quixote, Pandora, Soirées de Barcelone
- melodrama The Plague; opera The Duenna
- much incidental and film music
- electronic 4 Audiomobiles,Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter for speaker and tape, 5 Sculptures and Ten Pieces
---------------------------------------
recommended works:
ballet suite Algérias (1942)
Concerto for Orchestra (1965)
Symphony No.1 (1952-1953)
Symphony No.3 Collages (1960)
Symphony No.4 New York (1966)
Violin Concerto (1942-1943)
---------------------------------------
HALFFTER
Cristóbal
born 24th March 1930 at Madrid
---------------------------------------
Cristóbal Halffter is the nephew of the Spanish composerErnesto Halffter and the Spanish-Mexican composerRodolfo Halffter. After being influenced byBartók and Stravinsky in the 1950s in such works as Dos movi mientos (Two Movements, 1956), which won a UNESCO prize,
he then combined tonality with modal influences and elements of serial and
12-tone techniques in the Misa Ducal (1956) for chorus
and orchestra.
In the 1960s he followed this line of development by turning to ideas of
the European avant-garde, particularly in larger-scale works using
contrasting sonorities and favouring massed swirling repetitive figures
(often in woodwind) set against or within strident interjections. There is
in his mature work an undercurrent of repressed anger and violence coming
to the surface through the avant-garde sonorities, as well as a sense of
social comment that had, in the Franco dictatorship, to be covert.
Post-Webern ideas surfaced in such works as E spejos (Mirrors, 1963) for four percussionists and tape,
which combines freely improvised elements with strictly controlled rhythms,
the mirror of the title being reflected in the form: it ends with the
opening and its retrograde played simultaneously. His individual voice
emerged in such works as Symposion (1968) for baritone,
choir and orchestra, where although many of the current avant-garde
techniques appear (massed clusters for the chorus, influenced by Ligeti, the chattering and talking of the
chorus, a section for wood-blocks) there is an epic quality in the sharply
contrasting sections, in the declamatory baritone line, and in the
insistent opening. This creates a fierce excitement and a personal
expressive fervour, which some have seen as a Spanish aspect of his
otherwise European idiom.
A similar sense of scale pervades Secuencias (1964) for
orchestra, with a layer of subdued massed and cluster string sonorities
against declamatory brass creating a long-term sense of swell and
subsidence; Halffter regularly divides his orchestra into specified blocks
or groups. In Lineas y puntos (Lines and Points, 1967)
for twenty winds and tape, it is the tape which provides the broad sweep,
the instruments the foreground detail, either declamatory or chattering or
eventually lyrical. One of Halffter's most widely known works, commissioned
by UNESCO to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, is the dramatic cantata Yes Speak Out Yes (1968)
for the huge forces of six speakers, soprano, baritones, two choruses, and
large orchestra with two conductors. Centred around the progression of key
words ("No", "Why", "Yes, speak out, yes", "children", "peace") and
including quotations from the declaration, it utilizes avant-garde choral
effects (declamatory speech, clusters) with the fervour that is
characteristic of the composer. The text is treated atmospherically and the
solo vocal lines use extreme vocal ranges, which merge with declamatory
speech from the speakers. But in spite of its grand aims, it is anger and
stridency that leave the final impression.
However the large scale ofElegias a la muerte de tres poetas españoles ( Elegy on the Death of Three Spanish Poets, 1974-1975) for large
orchestra, is much more imposing, with swirls of recurring patterns,
resonant layered sonorities, and harsh injections. It explores the
expressive sonorities of the orchestra, both angry and elegiac, and again
with an epic quality. The changes in Spain after the death of Franco
(1973), though welcome, did not meet Halffter's artistic hopes and
expectations and he left in 1978. His feelings were graphically expressed
in a short harpsichord piece Adieu (1978), a combination
of gentle nostalgia and extreme frustrated outbursts. Of his recent works,
he has maintained the main elements of his idiom in the large-scale Cello Concerto No.2 (1985), while his String Quartet No.3
(1990) suggested a return to more traditional tonal elements.
Cristóbal Halffter was on the staff of Spanish Radio, and conductor of the
Orquesta Manuel de Falla (1964-1966). He taught at the Madrid Conservatory
(1964-1966).
---------------------------------------
works include:
Sinfonia
for three groups
- 2 cello concertos; piano concerto; violin concerto; concertino for
strings; Fibonaciana for flute and small orch.; Pinturas negras for organ and orch.
- Anillos, Elegias a la muerte de tres poetas españoles,
5 Microformas, Requiem por la libertad imaginada, Secuencias and Variaciones sobre la resonancia for orch.
- Lineas y puntos for 20 winds and tape; Planto por las victimas de la violencia for 18 instruments and
electronics; Pourquoi for 12 strings; Processional for 2
pianos, 29 wind (23 players) and 4 percussionists; Tiempo para espacios for harpsichord and 12 strings
- 3 Pieces for solo flute; Codex for guitar; 3 string
quartets (No.2 Memoires); Formantes for two pianos; Espejos for 4 percussion and live tape; Antiphonismoi for
septet of wind and strings; Oda for sextet of wind, piano/celesta
and strings
- piano sonata
- Antifona Regina Coeli for soloists, chorus and orchestra;
dramatic cantata Yes Speak Out Yes for 6 speakers, soprano,
baritones, 2 choruses, and large orch. with 2 conductors
- ballet Saeta
---------------------------------------
recommended works:
Elegias a la muerte de tres poetas españoles
(1974-1975) for orchestra
Symposium
(1968) for baritone, chorus and orchestra
---------------------------------------
HALFFTER
Ernesto
born 16th January 1905 at Madrid
died 5th July 1989 at Madrid
---------------------------------------
A pupil of Falla, Ernesto Halffter's
early works were influenced by the spare and fastidious style of his
teacher's Harpsichord Concerto, with its echoes of
Domenico Scarlatti. The return to classical or earlier models, as in the
echoes of past Spanish dance styles from all ages in the ballet Sonatina (1928), was combined with an awareness of the
contemporary vogue for smaller forces and for abstract neo-classicism
initiated by Stravinsky. The major work
of this period was one of Halffter's most important works, the Sinfonietta (1923-1925, revisions until 1927), which had
considerable impact in Spain. Following the pattern of a Haydn sinfonia
concertante, with instrumental solos, it shows the zest and brilliance that
were to remain a feature of his idiom, a tonal idiom leavened by
bitonality, and the clear influence of Stravinsky and `Les Six', in what is
for a sinfonietta a long and complex work.
In 1930 he joined the Grupo de los Ocho (the 'Madrid Group'), and his
subsequent works show the influence of R avel (whom he met in Paris in the late 1920s), including
the Rhapsodia portuguesa (1940, revised 1951) for piano and
orchestra. Between 1954 and 1960, and again through a number of revisions
up to 1976, much of his energies were devoted to the reconstruction and
completion of Falla's huge scenic cantata Atlàntida. However in the 1960s, under the influence of
contemporary post-Webern ideas, he refined his own idiom
into a more fastidious and economical style (without abandoning a tonal
base), most likely to be encountered in the Guitar Concerto
(1969). This rhythmically vibrant work has a slightly acid touch in its
dissonant harmonies, a curiously despondent slow movement with moments
suffused with illumination, and a wild dance of a finale, with orchestral
outbursts and percussive interjections. He also returned to his earlier
neo-classicism (or rather, to the influence of the Spanish Renaissance), in
such works as Gozos de Nuestra Señora (1970) for chorus and
orchestra, which, like other choral works of this late period, also reflect
his experience working on Falla's large score.
Ernesto Halffter thus emerges as representative of Spanish neo-classicism,
more wide-ranging and sophisticated than R odrigo, though he lacks the instant individuality and
melodic memorability of the latter, in spite of the general appeal of his
own characteristic brilliance of style. In 1924 he was appointed conductor
of the Orquesta Bética of Seville, and in 1934-1936 Director of the
National Conservatory in Seville. He also has had close connections with
Portugal, his wife being the Portuguese pianist Alicia Cámara Santos.
---------------------------------------
works include:
- sinfonietta
- guitar concerto; violin concerto; Rhapsodia portuguesa for piano
and orch.
- Amanecer en los jardines de España, Dos bocetos sinfónicas, Habanera and Nocturno
for orch.
- Madrigal for solo guitar or solo violin; Fantasia española for cello and piano; Pastorales for
flute and harpsichord; Homenajes for string trio; string quartet;Sonatina-fantasia for string quartet; Suite de las Doncellas for 4 wind; Preludios románticos
for 4 violins; Suite antigua for wind instruments
- piano sonata; Espagnolade, Llanto o la muerte de Ricardo Viñes Serenata a Dulcinella and
other works for piano.
- Tiento for organ
- song cycles Canciones del Niño de Cristal,Canciones españoles, Canciones portuguese, Cinco canciones de Heine, and Cuatro canciones de Denisse
for low voice and piano; Automne malade for soprano and 9
instruments; Canticum in memoriam P.P. Johannem XXIII for soprano,
baritone, chorus and orch.; Dominus pastor meus for soloists,
chorus and orch.;Elegia en memoria de S.A.S. Principe Pierre de Polignac and Gozos de Nuestra Señora for chorus and orch.
- ballets El cojo enamorado, Fantasia galaica and Sonatina
- opera La Muerte de Carmen
- incidental music including Dulcinella (extracted into orchestral
suite); film music
---------------------------------------
recommended works:
Sinfonietta (1923-1925) for orchestra
---------------------------------------
HALFFTER Rodolfo
see under MEXICO
---------------------------------------
MOMPOU
Federico
born 16th April 1893 at Barcelona
died 30th June 1987 at Barcelona
---------------------------------------
Mompou is a kind of by-water of a composer, whose output consists almost
entirely of meditative and introvert piano music and songs. He spent much
of his life in Paris (1911-1914, 1921-1941). Influenced by Satie, he aimed at a very spare piano
style, almost entirely in miniatures or sets of miniatures, with very
little modulation or thematic development - a return to a 'primitive' idiom
which he called `Recomençament' (or `recomienzo', beginning anew). The
basic material often reflects popular themes, and within its subdued
parameters his style used first Impressionistic and then neo-classical
elements, often indulging in bell-like sounds. His harmonies regularly have
the feel of minor keys, though he dispensed with key signatures and bar
divisions. His introspection is reflected in his playing his own works only
for friends (in spite of his own pianistic abilities), apart from a
complete recording of his piano works late in his life. Even the twelve Songs and Dances for piano, spanning 1918 to 1962, are largely
slow and melancholic, with a nostalgic quality, and any dissonance confined
to stylistic device. The ultimate development of his idiom is found in the
four books of Música callada (Silent Music, 1959, 1962,
1965 and 1967), based on an idea from St.John of the Cross suggesting a
music that would express the very voice of silence. The miniatures are very
austere, with little contrast or change, but with a slow-moving meditative
quality that is rather haunting in its appeal. Of his songs, the song cycle Combat del somni (1942-1948) for high voice and piano is typical:
delicate and introspective, with three mournful songs comparing dreams,
nature and the poet's lover. His only guitar piece of note is the Suite compostelana (1962), though his piano music, arranged for
guitar, is sometimes heard in recitals. There has been a revival of
interest in Mompou's music in the 1990s, and those exploring the more
unusual piano repertoire may find items of interest in his output. His
miniatures are best heard in isolation rather than in groups, where the
consistency of idiom and emotion is inclined to become wearisome. For
others he is best left as a by-water.
---------------------------------------
works include:
- Canço i Dança, Cançion de cune, Cants Màgics,Charmes, Dialogues, Escenas de niños,Fêtes lointaines, Impresiones intimas,Música callada, Paisajes, Passebres,Preludios, Souvenirs de Exposition, Trois Variations, Variaciones sobre un tema de Chopin for
piano; Suite compostelana for guitar
- song cycle Combat del somni and other songs and song cycles; Cantar del alma for chorus; Improperios for chorus and
orch.
---------------------------------------
recommended works:
Silent Music
(1959-1967) for piano
---------------------------------------
bibliography:
A. Iglesias Frederico Mompou, 1977 (in Spanish)
---------------------------------------
OHANA
Maurice
see under MOROCCO
---------------------------------------
de
PABLO
Luis
born 28th January 1930 at Bilbao
---------------------------------------
Self-taught as a composer (he studied law at university), de Pablo is a
leading Spanish composer who has followed the trends of contemporary
European idioms. His early music was influenced by Str avinsky and Bartók, and
in the late 1950s he turned to serialism following his readings of the
critic René Liebowitz on the 12-tone composers and of the ideas ofMessiaen. He later translated writings onSchoenberg and W ebern into Spanish, and published his own book on
contemporary music (1968).
In the late 1950s he embraced the major current avant-garde ideas,
including free forms, structures based on the concepts of mobiles (e.g. Movil I, 1958, and Movil II, 1968, for
two pianos) and collage, and electroacoustic techniques. Sonorities and the
interaction of silences were explored in such works as Ce suras (1963) for three woodwind and three strings. He also
developed his own technique in what he termed `modules': the smallest
possible expressive units, which are then interchangeable. Thus Mo dulos V (1967) for organ is created from 25 fragments, themselves
grouped into three episodes, within which the interpreter has choices of
register, timbre, and other parameters, and also of the order of the
episodes and the order of fragments within the episodes, but ending with a
fourth episode without such choices. Wispy strands of such fragmentary
material form layers in Modulos III (1967) for orchestra,
and similar techniques are found in the rest of the Modulos series
(Nos.I-VI, 1965-68, with various instrumental forces). Post-serial
developments and similar micro-structures are evident in the often
aggressive Ejercicio (1965) for string quartet, which
displays extremes of dramatic effect and extended technique, with high
harmonics, disjointed pointillistic effects, plucking and swoops, and
darker held colours. The energetic Iniciativas (1966) for
orchestra has similarly violent tendencies, contrasting massed string or
prominent piano ideas with outbursts from solo or other instrumental
groups.
De Pablo then turned to electronic works, with or without other forces,
transforming the instrumental group Alea, which he had founded in 1965,
into a live electronic ensemble in 1967. He also started to explore
theatrical or extra-musical elements, including collaborations with J.L.
Alexanco (Soledad interrompida, 1971, for tapes and plastic
objects and Historia natural, 1972, for instruments,
tape, lights and plastic objects). His close alliance with French
avant-garde developments is indicated not only by the predominantly French
(as opposed to Spanish) titles in his later works, but also by the French
Government creating him an Officier des Arts et des Lettres in 1973.
On the available evidence, de Pablo's music has helped bring Spanish music
into the main-stream European avant-garde, but lacks the individual stamp
of some of his European contemporaries. Readers may findBenguerel's music more idiomatic, and Cristóbal Halffter's more individual; all
are eclipsed in intellectual rigour and sonic interest by the later music
of the older Gerhard. De Pablo has also
been active in promoting new music in Spain. He founded the concert series
`Tiempo y Música' (1958- 1965) and an electronic studio (1965), and has
been influential as a teacher at the Madrid Conservatory. He worked for
Iberian Airlines from 1956 to 1960.
---------------------------------------
works include:
- harpsichord concerto
- Iniciativas, 4 invenciones, Oroitaldi and Tombeau for orch.; Je mange, tu manges for orch. and
synthesizer; Quasi una fantasia for string sextet and orch.
- 4 Eléphants ivres for orch.
; 2 Imaginaro (No.1 for harpsichord and 3 percussionists, No.2 for
orch.); six Modulos (No.1 for 2 clarinets, 2 xylophones, 2 pianos
and string quartet; No.2 for orch.; No.3 for brass, tuned percussion,
piano, harmonium, celesta, guitar, and mandolin; No.4 for string quartet;
No.5 for organ)
- 5 piezas para Miró for 10 instruments; Dejame hablar
for 11 strings; La libertad sonrie for 15 wind instruments; Sinfonias for 17 brass; Parafrasis and Radial
for 24 instruments; Polar for chamber ensemble
- Pardon for clarinet and trombone; Soirée for clarinet
and violin; Promenade sur un corps for flute and percussion
obbligato; Masque for flute, clarinet, piano and percussion;
string quartet; Fragmento for string quartet; clarinet quintet; Cesuras for wind and string sextet; Prosoda for 6
instruments; Reciproco for 4 flutes, piano and percussion;
- piano sonata; Gárgolas for piano; Comme d'habitude for
two pianos, one player; 2 Móvils for two pianos
- Comentarios for tenor, flute, double bass and piano; Escena for 2 choruses, strings and percussion; Glosa for
soprano, 2 trumpets, piano and percussion; Heterogeneo for 2
speakers and orch.; Por diversos motivos for mezzo, chorus, and
three pianos, two players; Very Gentle for soprano, counter-tenor,
harpsichord and organ; Ein Wort for soprano, clarinet, violin and
piano; Yo lo vi for ten solo voices
- music theatre piece Protocolo
- Tamao natural and We for tape;Al son que tocan for instrumental ensemble and tape;Soledad interrompida for tapes and plastic objects; Historia natural for instruments, tape, lights and plastic
objects; Solo un paso for flute, speaker, tapes, lights and
objects
---------------------------------------
bibliography:
L. de Pablo Aproximacion a una esttica de la musica contemporanea,
1968
T.Marco Luis de Pablo, 1971 (in Spanish)
---------------------------------------
RODRIGO
Joaquín
born 22nd November 1901 at Sagunto (Valencia)
died 6 July 1999 at Madrid
---------------------------------------
Blind from the age of three, Joaquín Rodrigo is best known for two works
for guitar and orchestra, the Concierto de Aranjuez and the Fantasia para un Gentilhombre, and often dismissed because of it.
This is unfortunate, for if his idiom is conservative, he nonetheless
showed a steady line of development in a very personal and appealing idiom
that concentrated on creating atmosphere and a Spanish ambience. Some of
his later works are not only finer than either of these two, the slow
movement of the concerto apart, but also progress to a style that may
interest many who might otherwise ignore the rest of his considerable
output. His works are mainly concertos and vocal music; the former are
quite widely disseminated (on the strength of the two popular works), the
latter are little known outside Spain.
Where other Spanish composers have turned to recent folk or gipsy
traditions for their expression of a national music, Rodrigo has turned as
much to an earlier Spanish heritage, being inspired not only by the feel of
history so prevalent in Spain, but also by the Spanish composers of the
17th and 18th centuries. In this sense, he is a kind of Spanish
neo-classicist, paralleling the Italian neo-madrigal movement. Perhaps he
is best described as a pastoral composer, in the sense of the solitary
lyricism of the shepherd surveying - with straightforward pleasure,
nostalgia and joy - the landscape around him, aware of his own historical
continuity, suggesting a constant programmatic base to his works. That
pastoralism is exemplified in the spare, elemental but lyrical atmosphere
of the 4 canciones sefardies ( Four Shepherd Songs, 1963), for low voice and piano, with drones
and a pentatonic scale among its colours. There is no sense of angst in Rodrigo's music, and that removed him from the general
tenor of the music of our time - perhaps some of that solitude stemmed from
his blindness. Nonetheless, for all the musical conservatism it entails, it
remains a valid part of the human experience. If in some works he continued
an essentially unchanged style, in others, such as the magical slow
movement of the Concierto como un divertimento, he displayed much
more idiomatic means in creating a similar ambience. His forms generally
follow classical models; his orchestration, which showed a gradually
increasing sureness, favours rich colours in spare textures, brass
triplets, high wind, and long string lines; his basic material drew on a
combination of the classical heritage and folk-music, with a melodic style
narrow in range but instantly recognizable and almost always memorable.
His earliest major work is the symphonic poemPer la flor del lliri blau ( For the flower of the blue lily, 1934) for orchestra. Although it
does use traditional songs, the Spanish idioms are not overt in a work that
shows the immaturity of his early technique, and is eclectic in its
material, from a grand march, through contrived dissonances, to a jaunty
piccolo tune with influences from Impressionism to Wagner and Mussorgsky.
If at times pompous, it shows Rodrigo's considerable flair for atmosphere,
and is worth hearing. It was followed by a work that is among the most
popular in the entire classical repertoire, the Concierto de Aranjuez (1939) for guitar and orchestra, which has
been suborned into countless arrangements, from muzak to jazz (some to
Rodrigo's annoyance). Essentially neo-classical in construction, using a
small orchestra with prominent solo instruments to balance the guitar, it
is an evocation of the haunting atmosphere of the royal palace of Aranjuez,
both its colourful joys and its mysterious nocturnal weight of history. The
outer movements can be criticized for their lack of orchestral refinement
and their over-jaunty tone, but they are infectious. The heart of the work
is the central adagio, where Rodrigo brilliantly conjures up the magic of
the night air with an almost improvisatory guitar covering a very wide
range of colours against a hushed orchestra; for many this is the essence
of Spain in music.
Of his other scores for guitar or guitars and orchestra, the Fantasia para un Gentilhombre (1954) for guitar and orchestra has
achieved almost as much popularity as the Concerto de Aranjuez -
rather inexplicably, given the greater potential appeal of some of the
composer's other works. It is very different in tone, being based on guitar
works by Gaspar Sanz (c.1640-after 1681), early music dressed in the gentle
garb of modern Spanish colours, and effective as such. The Concierto andaluz (1967) for four guitars and orchestra is, along
with the Concierto heróico (1942) for piano and orchestra, the
least successful of Rodrigo's concertos, overstepping the boundary of
banality to which his music is always in danger of veering. Much finer, and
in many ways his most interesting concerto, is the Concierto madrigal (1967) for two guitars and orchestra, written
for the Romero family of guitarists, who have become closely associated
with Rodrigo's music. What distinguishes this concerto is its construction
- ten sections using a central theme of an anonymous madrigal Felices ojos mios - and the combination of neo-madrigal and folk
or dance treatments. The Concierto para una fiesta (1982) for
guitar and orchestra has the unusual distinction of being commissioned for
the social debut of two American sisters (on which occasion it was first
performed), and has an extremely difficult solo part. The concerto is more
restrained than the title might suggest (except for its opening and the
formal nature of the final movement), and if the melodic treatment is
typical of the composer, there is greater emphasis on rhythmic variety and
less on lyrical ambience.
Of his concertos for other solo instruments, the two for cello are
especially effective. The Concierto en modo galante (1949) is
particularly lyrical, while the Concierto como un divertimento
(1981-1982) has an instantly appealing opening movement, with the rhythmic
flow (reminiscent of Sibelius's Karelia Suite)
combined with colourfully Spanish brass and sinuous cello. The andante
nostalgico has unusual orchestral and harmonic effects, with high string,
woodwind and tuned percussion figures creating a background tapestry for
the lyrical soloist, far distant in technique if not in atmosphere from the
earlier works. Throughout the solo writing is virtuoso, with an
exceptionally difficult cadenza in the slow movement, including quadruple
stopping. It is difficult not to warm to this appealing score. The Concierto de estio (Summer Concerto, 1943) for violin and
orchestra was intended to echo the style of Vivaldi, with a rich slow
movement in the form of variations. The Concierto-Serenata (1954)
for harp and orchestra is delicate and charming, while the shorter Sones en la giralda (1963) for harp and orchestra is an indication
of the development of Rodrigo's harmonic language, initially far from
traditional tonality while retaining its base, lyrical and flowing, and in
one long restrained sweep moving towards more conventional and unboundedly
happy material - a rare and valuable addition to the repertoire for harp
and orchestra, and beautiful in its own right. The Concierto pastoral (1978) for flute and orchestra is a showcase
for the soloist with a kind of child's innocence to the music. The tart
opening of the first movement develops into a march with the soloist
treated like a very busy fife. The pastoral mood of the title emerges in
the slow movement, languid and haunting, much in the style of the Concierto de Aranjuez, and there is rustic quality, against
chirping flute, to the dances of the final movement.
Of his vocal works, the influence of motets, Gregorian chant and Castilian
folk-song surfaced in Música para un Códice Salmantino sobre letra de Miguel de Unamuno
(1943) for bass, chorus and eleven instruments, as well as the ambiguous
tonality that was increasingly an element in parts of his later works. Ausencias de Dulcinea (1948) for bass, four sopranos, and large
orchestra, is one of his major works, based on Don Quixote, while there are a number of Catalan settings, includingTriptico de Mosén Cinto (1946) and Cuarte cançons en llengua catalana (1946), both for voice and
orchestra. This aspect of Rodrigo's output needs to be heard outside Spain.
Música para un jardin
(Music for a Garden, 1923, 1957) for orchestra reworks four
earlier cradle songs for piano, with the titles of the four seasons, a
short beguiling and atmospheric score, with delicate orchestration
including tuned percussion. A late oddity is the symphonic poem A la busca del más allá (In search of the beyond, 1978),
which has something of the quality of an imaginary neo-Romantic film-score
with soaring strings and fluttering flutes combined with some Spanish
colour - indeed some passages are strongly reminiscent ofVaughan Williams's Sinfonia Antartica. In his piano music, Rodrigo also looked back
to the Spanish musical heritage, especially that of the keyboard sonatas of
the 18th century. The Cinco Sonatas de Castilla con Toccata a modo de Prégon (1950-1951)
is an attempt to restore the sonata tradition to a more modern setting.
Earlier piano works, such as the Tres Danzas de España (1941) or A l'Ombre de Torre Bermeja (1945) follow the lead of Albéniz. His
solo guitar music ranges from the early Zarabande lejana ( Distant Zarabande, written before 1927) that shows his early
neo-classical interests (harking back to the lute music of the 16th-century
Luis Milán), to the restrained classicism of the Tres piezas españoles (1954).
Rodrigo was the first holder of the Manuel de Falla Chair at Madrid
University (1947), and among his many honours he was awarded the Grand
Cross of the Order of Alfonso X the Wise by the Spanish government in 1953.
---------------------------------------
works include:
- Concierto en modo galante andConcierto como un divertimento for cello and orch.; Concierto de Aranjuez and Concierto para una fiesta for
guitar and orch.; Concierto madrigal for 2 guitars and orch.;Concierto Andaluz for 4 guitars and orch.; Sones en la Giralda for harp and orch.
- A la busca del más allá, Juglares, Música para un jardin and Per la flor del lliri blau for
orch.
- Siciliana for cello and piano; Sonata pimpante for
violin and piano
- Invocación y danza, Sonata a la española and Tres piezas españolas for guitar; Tonadilla for 2
guitars; A l'ombre de Torre Bermeja,Cinco Sonatas de Castilla con Toccata a modo de Prégon,4 estampas andaluzas, 4 piezas, Suite, and Tres danzas de España for piano
- song cycles Cuarte cançons en llengua catalana andTriptico de Mosén Cinto for low voice and orch.; song cycles10 canciones españolas, 4 canciones sefardies, 4 madrigales amatorios and 3 villancicos for low voice
and piano; Ausencias de Dulcinea for bass, four sopranos, and
orch.; Música para un Códice Salmantino sobre letra de Miguel de Unamuno
for bass, chorus and eleven instruments; other songs and vocal works
- ballet Pavana Real
- zarzuela El hijo fingido; opera La azucena de Quito
---------------------------------------
recommended works:
Concierto de Aranjuez
(1939) for guitar and orchestra
Concierto en modo galante
(1949) for cello and orchestra
Concierto madrigal
(1967) for 2 guitars and orchestra
Música para un jardin
(1923-1957) for orchestra
Sones en la Giralda
(1963) for harp and orchestra
Four Shepherd Songs
(1963) for voice and piano
---------------------------------------
bibliography:
F. Sopea Joaquín Rodrigo, 1970 (in Spanish)
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TÓRROBA
Federico Moreno
born 3rd March 1891 at Madrid
died 12th September 1982 at Madrid
---------------------------------------
A conductor as well as a composer, Frederico Tórroba was a leading figure
in the revival of the Spanish guitar as a serious concert instrument,
writing over 100 guitar works for such virtuosi as Segovia and Narciso
Yepes. However, he first attracted attention with two orchestral works,La ajorca de oro (The Bracelet of Gold, 1918) and Zoraida (1919), which, together with similar works by
such composers as Turina, helped revive purely orchestral
music in Spain. The descriptive orchestral pieces continued withCuadros (Scenes) and Cuadros Castellanos ( Castilian Scenes). The Gardens of Grenada combines rather
jaunty dance ideas with evocation, in a neo-classical atmosphere. In
general the idiom is tonal, straightforward, but with a mastery of
restrained orchestration, guitar textures and techniques, and an
integration of the Spanish inheritance with a personal reflective idiom.
However, it is through his guitar works that he most likely to be
encountered. Of his guitar concertos, the Concierto de Castilla is
pleasant easy listening, avoiding overt Spanish clichés, although the Flamenco Concerto uneasily mixes flamboyant flamenco with
orchestral treatment. The most successful is the Homenaje a la seguidilla (1962) for guitar and orchestra,
attractive and often thoughtful. It is a tribute to flamenco amalgamated
with his restrained Romantic style, at times flamboyant without being
strident, prepared to wander on occasion into some unusual harmonies, and
with a particularly grateful part for the soloist. The Spanish idiom is to
the fore, but with lucid and restrained orchestral colours, demonstrating
Tórroba's skill in scoring, and combining the tunes of La Mancha with the
classic seguidilla dance style of Andalusia. His later works
included the six-movement Estampas for six guitars, the concerto
for four guitars and orchestra Concierto Iberico (1976), making
full use of the concertante opportunities of the four soloists, theTonada concertante for four guitars and orchestra and Diálogos (1974) for guitar and orchestra.
Besides his writing for guitar, Tórroba scored successes in Spain with his
zarzuelas (popular operas), notably Luisa Fernanda (1932) which
was performed over 8,000 times in the next three decades, and is an
entertaining example of the genre. Tórroba was vice-president of the
Association of Spanish Composers, Director of the Royal Academy des Beaux
Arts de Madrid, and for ten years a critic for the Madrid daily paperInformaciones. He conducted a recording of the Homenaje a la Seguidilla at the age of 91.
---------------------------------------
works include:
- guitar concertos Concierto de Castilla,Concierto en flamenco and Homenaje a la seguidilla;Concerto Iberico for four guitars and orch.; Tonada concertante for four guitars and orch.; Diálogos
for guitar and orch.
- La ajorca de oro, Cuadros, Cuadros Castellanos
, Gardens of Grenada and Zoraida for orch.
- Estampas for six guitar and many works for solo guitar
- zarzuela operas including Luisa Fernanada
---------------------------------------
recommended works:
Homenaje a la seguidilla
(1962) for guitar and orchestra
---------------------------------------
TURINA
Joaquín
born 9th December 1882 at Seville
died 14th January 1949 at Madrid
---------------------------------------
Turina was an unashamedly descriptive composer of some importance in Spain
for his evocations of the Spanish heritage, and, with Albéniz, Falla and other lesser composers, for forging a national
style that moved away from the dominance of the musical stage to orchestral
and chamber music. His harmonically conservative idiom developed little,
though he attempted to combine the orchestral descriptive lessons learnt in
a stay in Paris (studying with d'Indy in
1906) to his own inheritance (encouraged by Albéniz), especially that of
his native Andalusia. His early chamber music follows turn-of-the-century
French models (especially those of César Franck, as in thePiano Quintet, 1907, or the Violin Sonata No.1). The String Quartet (1911) is cyclical (themes returning in each
movement to provide unity) in the style propounded by d'Indy. The Piano Trio No.2 op.76 (1933), though later, is nonetheless
typical, pleasantly lyrical, well crafted, but completely undemanding.
However, he first came to notice with La Procesión del Rocio
(1913), a vivid tone-poem describing a festive religious festival in
Seville, with lively orchestration and local pseudo-folk tunes (including a
Moorish touch), rhythms and colour. The Danzas Fantásticas (1920)
for orchestra is probably his best-known work, in three evocative sections
(especially the middle Ensueño with its lilting main melody) and
with opportunities for solo orchestral virtuosity. The Rapsodia sinfónica (1931) for piano and string orchestra is also
occasionally heard. It is in virtuoso style, as if written by a SpanishRachmaninov crossed with a Spanish Gershwin, with a dramatic opening and lushly lyrical. With
figurations for the piano sometimes echoing guitar work, it is attractive
and often glittering without any profundity.
Many of Turina's works reflect his love of Seville, though after his return
from France he never actually lived there. The Sinfonia Sevillana
(1921) has some gorgeously evocative moments, though the lush idiom teeters
dangerously on the brink of becoming sentimental. The form is again
cyclical. But his finest work is the song-cycle Canto a Sevilla
(1926) for soprano and piano or orchestra (but much more effective in its
orchestral version), moving and evocative, sometimes dramatic, sometimes
Impressionistic. His characteristic idiom here takes on a deeper intensity,
especially in the opening song, and the solo line combines something of the
rawness of genuine folk-music with a soaring lyrical feel. Orchestral (or
piano) sections intersperse the songs; similarly the less impressive but
still evocative Poema en forma de canciones (1918) for high voice
and piano opens with a piano solo, and mixes Spanish and French idioms.
Turina's extensive piano music (he himself was a renowned pianist) occupies
an important place in his output, although neglected outside Spain. Again,
many are cycles of shorter descriptive pieces evoking various aspects of
Spain or of Seville. Among his other scores is the unusual The Muses of Andalusia (1942) for soprano, piano and string quartet,
each of whose nine movements describes one of the Muses against an
Andalusian background, each scored differently.
Turina was for many years an influential critic for Madrid's El Debate. He taught at the Madrid Conservatory (1930-1931) and
served in the Ministry of Education under Franco.
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works include:
- Sinfonia sevillana
- Rapsodia sinfónica for piano and orch.
- Danzas Fantasticas, La Procesion del Rocio and other
works for orch.
- 2 piano trios; Circulo for piano trio; string quartet De la guitarra; La Oracion del Torero for lute quartet
(also arranged for string orch. or string quartet); piano quintet and other
chamber works; large body of piano works
- song cycles Canto a Sevilla and Poema en forma de canciones; other vocal works
- operas and other musical
- dramatic works; film scores
---------------------------------------
recommended works:
Canto a Sevilla
(1926) for mezzo-soprano and orchestra
Danzas Fantasticas
(1920) (piano version)
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