Alberto Ginastera
From Free net encyclopedia
Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (April 11, 1916 – June 25, 1983) was an Argentinian composer of classical music. He is considered one of the most important Latin American classical composers.
Ginastera was born in Buenos Aires to a Catalan father and an Italian mother. He preferred to pronounce his surname in its Catalan pronunciation, with a soft "G" (i.e. JEE'-nah-STEH-rah rather than the Castilian Spanish KHEE'-nah-STEH-rah).
He studied at the conservatory in Buenos Aires, graduating in 1938. After a visit to the United States of America in 1945–47, where he studied with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood, he returned to Buenos Aires and co-founded the League of Composers. He held a number of teaching posts. He moved back to the USA in 1968 and from 1970 lived in Europe. He died in Geneva.
Among his works are:
- Operas
- Don Rodrigo (1964)
- Bomarzo (1967), banned for obscenity
- Beatrix Cenci (1971))
- Concerti for piano, cello, violin, and harp
- Music for chorus or solo voice with orchestra
- Ballet music
- Chamber music, including a piano quintet, three string quartets, and a cello sonata
Ginastera grouped his music into three periods: "Objective Nationalism" (1934–-1948), "Subjective Nationalism" (1948--1958), and "Neo-Expressionism" (1958--1983). Among other distinguishing features, these periods vary in their use of traditional Argentine musical elements. His Objective Nationalistic works often integrate Argentine folk themes in a straightforward fashion, while works in the later periods incorporated traditional elements in increasingly abstracted forms.
The progressive rock group Emerson Lake and Palmer brought Ginastera attention outside of modern classical music circles when they adapted the fourth movement of his first piano concerto and recorded it on their popular album Brain Salad Surgery under the title "Toccata." They recorded the piece not only with Ginastera's permission, but with his endorsement. In 1973, when they were recording the album, the band met with Ginastera at his home in Switzerland and played a recording of their arrangement for him. Ginastera is reported to have said, "Terrible!" Emerson, misunderstanding Ginastera's meaning (he spoke no English and meant that their interpretation was frightening, which was his intent when he wrote it), was so disappointed he was prepared to scrap the piece when Ginastera's wife intervened saying that he approved. Ginastera later said, "Diabolic! No one has been able to capture my music like that before! It's exactly the way I hear it myself!"
External links
es:Alberto Ginastera nl:Alberto Ginastera ja:アルベルト・ヒナステラ sl:Alberto Evaristo Ginastera fi:Alberto Ginastera