Alberto Williams

Alberto Williams

Timeline:

Birthdate: November 23, 1862

1879: One of his first public performances, which took place at sociedad del cuarteto concert.

1881: Published his first work, the mazurka Ensueno de juventud.

1882: Won a scholarship to the Paris conservatoire.

1889: Returned to Argentina

1919: Founded the magazine and paper, entitled La Kena, devoted to the popularity and teaching of music.

1939: Became a member of the Legion d’Honneur

Death date: June 17, 1952

Biography:

            Alberto Williams was an Argentine composer, teacher, conductor and pianist. He began composing at an early age, as he was born into a family of musicians. In 1881, he published his first work, the mazurka Ensueño de juventud. He studied at the Paris conservatoire with Geroge Mathias and Cesar Franck. He was an honorary member of the Argentine Association of Composers, the Chamber Music Association and the Folklore Association. Alberto Williams wrote nine symphonies, two concert overtures, three symphonic poems, chamber music, choral works, songs, and over 300 compositions for piano.

Bibliography:

Susana Salgado. "Williams, Alberto." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 9 Mar. 2014. <http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/30339>.

 http://mldd.blogspot.com/2012/06/alberto-williams-150-years.html

Discography:

Orchestral:

·         Aires de la pampa, 1944;

·         Las milongas de la orquesta, 1938;

·         Poema del Iguazú, 1943;

·         Primera obertura de concierto, 1889;

·         Primera suite argentina, str, 1923;

·         5 danzas argentinas-milongas, 1912;

·         9 syms., 1907, 1910, 1911, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1937, 1938, 1939;

·         11 other works

Vocal:

·         15 choral works

·         75 songs

Chamber:

·         Pf Trio no.1, 1907;

·         Sonata, vc, pf, 1906;

·         3 sonatas, vn, pf, 1905, 1906, 1907;

·         4 other works

Pf:

·         El rancho abandonado, 1890;

·         Primera sonata argentina, 1917;

·        100 other works

Manuel de Falla

Manuel de Falla

Biography:

Manuel de Falla was born in Cádiz, Spain in 1876.  He took his first piano lessons with his mother but later moved to Madrid to continue studying piano as well as classical composition with Felipe Pedrell.  His lessons with Pedrell inspired him to take an interest in 16^th century Spanish church music, folk music, and opera.  By the mid-1890s Falla, who had decided to become a composer, studied piano in Madrid with José Tragó, who was affiliated with Madrid Conservatory.  Falla began studying at the Madrid Conservatory where an award in 1905 for his piano playing.  In 1907 his opera, La Vida Breve, won a contest sponsored by the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.  

In 1907 Manuel de Falla accepted an offer to tour France but ended up moving to Paris.  In Paris he met Claude Debussy, Paul Dukas, and Maurice Ravel from whom he received impressionist influences.  He began to publish piano pieces and songs during this period. As World War I began Manuel de Falla moved back to Spain where he wrote two ballets, El Amor Brujo and El Sombrero de Tres Picos.    

By the end of the Spanish civil war in 1939 Manuel de Falla was in poor health and disillusioned with Spain so he accepted an offer to conduct with the Institucion Cultural Espanola in Buenos Aires.  He also worked on his cantata entitled Atlántida, which he never completed.  In 1946 he died of a heart attack in his sleep.  His remains were placed in a cathedral in Cádiz, Spain.

Information taken from: http://www.manueldefalla.com/en/argentina

Grove Music Online

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/manuel-de-falla-mn0000647526/biography

Manuel de Falla. (discography):

Orgastra

·         Noches en los jardines de España (1909-1916)

·         El amor brujo. Versión de concierto para orquesta (1915-1916).

·         El amor brujo. Versión de concierto para pequeña orquesta (1917).

·         Suite nº 1 (1919-1921).

·         Suite nº 2 (1919-1921).

·         El amor brujo. Ballet. Versión de concierto (1925).

·         Suite Homenajes (1938-1939).

·         Los amores de la Inés.

·         La vida breve.

·         El sombrero de tres picos (1919).

·         El retablo de maese Pedro

Chorus

·         Balada de Mallorca (Palma de Mallorca, 1933).

Instrament solo

·         Nocturno (1896).

·         Mazurka en Do menor (1899).

·         Serenata andaluza (1900).

·         Canción (1900).

·         Vals capricho (1900).

·         Cortejo de gnomos (1901).

·         Allegro de concierto (1903-1904).

·         Pièces espagnoles. Cuatro piezas españolas (1906-1909).

·         Fantasia Baetica (1919).

·         Homenaje. Pour "le tombeau de claude debussy" (Granada, 1920).

·         Canto de los remeros del Volga (del cancionero musical ruso)(Granada, 1922).

·         Pour le tombeau de Paul Dukas (Granada, 1935).

Other Works

·         Cançó de nadal (1922).

·         Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1924).

·         Preludio (1924).

·         Obertura de El barbero de Sevilla (1924-1925).

·         Ave María (1932).

·         L'amfiparnaso (Palma de Mallorca, 1934).

·         Invocatio ad individuam trinitatem (Granada, 1935).

·         Himno marcial (Granada, 1937).

·         Emendemus in melius (Granada, 1939).

·         Madrigal: prado verde y florido (Granada, 1939).

·         Romance de Granada: qué es de ti, desconsolado (Granada, 1939).

·         Tan buen ganadico (Granada, 1939).

·         ¡Ora, sus! (Granada, 1939).

·         magnum mysterium (in circuncisione Domini) (Villa del Lago, 1940-1942).

·         Tenebrae factae sunt (responsorium) (Villa del Lago, 1940-1942).

·         Miserere mei Deus (salmo 50) (Villa del Lago, 1940-1942).

·         In festo Sancti Jacobi (o Lux et decus Hispaniae) (Villa del Lago, 1940-1942).

·         Benedictus (de la misa "Vidi speciosam") (Villa del Lago, 1940-1942).

·         Gloria (de la misa "Vidi speciosam") (Villa del Lago, 1940-1942).

·         Cançó de l'estrella (Villa del Lago, 1941-1942).

·         Romance de Don Joan y Don Ramón (Villa del Lago, 1941-1942).

Jose Maria Castro

Biography:

José María Castro was an Argentine composer, conductor, and cellist born in Avellaneda, Buenos Aires province, Argentina on December 15, 1892. As was his father and four younger brothers, he was very involved in the music world. His early music education took place at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy. There he studied cello, harmony, and composition with José García, Humberto Ferrari, Gaito, and Fornarini. In 1907 he graduated with a gold medal and a diploma of honor. He later became a professor at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia and at the Municipal Manuel de Falla. 

In 1914 he joined his brother Juán José Castro, León Fontova, Anibal Canut, and Constantino Gaito in the Argentine Chamber Music Society until 1915. In 1916 he became part of the Wagnerian Association with Telmo Vela, Roque Citro, Bruno Bandini, and his brother Juán José until 1917. In 1926 he co-founded the Quartet Society and two years later he formed the Orchestra of the Asociación del Profesorado Orquestal. In 1929 along with Juán Carlos Paz, he founded the Grupo de Renovación which later separated in 1937. In 1931 he became the conductor of the Asociación del Profesorado Orquestal. In 1936 he co-founded the Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes with Carlos López Buchardo. He won two municipality prizes in 1927 and in 1933. He also received an International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) prize in 1939. From 1933 to 1953 he was the director of the Banda Municipal of Buenos Aires with which he wrote many of his major pieces. Most of his music was of the neoclassical style. Castro passed away in Buenos Aires on August 2, 1964.

Bibliography:

Information found at Oxford Online Music (2010). Retrieved from: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.lib.umb.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/44159pg1#S44159.1

Information found at the Música Clásica Argentina Website. Retrieved from: http://www.musicaclasicaargentina.com/castrojm/

Information found at: Oxford Online Music. Retrieved from: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.lib.umb.edu/subscriber/article_works/grove/music/44159pg1#S44159.1.1

Discography:

Ballets: 

·         El sueño de la botella (L. Cané), 1948; 

·         Falarka (J. de Obeita), 1951

·         Georgia (E. Mallea), 1937; 

Orchestral: 

·         Conc. for Orch, 1944; Conc., vn, 18 insts, 1953; 

·         Con la patria adentro, T, orch, 1964; 

·         Pf Conc., 1941, rev. 1956; 

·         Preludio, tema con variaciones y final, 1959; 

·         Sinfonia de Buenos Aires, 1953; 

Other works: 

·         Pf Sonata, G, 1931; 

·         Sonata, vc, pf; 

·         Sonata, vn, pf; 5 pf sonatas; 

·         Tres string quartets, C, 1944, G, 1947, 1956; 

Juan Jose Castro

Juan Jose Castro

Biography:

Juán José Castro was an Argentine composer and conductor born in Avellaneda, Buenos Aires province, Argentina on March 7, 1895. He studied piano, violin, and composition in Buenos Aires with Manuel Posadas, Gaito, and Fornarini. He received the Europa Prize in the 1920's, which is when he traveled to Paris to study composition at the Schola Cantorum with Vincent D'Indy and Édouard Risler. He returned to Argentina in 1925 and founded the Quartet society a year later. In 1928 he conducted the Orquesta de Nacimiento which became the start of his conducting career. He confounded the Grupo de Renovación in 1929 with Juán Carlos Paz, but later began working independently when the group separated in 1937. He began conducting opera in 1930 with the Teatro Colón, and became the director of the Aseciación del Profesorado Orquestal and Asociación Sinfónica in 1933. He later became a professor at the Buenos Aires Conservatory from 1939-1943.

          In the 1940's he began working internationally, conducting the NBC symphony Orchestra in Mexico, Peru, and Chile. In 1947 he conducted works such as the Havana Philharmonic and the Sodre Orchestra in Uruguay. In 1948 he joined the Argentine League of Composers, the National Academy of Fine Arts, and the National Arts Foundation. In 1949 he became the director of the Philarmonic Orchestra of Cuba until 1949, when he acme the director of the SODRE Symphony Orchestra in Montevideo, Uruguay until 1952. He also conducted the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Australia from 1952-1953. He received his first international award at the Festival Latinoamericano de Música in Caracas in 1954. 

In 1955 he returned to Buenos Aires where he became the conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional from 1956-1960. In 1959 he became the dean of the Puerto Rico Conservatory until 1964. He carried out the rest of his musical career as the dean of the National Conservatory in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Paz passed away in Buenos Aires on September 5, 1968. 

Bibliography:

Information found at: Oxford Music Online (2010). Retrieved from: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.lib.umb.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/44159pg2

Information found at: the Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved from: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Castro-Juan.htm

Information found at: the Fundación Ostinato Website. Retrieved from: http://ostinato.tripod.com/castro.html

Information found at: Oxford Online Music (2010). Retrieved at: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.lib.umb.edu/subscriber/article_works/grove/music/44159pg2#S44159.2.1

Discography:

Orchestral:

·         Allegro lento e vivace, 1930; 

·         Corales criollos no.3, 1953; Sym. no.5, 1956; 

·         Pf Conc., 1941; 

·         Suite introspectiva, 1961; 

·         Sym. no.1, 1931; Sinfonia argentina, 1934; 

·         Vn Conc., 1962; 9 other works

Choral: 

·         Epitafio en ritmos y sonidos, chorus, orch, 1961;

·         Martín Fierro (cant.), Bar, chorus, orch, 1944; 

·         Sinfonía bíblica, solo vv, chorus, orch, 1932; 

Solo: 

·         Angos, pf, 1941; 

·         Nueve preludios, pf, 1934; 

·         Pf Sonata, 1939; T

·         Sonatina española, pf, 1953; 

·         Sonata, vc, pf, 1916; Pf Sonata, F, 1917; 

·         Sonata, vn, pf, 1914; 

·         Str Qt, 1942; 

Juan Carlos Paz

Juan Carlos Paz

Biography:

Juan Carlos Paz is and Argentine composer born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on August 5, 1901. He studied piano and composition with Roberto Nery, Gaito, and Fornarini in Buenos Aires. He later studied organ with Jules Beyer and then with D'Indy at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, France. He also taught himself composition. In 1929 he formed the Grupo de Renovación with Juan José, José María Castro, Gilardi, and Ficher whose focus was to create music using contemporary trends. In 1937 the group separated and he later founded the Conciertos de la Nuava Música. The group's objective was to present innovatory European music such as chamber music. Other composers such as Perceval and Devoto joined him and the group was then named the Agrupación del Profesorado Orquestal. The group introduced new Argentine composers along with new European musical pieces. 

Throughout his entire career Paz composed music of various different styles. During the 1920's and early 1930's his music consisted mostly of the Romantic style. Some his major works from this period include the Cuatro fugas sobre un tema (1924-1925) and the Canto de Navidad ((1927). He was next interested in the neoclassical Stravinsky and jazz styles of music. Some of his works consisting of these styles include Tres movimientos de jazz (1932) and the Octeto for wind instruments (1930). During the same time much of his music was influenced by Scandinavian literature. An example of one of these pieces includes Tres commentaries líricos a 'El carter del rey' (1926). He later began studying Schoenberg and his 12-note theory. This led him adopt serial writing in 1934 which led to many works such as the Passcaglia for orchestra (1936). He later abandoned the 12-tone technique in 1950 and wrote a book Arnold Schoenberg, o el fin de la era tonal in 1954 which he explained how he believed the system didn't offer anything essentially new or useful to the music world. From then on he began to experiment with a new idiom which led to many well-known pieces such as Transformaciones canónicas (1955) and the piano series Núcleos (1962-1964). During the 1960's he gave up composing. 

Bibliography:

Information found at: Oxford Music Online (2010). Retrieved from:http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.lib.umb.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/21138?q=Juan+Carlos+Paz&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit

Information found at: Wikipedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Carlos_Paz

Discography:

Orchestral:

·         Canto de Navidad, 1927, orchd 1930; 

·         Juliano Emperador (incid music, H. Ibsen), 1931; 

·         Movimiento sinfónico, 1930; 

·         Música para orquesta: Preludio y fuga, 1940;

·         Música para fagot, cuerdas y batería, 1955–6; Continuidad, 1960; 

·         Música para piano y orquesta, 1964

·         Passacaglia, 1936, 2nd version 1952–3; 

·         Passacaglia, str, 1944, rev. 1949; 

·         Rítmica ostinada, 1952; 6 superposiciones, 1954; 

·         Tres piezas, 1931; 

·         Transformaciones canónicas, 1955; 

Piano:

·         Canciones y baladas, 1936–7; 

·         Cinco piezas de carácter, 1937; 

·         Coral, e, 1921; 

·         Coral, F, 1925; 

·         Cuatro fugas sobre un tema, 1924–5; 

·         Diez piezas sobre una serie dodecafónica, 1936; 

·         Dos leyendas, 1925–6;

·         Fantasía, 1923; Fantasía y fuga, b, 1923; 

·         Música 1946, 1945–7; 

·         Núcleos, 1962–4

·         Preludio, coral y fuga, 1923; Sonata no.1, 1923; 

·         Seis baladas, 1927–9; Tema con transformaciones, 1928; 

·         Sonata no.2, 1925; 

·         Sonatina no.3, 1933; 

·         Sonata no.3, 1935; 

·         Tres comentarios líricos a ‘El cartero del rey’, 1926, arr. ens, 1942; 

·         Tres movimientos de jazz, 1932; 3 invenciones a 2 voces, 1932; 

·         Tres piezas líricas, 1922;