Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (alˈβerto eβaˈɾisto xinasˈteɾa) (April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 of classical music

Classical music

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

. He is considered one of the most important Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

n classical composers.

Biography

Ginastera was born in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

 to a Catalan

Catalan people

The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...

 father and an Italian

Italian people

The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

 mother. During the last few years of his life, he preferred to pronounce his surname in its Catalan

Catalan language

Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...

 pronunciation, with a soft 'G' as in 'George' ((d)ʒinasˈteɾa) rather than a Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 'J' sound (xinasˈteɾa).

He studied at the conservatory in Buenos Aires, graduating in 1938. As a young professor, he taught at the Liceo Militar General San Martín. After a visit to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in 1945–47, where he studied with Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...

 at Tanglewood

Tanglewood

Tanglewood is an estate and music venue in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is the home of the annual summer Tanglewood Music Festival and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and has been the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home since 1937. It was the venue of the Berkshire Festival.- History...

, he returned to Buenos Aires and co-founded the League of Composers. He held a number of teaching posts. He moved back to the United States in 1968 and from 1970 lived in Europe. He died in Geneva

Geneva

Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

 at the age of 67.

Among his notable students were Ástor Piazzolla

Ástor Piazzolla

Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music...

 (who studied with him in 1941), Alcides Lanza

Alcides Lanza

Alcides Emigdio Lanza is a Canadian composer, conductor, pianist, and music educator of Argentinian birth. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1976. As both a composer and performer he is known as an exponent of contemporary classical music and avant-garde music...

, Waldo de los Ríos

Waldo de los Rios

Waldo de los Ríos was an Argentine composer, conductor and arranger.De los Rios was born as Osvaldo Nicholas Ferrara in Buenos Aires into a musical family; his father was a musician and his mother a well known folk singer; he studied composition and arranging at the National Conservatory of Music...

, Jacqueline Nova

Jacqueline Nova

Jacqueline Nova Sondag was a Colombian musician, author and composer.-Biography:Jacqueline Nova Sondag was born 6 January 1935, in Ghent, Belgium. Her family later moved to Bucaramanga, Colombia, and then in 1955 to Bogotá. Nova began studying piano as a child and in 1958 was admitted to the...

 and Rafael Aponte-Ledée.

Music

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 incorporate traditional elements in increasingly abstracted forms.

Much of Ginastera's works were inspired by the Gauchesco tradition. This tradition holds that the Gaucho

Gaucho

Gaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, chacos, or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile, and Southern Brazil...

, or landless native horseman of the plains, is a symbol of Argentina.

The progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 group Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl 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

Brain Salad Surgery

Brain Salad Surgery is the fourth studio album by progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1973 and the first under their Manticore Records imprint. It fuses rock and classical themes. Lyrics were co-written by Greg Lake with fellow ex-King Crimson member Peter Sinfield. Cover...

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, Keith Emerson met with Ginastera at his home in Switzerland and played a recording of his arrangement for him. Ginastera is reported to have said, "Diabolical!". Emerson

Keith Emerson

Keith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...

 misunderstood Ginastera's meaning: Ginastera spoke almost no English and meant that their interpretation was frightening, which had been his intent when he wrote it; Emerson, being British, took it to mean "awful". Emerson was so upset that he was prepared to scrap the piece until Ginastera's wife intervened saying that he approved. Ginastera later said, "You have captured the essence of my music, and no one's ever done that before." This experience is detailed in the liner notes to Brain Salad Surgery. Emerson would later go on to release an adaptation of one of the pieces from Ginastera's Suite de Danzas Criollas entitled "Creole Dance". "Toccata" also gained fame as the theme to the New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 cult TV show Creature Double Feature

Creature Double Feature

Creature Double Feature was a syndicated horror show, broadcast in the Boston and Philadelphia area during the 1970s and 1980s. It sometimes also aired under names like Sci-Fi Flix and Creature Feature...

. Italian neo-classical electric guitarist Alex Masi

Alex Masi

Alex Masi is an Italian guitarist.He was born in Venice, and studied at the Conservatory of Music in Verona. He formed the heavy rock band Dark Lord in 1984 and recorded two EPs with them...

 has also recorded an adaptation of "Toccata," one strongly based on the aforementioned ELP version, rather than the original orchestral piece. It can be found on 1989's "Attack of the Neon Shark".

His Cantata para América Mágica (1960), for dramatic soprano and 53 percussion instruments, was based on ancient pre-Columbian legends. Its West Coast premier was performed by the Los Angeles Percussion Ensemble under Henri Temianka

Henri Temianka

Henri Temianka was a virtuoso violinist, conductor, author and music educator.-Early years:Henri Temianka was born in Scotland of Polish-Jewish parents...

 and William Kraft at UCLA in 1963.

A portion of Ginastera's Piano Sonata No. 1 is performed in the movie The Competition

The Competition (film)

The Competition is a 1980 American drama film starring Richard Dreyfuss and Amy Irving, directed by Joel Oliansky.-Plot:Paul Dietrich is an extremely gifted but disillusioned classical pianist, running out of time to prove himself...

, and the piece is included in the movie soundtrack.

Works

Opera

• Don Rodrigo
  Don Rodrigo
  Don Rodrigo is an opera in three acts by Alberto Ginastera, the composer's first opera, to an original Spanish libretto by Alejandro Casona. Ginastera composed the opera on commission from the Municipality of the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first performance was at the Teatro Colón,...
  
  , Op. 31 (1964)
• Bomarzo
  Bomarzo (Ginastera)
  Bomarzo is an opera in two acts by Alberto Ginastera, his Opus 34, to a Spanish libretto by Manuel Mujica Laínez, based on his 1962 novel about the 16th century Italian eccentric Pier Francesco Orsini. The opera had its world premiere at the Opera Society of Washington, Washington D.C., on 19 May...
  
  , Op. 34 (1967), banned in Argentina until 1972
• Beatrix Cenci
  Beatrix Cenci
  Beatrix Cenci is an opera in two acts by Alberto Ginastera to a Spanish libretto by the composer and William Shand, based on the historical family of Beatrice Cenci, the Chroniques italiennes by Stendhal, and The Cenci by Percy Shelley. The first performance was on 10 September 1971 by the Opera...
  
  , Op. 38 (1971), based on the play The Cenci (1819) by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Orchestral

• Overture to the Creole Faust (Obertura para el "Fausto" criollo), Op. 9 (1943)
• Ollantay: 3 Symphonic Movements, Op. 17 (1947)
• Variaciones concertantes, Op. 23 (1953)
• Pampeana No. 3, Op. 24 (1954)
• Concerto for strings, Op. 33 (1966)
• Estudios Sinfonicos, Op. 35 (1967)
• Popol Vuh
  Popol Vuh
  Popol Vuh is a corpus of mytho-historical narratives of the Post Classic Quiché kingdom in Guatemala's western highlands. The title translates as "Book of the Community," "Book of Counsel," or more literally as "Book of the People."...
  
  , Op. 44 (1975–1983, left incomplete at the composer's death)
• Glosses on themes of Pablo Casals, for strings, Op. 46 (1976)
• Glosses on themes of Pablo Casals, for orchestra, Op. 48 (1977)
• Iubilum, Op. 51 (1980)

Concertante

• Harp Concerto
  Harp Concerto (Ginastera)
  The Harp Concerto by Alberto Ginastera was premiered in 1965 with Nicanor Zabaleta and the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy.-Instrumentation:Woodwinds:...
  
  , Op. 25 (1956)
• Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 28 (1961)
  1. Cadenza e varianti
  2. Scherzo allucinante
  3. Adagissimo
  4. Toccata concertata
• Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 39 (1972)
  1. 32 variazioni sopra un accordo di Beethoven
  2. Scherzo per la mano sinistra
  3. Quasi una fantasia
  4. Cadenza
  5. Finale prastissimo
• Violin Concerto, Op. 30 (1963)
• Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 36 (1968)
• Cello Concerto No. 2, Op. 50 (1980)

Piano

• Danzas argentinas
  Danzas Argentinas
  The Danzas Argentinas are a piano composition by Alberto Ginastera, one of the leading Latin American composers of the 20th century. Written in 1937, they are set of three dances, and they encompass his Opus 2....
  
  , Op. 2 (1937)
• Milonga, Op. 3
• Three pieces (Tres piezas), Op. 6 (1940)
• Malambo, Op. 7 ( 1940)
• "Little Dance" from the ballet Estancia, Op. 8
• Twelve American preludes (Doce preludios americanos), Op. 12 (1944)
• Suite of Creole dances (Suite de danzas criollas), Op. 15 (1946)
• Rondo on Argentine children's folk-tunes (Rondó sobre temas infantiles argentinos), Op. 19 (1947)
• Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 22 (1952)
• Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 53 (1981)
• Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 54 (1982)
• Piezas Infantiles (1934)
• Danzas argentinas Para los ninos
  1. Moderato for Alex
  2. Passage Paisaje for Georgina
• Toccata for piano (1970)
• Arrangement of an Organ Toccata by Domenico Zipoli
  Domenico Zipoli
  Domenico Zipoli was an Italian Baroque composer. He became a Jesuit in order to work in the Reductions of Paraguay where his musical expertise contributed to develop the natural musical talents of the Guaranis...
  
  

Organ

• Toccata, Villancico y Fuga, Op. 18 (1947)
• Variazioni e Toccata sopra Aurora lucis rutilat, Op. 52 (1980)

  Variación 1: Maestoso

  Variación 2: Tempo giusto

  Variación 3: Impetuoso, l'istesso tempo

  Variación 4: Vivacissimo

  Variación 5: L'istesso tempo

  Variación 6: L'istesso tempo

  Variación 7: Sereno

  Variación 8: Estatico

  Variación 9: Quasi allegretto

  Variación 10: Pastorale

  Variación 11: Andantino poetico

  Variación 12: Lento

  Toccata - Finale: Tema

Vocal/choral orchestral

• Two songs (Dos canciones), for voice and piano, Op. 3 (1937)
• Psalm 150
  Psalm 150
  Psalm 150 is a psalm in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. In it, the writer urges the congregation to praise God with music and dancing. The text, beloved by Jews and Christians alike, has often been set to music...
  
  , Op. 5 (1938)
• Cinco canciones populares argentinas
  Cinco canciones populares argentinas
  Cinco canciones populares argentinas are a set of five songs for voice and piano, comprising both entirely new compositions as well as new settings of existing melodies, written in 1943 by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera as his opus 10. The five songs are as follows:*1. Chacarera*2. Triste*3....
  
  , for voice and piano, Op. 10 (1943)
• Las horas de una estancia (Ocampo), for voice and piano, Op. 11 (1943)
• Lamentaciones de Jeremias Propheta
  Lamentaciones de Jeremias Propheta
  Hieremiae Prophetae Lamentationes or Lamentaciones de Jeremías Propheta is a choral masterpiece composed by Alberto Ginastera in 1946. It is based on texts freely selected from the Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet. The work is divided into three parts: O vos omnes, Ego vir videns and Recordare,...
  
  , Op. 14 (1946)
• Cantata para América Mágica, for dramatic soprano and percussion orchestra, Op. 27 (1960)
• Bomarzo
  Bomarzo (Ginastera)
  Bomarzo is an opera in two acts by Alberto Ginastera, his Opus 34, to a Spanish libretto by Manuel Mujica Laínez, based on his 1962 novel about the 16th century Italian eccentric Pier Francesco Orsini. The opera had its world premiere at the Opera Society of Washington, Washington D.C., on 19 May...
  
  Op. 32 (1964), a cantata
  Cantata
  A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
  
   described as "distinct from the opera" by the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music
• Milena, Cantata No. 3 for soprano and orchestra, Op. 37 (1971)
• Turbae, for soloists, chorus and orchestra, Op. 43 (1975)
• Canción del beso robado, for voice and piano (19??, Doubtful work)

Chamber/instrumental

• Duo for flute and oboe, Op. 13 (1945)
• Pampeana No. 1, for violin and piano, Op. 16 (1947)
• String Quartet No. 1, Op. 20 (1948)
• Pampeana No. 2, for cello and piano, Op. 21 (1950)
• String Quartet No. 2, Op. 26 (1958)
• Piano Quintet, Op. 29 (1963)
• String Quartet No. 3, Op. 40 (1973)
• Puneña No. 2, Op. 45, 'Hommage à Paul Sacher' for cello solo (1976)
• Guitar Sonata, Op. 47 (1976)
• Sonata for violoncello and piano, Op. 49 (1979)

Works withdrawn by the composer (without opus number)

• Argentine Concerto / Concierto Argentino, for piano and orchestra (1937)
• Symphony No. 1 "Sinfonia porteña"
• Symphony No. 2 "Sinfonia elegíaca" (1944)
• Impresiones de la Puna - Flauta y cuerdas
• "Amiro canta" - Canción
• Sonatina para arpa
• Canciones infantiles para piano
• "La Cenicienta" - two pianos
• "La moza de los ojos negros" - Soprano and piano
• Canciones y danzas argentinas para violín y piano
• Incidental music for theater and film and some transcriptions

Discography

• Cantata para América Mágica, Los Angeles Percussion Ensemble, H. Temianka, conductor, and W. Kraft, director, Columbia Masterworks, 1963.
• Complete works for piano, Andrzej Pikul
  Andrzej Pikul
  Andrzej Pikul is a Polish pianist.Pikul graduated from the Academy of Music in Kraków, where he studied under Tadeusz Żmudziński, and from the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna in the piano class of Paul Badura-Skoda...
  
   (piano), Dux Recording Producers, 2007.
• Quartet No. 1, Paganini Quartet
  Paganini Quartet
  The Paganini Quartet was a virtuoso string quartet founded by its first violinist, Henri Temianka, in 1946. The quartet drew its name from the fact that all four of its instruments, made by Antonio Stradivari , had once been owned by the great Italian violinist and composer Niccolo Paganini...
  
  , Decca Gold Label.
• Art Songs of Latin-America, Patricia Caicedo, soprano & Pau Casan, piano - Albert Moraleda Records, Barcelona, 2001 - Cinco canciones populares argentinas by Ginastera & Canción al árbol del olvido
• 2007 - Flores Argentinas: Canciones de Ginastera y Guastavino / Inca Rose Duo: Annelise Skovmand, voice; Pablo González Jazey, guitar. Cleo Productions, Cleo Prod 1002. Arrangements by González Jazey for voice and guitar of: "Cinco canciones populares argentinas op.10" y "Dos canciones op.3"
• Arrangement as "Toccata", Emerson, Lake & Palmer
  Emerson, Lake & Palmer
  Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
  
  , Brain Salad Surgery
  Brain Salad Surgery
  Brain Salad Surgery is the fourth studio album by progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1973 and the first under their Manticore Records imprint. It fuses rock and classical themes. Lyrics were co-written by Greg Lake with fellow ex-King Crimson member Peter Sinfield. Cover...
  
  , 1973.
• Complete piano solo and piano/chamber works, Barbara Nissman (piano) with Aurora Natola-Ginastera,(cello) Ruben Gonzales (violin) and the Thouvenel String Quartet, Pierian Records (www.arkivemusic.com)

External links

• Piano Sonata No. 1 Op. 22 - Ruvido Ed Ostinato streaming file performed by Dr. Willis G. Miller III.
• Danza de la Moza Donosa streaming file performed by Andrys Basten.
• Chronology of Ginastera's works
• Guitar Sonata, Alberto Ginastera
• Alberto Evaristo Ginastera & project "eSACHERe"