Cristóbal Halffter Jiménez-Encina (born 24 March 1930 in Madrid) is a Spanish 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...

. He is the nephew of two other composers, Rodolfo

Rodolfo Halffter

Rodolfo Halffter Escriche was a Spanish composer.-Life:Born in Madrid, Spain into a family of musicians, he was the brother of Ernesto Halffter and uncle of Cristóbal Halffter, also composers. His father Ernesto Halffter Hein came from Königsberg, Germany...

 and Ernesto Halffter

Ernesto Halffter

Ernesto Halffter Escriche was a Spanish composer and conductor. He was the brother of Rodolfo Halffter....

.

Life

In 1936, Halffter's family moved to Velbert

Velbert

Velbert is a town in the district of Mettmann, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Langenberg, a district of Velbert, is well known as the location of the Sender Langenberg transmitter site.-Geography:...

, Germany, to escape the Spanish Civil War

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

, but they returned to Madrid in 1939, and Halftter studied with Conrado del Campo

Conrado del Campo

Conrado del Campo was a composer, violinist and professor at the Real Conservatorio de Música in Madrid, who was the principal conductor of the Madrid Symphony Orchestra.His was works played in the Theathre Real of Madrid for José María Alvira. His opera Lola la Piconera made its debut at the Gran...

 at the Madrid Royal Conservatory, graduating in 1951 (Alonso 2001). Outside of his university education, he studied with Alexandre Tansman

Alexandre Tansman

Alexandre Tansman was a Polish-born composer and virtuoso pianist. He spent his early years in his native Poland, but lived in France for most of his life...

 and André Jolivet

André Jolivet

André Jolivet was a French composer. Known for his devotion to French culture and musical thought, Jolivet's music draws on his interest in acoustics and atonality as well as both ancient and modern influences in music, particularly on instruments used in ancient times...

. In 1955, he was appointed conductor of the Falla

Manuel de Falla

Manuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish Andalusian composer of classical music. With Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina he is one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century....

 orchestra. He forged a successful career as composer and conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

, writing music which combined a traditional Spanish element with avant-garde

Avant-garde

Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....

 techniques. His Piano Concerto

Piano concerto

A piano concerto is a concerto written for piano and orchestra.See also harpsichord concerto; some of these works are occasionally played on piano...

 won the National Music Prize in 1953. In 1961 he became Professor of Composition at the Royal Conservatory of Madrid, where he became Director in 1964 but remained only until 1966 (Kennedy 2006). Among his notable pupils are Jean-Luc Darbellay

Jean-Luc Darbellay

Jean-Luc Darbellay is a Swiss composer, conductor, clarinetist and physician. He was chairman of the Swiss Society for New Music and board member of the International Society for Contemporary Music. Darbellay is a member of the composers group: Groupe Lacroix. He has published about 150 works...

, David Philip Hefti

David Philip Hefti

David Philip Hefti , winner of the prestigious Gustav Mahler Competition and of the George Enescu Competition, studied at the Conservatories of Winterthur, Zurich and Carlsruhe, taking composition, conducting, clarinet and chamber music. His mentors included Wolfgang Rihm, Cristóbal Halffter,...

, and Javier Jacinto

Javier Jacinto

-Biography:Born in Pasaia in 1968, he is A Top Graduate for the Top Conservatoire of Music of San Sebastian and Top Graduate in Orchestral Conducting, as well as in Composition for the Real High Conservatoire of Music of Madrid, studying between others with Francisco Escudero and Antón García Abril...

.

He was awarded Spain's highest award for composition, the Premio Nacional de Música

Premio Nacional de Música

The Premio Nacional de Música forms part of the annual National Awards in Spain....

, in 1989.

Halffter's works include the opera Don Quijote (2000) (Robés, Halffter, Amorós, and Cervantes 2004). His second opera, Lazarus, was premiered in 2008 at the Kiel Opera House

Kiel Opera House

The Peabody Opera House is a civic performing arts building in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded as the Kiel Opera House, it opened it 1934 and operated until 1991, when it and the adjacent Kiel Auditorium were closed so the auditorium could be demolished and replaced by the Scottrade Center...

 to celebrate its centenary (Reininghaus 2008).

Cristóbal Halffter is regarded as the most important Spanish composer of his generation (Alonso 2001).

Selected works

• Concerto for piano and orchestra (1953)
• String Quartet no. 1 (1955)
• Tres piezas, for string quartet (1956)
• Introducción, fuga y finale, for piano (1957)
• Líneas y puntos, for 20 wind instruments and electroacoustics (1966)
• Anillos, for orchestra (1966)
• Cantata Symposium (1966)
• Yes, speak out, yes, cantata (1966)
• Líneas y puntos, for 20 wind instruments and tape (1967)
• Noche pasiva del sentido, for soprano, two percussionists and 4 tape recorders (1970)
• String Quartet no. 2 "Mémoires" (1970)
• Llanto por las víctimas de la violencia, for chamber group and electroacoustics (1971)
• Platero y yo, for choir, soloists, and narrator, based on the poem by Juan Ramón Jiménez
  Juan Ramón Jiménez
  Juan Ramón Jiménez Mantecón was a Spanish poet, a prolific writer who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1956. One of Jiménez's most important contributions to modern poetry was his advocacy of the French concept of "pure poetry."-Biography:Jiménez was born in Moguer, near Huelva, in...
  
   (1974)
• Cello Concerto no. 1 (1974)
• Elegía de la muerte de tres poetas españoles (1975)
• Variaciones sobre la resonancia de un grito, for 11 instruments, tape, and live electronics (1976–77)
• String Quartet no. 3 (1978)
• Officium defunctuorum, for orchestra and chorus (1979)
• Violin Concerto no. 1 (1979)
• Fantasia sobre una sonoridad de G. F. Haendel, for string orchestra (1981)
• Ricercare, for organ (1981)
• Versus (1983)
• Paráfrasis, for orchestra (1984)
• Cello Concerto no. 2 ("No queda más que el silencio") (1985)
• Tiento del primer tono y batalla imperial, for large orchestra (1986)
• Piano Concerto (1987–88)
• Fandango, for cello octet (1989)
• Fractal, for saxophone quartet (1990)
• Violin Concerto no. 2 (1990–91)
• Preludio para Madrid '92, for chorus and orchestra (1991)
• Siete cantos de España (1992)
• Veni Creator Spiritus, for mixed choir, ensemble choir, 12 brass instruments, and percussion (1992)
• Daliniana, for orchestra (1994)
• Don Quixote, opera (2000)
• Attendite, for cello octet (2003)

Further reading

• Andraschke, Peter. "Traditionsmomente in Kompositionen von Christóbal Halffter, Klaus Huber und Wolfgang Rihm". In Die neue Musik und die Tradition. Sieben Kongress-Beiträge und eine analytische Studie, edited by Reinhold Brinkmann, 130–52. Mainz: Schott
  Schott Music
  Schott Music is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe and is currently the second oldest music publishing house. The company headquarters of Schott Music was founded by Bernhard Schott in Mainz, Germany in 1770.Established in...
  
  .
• Briner, Andres. 1986. "Menschlichkeit und Gewalt: Zum Werk von Cristóbal Halffter". In Komponisten des 20. Jahrhunderts in der Paul Sacher Stiftung, edited by Jörg Meyer Jans, 393–400. Basel: Paul Sacher Stiftung.
• Charles Soler, Agustín. 1992. "La universalidad de un lenguaje, confrontación de dos obras: Debla y Preludio para Madrid 92 de Cristóbal Halffter". Nassarre: Revista Aragonesa de Musicología 8, no. 1:9–64.
• Charles Soler, Agustín. 2002. Análisis de la música española del siglo XX: En torno a la Generación del 51. Valencia: Rivera.
• Danuser, Hermann. 1986. "Cristóbal Halffter: Ein Komponist engagierter Musik". Dissonanz, no. 10.
• Danuser, Hermann. 1987. "Cristóbal Halffter: Un ejemplo de la nueva música comprometida", translated by Bernardo Martínez. In España en la música de occidente, 2 vols., edited by José López-Calo, Emilio Casares Rodicio, and Ismael Fernández de la Cuesta, 2: 475–77. Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura. ISBN 84-505-5046-7.
• Daschner, Hubert. 1993. "Líneas y puntos von Cristóbal Halffter: Voraussetzungen, Entstehung, Folgen". In Quellenstudien. II: Zwölf Komponisten des 20. Jahrhunderts, edited by Felix Meyer, 149–68. Veröffentlichungen der Paul Sacher Stiftung, no. 3. Winterthur: Amadeus-Verlag. ISBN 3-905049-57-0.
• Daschner, Hubert. 2001. "Cristóbal Halffter und die Spanische Musik nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg". In An den Rändern Europas: Ein internationales Festival mit Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts—Konzerthaus, Kunstforum, Musikverein, Odeon, WUK Kulturabteilung: 31. Oktober bis 30. November 1998, edited by Marie-Therese Rudolph and Berno Odo Polzer, Saarbrücken: Pfau-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-89727-153-1.
• Dibelius, Ulrich. 2000. "Ein spanischer Weltbürger: Der Komponist Cristóbal Halffter". In Wien Modern: 27. Oktober bis 26. November 2000 – Elektronik, Raum, 'musique spectrale' – Ein Festival mit Musik unserer Zeit, edited by Berno Odo Polzer, translations by Elfi Cagale, Silva Manfrè, and Martin Kaltenecker, 137–40. Saarbrücken: Pfau-Verlag. ISBN 3-89727-131-1
• Fernández-Cid, Antonio. 1984. "Cristóbal Halffter y Antón García Abril". Ritmo, no. 541:28.
• Gan Quesada, Germán. 2003. "La obra de Cristóbal Halffter: Creación musical y fundamentos estéticos". PhD diss., Universidad de Granada.
• Gan Quesada, Germán. 2007. "Tópico folklórico, tradición e innovación en un ballet 'español': Jugando al toro de Cristóbal Halffter". Revista de Musicología 30, no. 1 (June) 181–206.
• Gojowy, Detlef. 1974. "Spanien rückt ins Blickfeld". Melos: Jahrbuch für zeitgenössische Musik 41, no. 5 (September–October): 271–77.
• Hochradner, Thomas. 2001. "Transformationen: Cristóbal Halffter und der Gedanke der Apokalypse". In Apokalypse: Symposion 1999, edited by Carmen Ottner, 296–311. Studien zu Franz Schmidt 13. Vienna: Doblinger. ISBN 3-900695-54-7.
• Kassel, Matthias. 1998. "Cristóbal Halffter: Variation[en] über das Thema eSACHERe (1975) ". In Settling New Scores: Music Manuscripts from the Paul Sacher Foundation, edited by Felix Meyer, foreword by Charles E Pierce, Jr. and Paul Sacher, 223–25. Mainz: Schott. ISBN 3-7957-0347-6.
• Lewin-Richter, Andrés
  Andrés Lewin-Richter Ossiander
  Born in Miranda de Ebro, Spain in 1937, Andrés Lewin-Richter Ossiander began his studies in engineering at Polytechnic University of Catalonia in 1955. Seven years later, he received a Fulbright Fellowship to continue his studies at Columbia University in New York to study with Vladimir...
  
  . 1985. "La música electroacústica a Catalunya". Revista Musical Catalana, 6 (April): 27–29.
• Mâche, François-Bernard
  François-Bernard Mâche
  François-Bernard Mâche is a French composer of contemporary music. Born into a family of musicians, he is a former student of Émile Passani and Olivier Messiaen and has also received a diploma in Greek archaeology and a teaching certificate...
  
  . 1978. "Les mal entendus. Compositeurs des années 70". La Revue Musicale, nos. 314–315:166.
• Medina Álvarez, Ángel. 1996. "Apuntes sobre la recepción de la música abierta en España". Anuario musical: Revista de Musicología del C.S.I.C. 51:217–32.
• Mosch, Ulrich. 1991. "Vom Neoklassizismus zur Avantgarde: Cristóbal Halffters Weg zur Neuen Musik". Neue Zürcher Zeitung
  Neue Zürcher Zeitung
  The Neue Zürcher Zeitung is a major German language Swiss daily newspaper based in Zurich.One of the oldest newspapers still published, it originally appeared as Zürcher Zeitung, edited by Salomon Gessner, from January 12, 1780, and was renamed to Neue Zürcher Zeitung in 1821...
  
  212, no. 231 (5–6 October): 69–70.
• Oehrlein, Josef. 1982. "Kettenklirren für die Freiheit. Musik versus Diktatur: Der spanische Komponist Cristóbal Halffter". Musik und Medizin 2:61–68.
• Reininghaus, Frieder. 2008. "Generalprobe für die allgemeine Auferstehung: Zur Uraufführung von Cristóbal Halffters Lazarus in Kiel". Neue Zeitschrift für Musik
  Neue Zeitschrift für Musik
  Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik was a music magazine published in Leipzig, co-founded by Robert Schumann, his teacher and future father-in law Friedrich Wieck, and his close friend Ludwig Schuncke...
  
  169, no. 4 (July–August): 70.
• Reverter, Arturo. 1987. "Cristóbal Halfter habla de sus Tres poemas de lírica española". Scherzo: Revista de Música, no. 12 (February): 78–79.
• Rodríguez, María del Mar. 1993. "Entrevista sobre educación musical con...Cristóbal Halffter: Los conservatorios no pueden estar anclados en el pasado". Música y educación: Revista trimestral de pedagogía musical 6, no. 1 (April): 9–14.
• Romero, Ernesto. 2002. "Le Quichotte de Cristóbal Halffter: Texte et partition au service d'une nouvelle quête indentitaire". In Textuel. 41 (2002): Texte et partition, edited by Julia Kristeva with an introduction Arthur Thomassin, 185–99. Paris: Université de Paris VII [Denis Diderot].
• Ros, Enrique A. 1991. "'Kultur ist Beunruhigung': Der spanische Komponist Cristóbal Halffter". Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 152, no. 6 (June): 36–41.
• Sagastume, Manu. 1996. "La Generación del 51". Kantuz, no. 32 (July–August): 27.
• Ulm, Renate. 1995. "Cristóbal Halffter: Tradition ist das, was von der Kultur einer Zeit übriggeblieben ist". In Eine Sprache der Gegenwart: Musica Viva 1945–1995, edited by Renate Ulm, 325–31. Mainz: Schott. ISBN 3-492-18361-1 (cloth); ISBN 3-7957-8361-5 (pbk)
• Vega Toscano, Ana Maria. 1989. "Cristóbal Halffter: Un luchador en mil fuentes". Ritmo, no. 600 (June): 12–13.

External links

• Cristóbal Halffter biography and works on the Universal Edition
  Universal Edition
  Universal Edition is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, and originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market...
  
  website (publisher)