Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (April 11, 1916 Buenos Aires - June 25, 1983 Geneva) was

an Argentinian master composer of European classical music as well as a prolific

nationalistic musician who preserved many of the folk elements of Argentina in lively
compositions.

Contents
[hide]
 1 Biography
 2 Music and Style
 3 Works
o 3.1 Opera
o 3.2 Ballet
o 3.3 Concertante
o 3.4 Vocal/choral orchestral
o 3.5 Chamber/instrumental
 4 Notes
 5 References
 6 External links
 7 Credits

Ginastera won great acclaim for his masterful juxtaposing of traditional Argentine folk
elements with Western classical conventions. In so doing he demonstrated the ability to
unify seemingly diverse musical styles into a harmonious and highly evocative musical
expression. This was accomplished not by merely integrating existing folk melodies into
his music, but was far more elemental, in that he would construct original thematic
material, rhythmic patterns and harmonic progressions that were predicated on the
intervalic, rhythmic and harmonic properties of actual Latin folk music. He was one of
several important South American composers to achieve international prominence.

Biography
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. In the 1940s, Alberto
Ginastera achieved international prominence after the successes of his ballet
scores, Panambí and Estancia,which employed folkloric and nationalist influences of his
native Argentina. In the 1950s he began experimenting with the idea of juxtaposing
folkloric elements with serial techniques. His popular work for chamber
orchestra, Variaciones concertantes, was composed in 1953 and won him even greater
attention.
He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1942 to study in the United States from 1945
to 1947 where he studied with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood and later returned to Buenos
Aires and co-founded the 'League of Composers'. In addition, he was awarded honorary
doctorates from Yale University in 1968 and Temple University in 1975, and was the
recipient of the UNESCO International Music Council music prize in 1981.
In the late 1950s and 1960s his music was presented in premiere performances by the
top orchestras in the United States, including his first Piano Concerto (in Washington, DC),
his Violin Concerto under with the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein, his
Harp Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy conducting, and his
opera, Don Rodrigo at the New York City Opera. In 1967 his second opera Bomarzo was
premiered in Washington, DC but the subsequent Buenos Aires production was banned for
political reasons and not staged in his native Argentina until 1972.
His late works include his opera Beatrix Cenci (which was presented as part of the
Kennedy Center Inaugural concerts in 1971,) Glosses for orchestra, Piano Concerto No. 2
and two cello concertos in which the fusing of native Argentine musical elements with
European classical tradition is accomplished to great effect.
Ginastera married cellist Aurora Natola in 1971 and left Argentina to take up residence in
Geneva. He moved back to the US in 1968 and from 1970 lived in Europe. He died in
Geneva.

Music and Style

Alberto 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. In
Ginastera's Sonata for guitar, op. 47, an example of his nationalistic period, he
featured folk guitar traditions and syncopated folk dance rhythms with a
development of the musical themes through the "vidala," "baguala," and "andino
cantos de caja."
He later used his three piano sonatas to bring in a sense of historical nationalism in which
he featured Iberian musical traditions in the first sonata, introduced the American Indian
stylism in the second sonata, and united the two ethnic groups into a beautiful blending of
scalar musical symmetry. In his six Argentinian Dances, he features the "gato," "bailecito,"
"huella," "malambo," "milonga", and the "tango." His last period which is regarded as neo-
expressionism brings Ginastera out of a classical tradition towards an abstract musicality
without the use of folk music or symbolic nationalism.
The progressive rock group, 'Emerson, Lake & Palmer' brought Ginastera's 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, 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!" Keith 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 that he was
prepared to scrap the piece when Ginastera's wife intervened saying that he approved.
Ginastera later said, "You have captured the essence of my music." [1]Emerson would later
go on to release an adaptation of Ginastera's Suite de Danzas Criollas entitled "Creole
Dance." "Toccata" also gained fame as the theme to the New England cult TV
show Creature Double Feature.

Works
Opera
 Don Rodrigo (1964)
 Bomarzo (1967), banned for obscenity
 Beatrix Cenci (1971)

Ballet
 Panambí, Op. 1 (1937)
 Estancia, Op. 8 (1941)

Concertante
 Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 28
 Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 39
 Violin Concerto
 Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 36
 Cello Concerto No. 2, Op. 50
 Harp Concerto

Vocal/choral orchestral
 Cinco canciones populares argentinas (1943)
 Lamentaciones de Jeremias Propheta (1946)
 "Variaciones Concetante" (1953)
 Bomarzo (1964), a cantata described as "distinct from the opera" by the Concise
Oxford Dictionary of Music

Chamber/instrumental
 Piano Quintet
 String Quartet No. 1
 String Quartet No. 2
 String Quartet No. 3
 Cello Sonata
 Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 22
 Piano Sonata No. 2
 Piano Sonata No. 3
 Danzas Argentinas, for piano
 Guitar Sonata, Op. 47
  Pampeana No. 1, for violin and piano
 Pampeana No. 2, for cello and piano
 Pampeana No. 3, for piano
 Suite de Danzas Criollas, for piano
 12 Preludes for solo piano

Notes
1. ↑ ELP Biography [1] Retrieved September 19, 2007..

References
 Ginastera, Alberto, Natola-Ginastera, Aurora, et al., "Homage to Alberto Ginastera,"
Washington D.C.: Inter-American Musical Editions, 1982. OCLC 13793679
 Lee, Miah, "Alberto Ginastera: an examination of objective nationalism & the
Danazas Argentinas." thesis: University of Texas at El Paso, 2005.
 Payne, Alyson, "Creating Music of the Americas in the cold War: Alberto Ginastera
& the Inter-American Music Festivals." thesis: Bowling Green State University,
2006.
 Urtubey, Pola Suarez, Alberto Ginastera. Ediciones Culturales Argentinas, 1967.
ASIN: B000OOZXJU

External links
All links retrieved November 8, 2016.
 "Chronology of Ginastera's works"

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