Halffter: Dom Lindo De Almeria / La Madrugada Del Panadero

Madrid Co:Encinar

Regular: £11.49

Sale: £11.49
Regular

Out of Stock

Unit Price: per

Cat No: 8557623

Release Date: 01 October 2004

Label: Naxos / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 747313262328

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: HALFFTER

Description
Rodolfo Halffter (1900-1987):Paquiliztli ?À Obertura festiva ?À Obertura concertanteLa madrugada del panadero ?À Don Lindo de AlmeriaThe oldest member of a Spanish family ofmusicians of Prussian origin, Rodolfo Halffter was bornin Madrid on 30th October 1900. Self-taught as acomposer, he was much inspired by the Harmonielehretextbook of Schoenberg, who, along with Debussy, wasto have a decisive influence on the music of hismaturity. Through the good offices of the critic AdolfoSalazar, he and his brother Ernesto were introduced toManuel de Falla, by then the leading Spanish composer,and to the completion of whose 'scenic cantata'Atlantida Ernesto would devote many years. A furtherstimulus was the Residencia de Estudiantes, a looseassociation of forward thinkers which included GarciaLorca and Salvador Dali.Following the defeat of the Spanish Republicangovernment in 1939, Halffter chose voluntary exile inMexico City, where he taught at the Escuela SuperiorNocturna de M??sica and won the respect of suchcomposers as Carlos Chavez and Blas Galindo. In 1941he began a thirty-year association with the NationalConservatory, while his standing as a writer wasconsolidated by becoming editor of the journal Nuestram??sica and director of the Ediciones Mexicanas deM??sica in 1946. Only in 1962 did Halffter make a returnvisit to Spain, when his music, together with that ofErnesto and Rodolfo's nephew Cristobal, was accordeddue recognition. Awarded numerous honours in his lateryears, he died in Mexico City on 14th October 1987.Taking his cue from Falla, Rodolfo Halffterevolved a style of clear-cut rhythmic and tonal contrast,enlivened by off-beat accents recalling Stravinsky andpolytonal inflections in the manner of Milhaud. In 1953he began to adopt elements of serialism (the firstMexican composer to do so), but his use of suchtechniques was never at the expense of his essentiallymelodic idiom.Among his last works one of the most striking isPaquiliztli, composed in 1983 for seven percussionists,though Halffter's approach owes less to such pioneeringfigures as Var?¿se or Cage than to the South Americancomposers with whom he was associated. Opening with amarch-like idea on xylophone and side-drum, punctuatedby cymbals, bass-drum and timpani, the piece generatesa lively momentum as it traces a colourful harmonicscheme, the main idea being a constant feature either initself or as a motivic presence.Composed in 1952, the Obertura festiva is selfexplanatoryin mood and purpose. The main theme,alternately graceful and animated, and with solo woodwindprominent against string textures, has more than a hintof the Classical Spanish era beloved of Falla. The pieceproceeds as a sequence of ideas related to this theme,maintaining a robust buoyancy in the process.On a similar scale, the Obertura concertante datesfrom 1932 and is thus among Halffter's earliestpublished music. The clear-cut outlines of the openingexchange for piano and orchestra, integrated as equals,as the title
Tracklisting