Leonardo Balada

born on 22/9/1933 in Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Leonardo Balada

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Leonardo Balada (born September 22, 1933, in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain), is a Catalan American composer, now teaching and composing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Life

After studying piano at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu in Barcelona, in 1956 he emigrated to the United States to study at the Juilliard School in New York, from which he graduated in 1960.[1] He studied composition with Vincent Persichetti, Alexandre Tansman and Aaron Copland,[1] and conducting with Igor Markevitch.[2] In 1981, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.[3] Since 1970 he has been teaching at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[1]

Music

His works in the early 1960s are somewhat neo-classical in nature, but the composer was dissatisfied and in 1966 saw a change to an avant-garde style, producing such works like Guernica. The composer felt a need for a change again in 1975, and the works from then onwards are characterized by the combination of folk dance rhythms with avant-garde techniques of the previous period. Harmonically, there is a combination of tonality (folk music) with atonality. Works marking this new trend including Homage to Sarasate and Homage to Casals.

In and out of his stylistic phases, Leonardo Balada's music promises rhythmic excitement, often haunting atmospheres and unceasingly innovative orchestrations.

Some of Balada's works have been recorded by Naxos Records.[4]

Works

Opera

  • Hangman, Hangman!, chamber opera (1982)
  • Zapata, opera (1984)
  • Christopher Columbus, opera (1986)
  • Death of Columbus, opera (1996)
  • The Town of Greed, chamber opera (1997) (sequel to Hangman, Hangman!)
  • Faust-bal, opera (2007)
  • Resurrection of Columbus, opera (2013)

Orchestral

  • Symphonies
    • Symphony No. 1 Sinfonia en Negro, a homage to Martin Luther King (1968)
    • Symphony No. 2 Cumbres, a short symphony for band (1972)
    • Symphony No. 3 Steel Symphony (1972)
    • Symphony No. 4 Lausanne (1992)
    • Symphony No. 5 American (2003)
    • Symphony No. 6 Symphony of Sorrows (2005)
  • Guernica (1966)
  • Homage to Sarasate (1975)
  • Homage to Casals (1975)
  • Sardana (1979)
  • Quasi un Pasodoble (1981)
  • Fantasias Sonoras (1987)
  • Zapata: Images for Orchestra (1987)
  • Columbus: Images for Orchestra (1991)
  • Divertimentos, for string orchestra (1991)
  • Celebracio (1992)
  • Folk Dreams (1994-8)
  • Passacaglia (2002)
  • Prague Sinfonietta (2003)

Concertante

  • Concerto for Bandoneon and Orchestra (1970)
  • Concertino for Castanets and Orchestra Three Anecdotes (1977)
  • Music for Oboe and Orchestra Lament from the Cradle of the Earth (1993)
Piano
  • Piano Concerto No. 1 (1964)
  • Piano Concerto No. 2 for piano, winds, and percussion (1974)
  • Piano Concerto No. 3 (1999)
Violin
  • Violin Concerto No. 1 (1982)
  • Caprichos No. 2 (2004)
  • Caprichos No. 3 (2005)
Viola
  • Viola Concerto for viola and wind ensemble (2010)
Cello
  • Cello Concerto No. 1 for cello and nine players (1962)
  • Cello Concerto No. 2 New Orleans (2001)
  • Concerto for Three Cellos and Orchestra A German Concerto (2006)
Flute
  • Morning Music for flute and orchestra (1994)
  • Music for Flute and Orchestra (2000)
Guitar
  • Guitar Concerto No. 1 (1965)
  • Sinfonia Concertante for Guitar and Orchestra Persistencies (1974)
  • Concerto for Four Guitars and Orchestra (1976)
  • Concierto Mágico for guitar and orchestra (1997)
  • Caprichos No. 1 (2003)

Vocal/choral

  • Maria Sabina (1969)
  • La Moradas (1970)
  • No-res (1974)
  • Ponce de Leon, for narrator and orchestra (1974)
  • Torquemada (1980)
  • Thunderous Scenes (1992)
  • Dionisio: In Memoriam (2001)
  • Ebony Fantasies, cantata (2003)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Wright, David (2007-2012). "Balada, Leonardo". In: Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, accessed 26 March 2012.(subscription required)
  2. "Balada, Leonardo" In: Kennedy, Michael (ed) The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed rev. Oxford Music Online, accessed March 26, 2012.(subscription required)
  3. Webber, Christopher (2007-2012). "Balada, Leonardo". In: Latham, Alison (ed). The Oxford Companion to Music. Oxford Music Online, accessed 26 March 2012.(subscription required)
  4. Leonardo Balada, Naxos Classical Music, naxos.com, accessed 27 March 2012.

External links

This page was last modified 09.04.2014 20:36:20

This article uses material from the article Leonardo Balada from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.