Alberto Ginastera

Alberto Ginastera first came to international attention in 1940s with two ballet scores, Panambí and Estancia, employing nationalist style * From 1952 onwards combined folkloric elements with serial techniques and indeterminacy * Late 1950s and 60s saw series of major US premieres, including Piano Concerto No.1 (Washington), Violin Concerto (New York Philharmonic/Bernstein), Harp Concerto (Philadelphia Orchestra/Ormandy) and Don Rodrigo (New York City Opera) * In 1967 second opera Bomarzo was premiered in Washington, but Buenos Aires production was banned for political reasons and not staged until 1972 * Married cellist Aurora Natola in 1971 and left Argentina for new home in Geneva * Late works, in which folk influences are fully subsumed into a rich and multi-coloured modern idiom, include opera Beatrix Cenci, Glosses for orchestra, Piano Concerto No.2 and two cello concertos

Works by Alberto Ginastera include:
Dances from Estancia (1941) for orchestra
Variaciones concertantes (1953) for chamber orchestra
Bomarzo (1966-67) Opera in two acts
Popul Vuh [The Creation of the Maya World] (1975-83) for orchestra

"To compose, in my opinion, is to create an architecture... In music, this architecture unfolds in time... When time has past, when the work has unfolded, a sense of inner perfection survives in the spirit. Only then can one say that the composer has succeeded in creating that architecture." — Alberto Ginastera