Luis de Pablo | |
|---|---|
 De Pablo in 2008 | |
| Born | (1930-01-28)28 January 1930 |
| Died | 10 October 2021(2021-10-10) (aged 91) Madrid, Spain |
| Other names | Luis de Pablo Costales |
| Occupations |
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| Organizations |
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| Awards | Premio Nacional de Música |
Luis de Pablo Costales (28 January 1930 – 10 October 2021) was a Spanish composer belonging to the generation thatCristóbal Halffter namedtheGeneración del 51. Mostly self-taught as a composer and influenced byMaurice Ohana andMax Deutsch, he co-founded ensembles for contemporary music, and organised concert series for it in Madrid. He published translations of notable texts about composers of theSecond Viennese School, such asHans Heinz Stuckenschmidt's biography ofArnold Schoenberg and the publications ofAnton Webern. He wrote music in many genres, including film scores such as Erice'sThe Spirit of the Beehive, and operas includingLa señorita Cristina. He taught composition not only in Spain, but also in the U.S. and Canada. Among his awards is thePremio Nacional de Música.
Luis de Pablo was born inBilbao.[1] After losing his father in theSpanish Civil War, he went with his mother and siblings to live in Madrid from age six. Although he started to compose at the age of 12, his circumstances made it impossible to consider an artistic career,[2] and so he studied law at theComplutense University of Madrid.[3] For a short time after graduating in 1952, he was employed as legal advisor toIberia Airlines, but soon resigned this post in order to pursue a career in music.[1][2] As a composer, he was essentially anautodidact.[3] He travelled to theDarmstädter Ferienkurse in the 1960s, where he metPierre Boulez,György Ligeti,Bruno Maderna andKarlheinz Stockhausen. In Paris, he studied withMax Deutsch[1] andMaurice Ohana.[3] His participation at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse in 1959 led to the performance of some of his works underBoulez andMaderna.[2]
De Pablo andCristóbal Halffter are regarded as key members of a group calledGeneración del 51, formed by young composers at the time they finished their studies, with a mission to connect music in Spain to musical developments in Europe after the Civil War. De Pablo adaptedatonalism,serialism,aleatory forms, use ofelectronics andgraphic notation. In 1958, he co-founded the group Grupo Nueva Musica, and in 1959, Tiempo y Musica.[4] He organised several contemporary music concert series, for example the Forum Musical and Bienal de Música Contemporánea de Madrid. He was particularly concerned with promoting appreciation in Spain of theSecond Viennese School, publishing translations ofHans Heinz Stuckenschmidt's biography ofArnold Schoenberg in 1961, and texts byAnton Webern in 1963.[1][2] In 1965, he founded the first studio for electronic music in Spain, with the group Alea.[5] He founded a festival,Rencontres de Pampelune, for music, theatre, film and the arts in 1972. He was accused of giving too much prominence to "left-wing art" by theFranco regime, but also of being a supporter of that regime byETA. When one of the festival's patrons was kidnapped by ETA, the event was cancelled, and De Pablo went into exile in the U.S. and Canada, returning only after Franco's death.[1]
De Pablo composed film scores, collaborating with directors such asVíctor Erice (The Spirit of the Beehive) andCarlos Saura (The Hunt).[3] His operaKiu is based onAlfonso Vallejo's farceZero Temperature.[3] The world premiere of his operaLa señorita Cristina (Miss Cristina), based on a novel byMircea Eliade, with a stage design byJosé Hernández, took place in 2001 at theTeatro Real in Madrid.[6]
De Pablo began teaching at theMadrid Conservatory in 1971.[5] In exile, he lectured at theUniversity at Buffalo, and later at theUniversity of Ottawa and theUniversity of Montreal.[1] He resumed teaching in Spain upon his return.[4] De Pablo was awarded Spain'sPremio Nacional de Música for composition in 1991, among many other awards.[3]
De Pablo died in Madrid on 10 October 2021, aged 91.[7]
Luis de Pablo Costales has more than 143 works among which are:[5][8]
Chamber music
'Choral music
Orchestral music
Operas
Film music
Recordings by de Pablo include:[9]
De Pablo received awards including:[3][1]
