Alberto Williams

Alberto Williams was born in Buenos Aires, on Nov 23 1862, Alberto death was in Buenos Aires, June 17 1952.Alberto Williams was a Argentine composer, conductor, pianist and teacher. Alberto started composing at an early age because his family were musicians. Alberto first started his lessons with Pedro beck later on in the school of musica dela provincia he studied with Luis bernasconi who taught piano, Nicolas bassi who taught harmony and Benjamin godard who taught instrumentals ensemble. in 1879 Alberto Williams had his first public performance at the Sociedad del Cuarteto concert organized by Bernasconi. in1881 he published his first work, the mazurka Ensueño de juventud.Alberto won A scholarship that took him to the Paris Conservatoire in 1882.while In Paris albertos piano works where published such as the Souvenir d’enfance op.2 and mazurca op.3 . in 1889 Alberto went back to Argentina to do recitals and he exposed himself to folk music until he learned how to combine them into compositions.Alberto was one of the first composers to use folk music in symphonies.there were a couple of concerts he founded and conducted, which are the athenaeum Concerts which was in 1894, the National Library Concerts which was in1902, the Popular Concerts and the Buenos Aires Conservatory Concerts.Alberto Williams was also interested in music education, he was interested in the progress of teaching methods he learned in Europe.Alberto went back to Europe to conduct the Berlin concert,while in Paris in 1930 Alberto had three concerts of his music .1910 through 1933 Alberto had produced six of nine symphonies.


discography





Sources:
Susana Salgado. "Williams, Alberto." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 10 Mar. 2012 <http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/30339 >.




''Orch: Primera obertura de concierto, 1889; 9 syms., 1907, 1910, 1911, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1937, 1938, 1939; 5 danzas argentinas-milongas, 1912; Primera suite argentina, str, 1923; Las milongas de la orquesta, 1938; Poema del Iguazú, 1943; Aires de la pampa, 1944; 11 other works Chbr: 3 sonatas, vn, pf, 1905, 1906, 1907; Sonata, vc, pf, 1906; Pf Trio no.1, 1907; 4 other works Pf: El rancho abandonado, 1890; Primera sonata argentina, 1917; 100 other works Vocal: 15 choral works, 75 songs 19 essays; many textbooks on music, piano technique, solfège; musical editions''

Osvaldo Fresedo

Osvaldo Fresedo was born in 1897. He was nicknamed El pibe de La Paternal ("the kid from La Paternal". As a teenager he learned to play the bandoneón and joined several orchestras. He traveled to the United Stated in 1920 and recorded a couple of albums with a quartet. Once back in Argentina we worked as a composer and conductor. He formed his first orchestra which showed his trademark style; they displayed true elegance. Fresedo was one of the innovators of tango in the early 1920s. He had a certain level of technique and was able to bring a more refined musical style which was later known as the tango of the Guardia Nueva ("New Guard").Some of his other earlier works also include "El espiante" ("The Rejected One"), to which he now added "Vida mía" ("My Life"), "El Once" (the name of a neighborhood of Buenos Aires), and "Pimienta" ("Pepper"). Between 1925 and 1928, Fresedo recorded about 600 pieces for the Odeón label.

During the 1930s he left his label Odeón to front a larger orchestra and began using a new orchestral style and a new singer named Robert Ray. The Fresedo-Ray recordings are among the most memorable in the history of tango: "Vida Mia", ""Como una princesa" ("Like a Princess"), "Isla de Capri" ("Isle of Capri") is some of the works done together.

The 1940s brought a new generation of musicians and new musical styles. . Fresedo attempted to adapt to these new times’ however his work at this time didn’t compare to his previous works. He continued to record during the 1940s and 1950s. He moved to Columbia records in 1959 and became of the first artists to record in stereo. He continued to lead orchestras until he retired in 1980. He had the longest recording career in tango from 1925 to 1980. He died in 1984.

Link to discography

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osvaldo_Fresedo

Alberto Ginastera

Alberto Ginastera was born in 1916 to parents of Catalan and Italian descent. He showed a early talent for music and began formal training at age 7. He graduated from Williams Conservatory in 1935 with a gold medal in composition. He following year he entered the National Conservatory. He received the Professor's Diploma for his Psalm cl.

In 1939 he premiered his first ballet titled Panambíi. A year later the director of the American Ballet Caravan, Lincoln Kirstein commissioned a second choreographic work called Estancia. The troupe disbanded in 1942; however Ginastera extracted an orchestral suite from its score. It premiered in 1943 and was received warmly. This and other works contributed to his growing popularity as one of the most t musically moving composers associated with the nationalist movement.
In 1941 he began teaching at the National Conservatory and the San Martín National Military Academy. He also married that year. He remained stable in Argentina until 1945. He signed a petition in support of civil liberties the Peronist regime forced his resignation from the National Military Academy. He previously received a Guggenheim grant which he postponed and used it to travel to the USA with his family. He stayed from 1945 until 1947. While in the U.S he visited Juilliard, Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Eastman music schools.

In 1948 he played an influential role in founding the Argentine section of the International Society of Contemporary Music (ISCM). , He also organized and became director of the conservatory of music and theatre arts at the National University of La Plata. Unfortunately he faced difficulties with the Perón government and in 1952 he was forced to resign his directorship at La Plata. He didn’t regain his post until 1956. This was the year after Perón's defeat. Despite difficulties during those years, his creative production thrived, and he produced three splendid works, the Piano Sonata no.1 (1952), Variaciones concertantes (1953) and Pampeana no.3 (1954). These earned him great recognition.

He became a full professor at La Plata in 1958, but resigned later that year. He was asked to organize and direct the faculty at the Catholic University of Argentina. There he served as dean until 1963. In 1958 he composed the String Quartet no.2. He combined a brilliant comination styles and techniques he used earlier with early incursions into serialism. At its première by the Juilliard String Quartet it was hailed as the zenith of the First Inter-American Music Festival. From this moment on his international reputation was guarenteed. . Brilliant first performances of his Piano Concerto no.1 and Cantata para América mágica at the Second Inter-American Music Festival fused his artistic status. He now composed almost exclusively by commission.

In 1969 he seperated from his wife which began a troubled period in his professional life. He was unable to focus on this work he was overwhealmed and distracted. Fortunately he met Argentine cellist Aurora Nátola which helped respark his creativity. In 1971 they married.
During his last 12 years he composed phenomenal works. One work in particular is called Turbae ad passionem gregorianam (1974). He was awarded the grand prize of the Argentine National Endowment for the Arts in 1971 and the UNESCO International Music Council music prize in 1981. He died in 1983 in Switzerland.

His music was in a nationalistic idiom up to about 1958 when he adopted more advanced procedures including serialism microtones, and aleatory rhythms.

Link to discography

 






Sources:
"Ginastera, Alberto." The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed. rev. Ed. Michael Kennedy. Oxford Music Online. 8 Mar. 2012< http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e4275>.


Deborah Schwartz-Kates. "Ginastera, Alberto." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 8 Mar. 2012 <http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/11159>.

Carlos Gardel

Carlos Gardel was born in Toulouse, France  on December 11, 1890.  He was a singer, songwriter and actor.  He is also one of the most noticeable artists in the history of Tango music.  He formed a duo in 1911 with Uruguayan singer José Razzano, which lasted about 14 years. He popularized sung tango; before this time tango songs were played by bands and weren’t sung to.   In 1917 he recorded his first tango song called Mi Noche Triste. During the 1920's he established himself as Argentina's leading tango singer.  During his career he recorded over 900 songs and appeared in several classic films.  Some of his better known compositions include Mi Buenos Aires querido, Por una cabeza, El día que me quieras, Volver, and Silencio.  He was killed in a plane crash in 1935.  He came to symbolize the “fulfillment of Dreams" of Argentine's porteño people.  Singer Libertad Lamargue describes Gardel as ‘the tango made flesh’.
Link to discragraphy

Source:
   Cliff Eisen. "Gardel, Carlos." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 8 Mar. 2012 <http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/45191>.