WorldView Episode 66: Alberto Ginastera

Welcome back to WorldView! Episode sixty-six features three composers, two of which have been heard on this show before. Up first is a work by Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera (WorldView Episode 1), known both for his many orchestral works and his impressive list of famous pupils. 

Alberto Evaristo Ginastera was born in Buenos Aires in 1916, the son of Spanish and Italian parents. He began actively composing in the mid-1930s, while enrolled at the National Conservatoire of Music in his home town. In 1946, Ginastera traveled to the United States. He studied composition at the Tanglewood Music Center, instructed by American artist Aaron Copland. By the time that he returned to Argentina in 1947, he had begun to establish an international reputation as a composer of both orchestral and operatic works. 

During the period before and after his studies in the United States, Ginastera wrote some of his more well-known works, including “Danzas Argentina (1937)”, “Dances from Estancia (1943)”, and “Variaciones Concertantes (1953).” He also wrote three operas — “Don Rodrigo”, “Bomarzo”, and “Beatrix Cenci” — many of which are still widely performed today. Ginastera was soon considered to be one of the most important composer from the Americas of the 20th century, and amassed a large school of pupils and proteges. Among his students are Ástor Piazzolla and Jacqueline Nova, some of the most well-known South American composers of all time. 

In this episode, the Enso Quartet (made up of Maureen Nelson, Ken Hamao, Melissa Reardon, and Richard Belcher) perform Ginastera’s second String Quartet. The work was completed in 1958, and was originally premiered by the Juilliard String Quartet at the Inter-American Music Festival in Washington D.C. that year. 

WorldView Episode Sixty-Six Playlist:

Alberto GINASTERA, “String Quartet No. 2, Op. 26”, {Enso Quartet} - Naxos

Amy DUNKER, “Insider/Outsider”, {Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Robert Ian Winstin} - erm Media

Bright SHENG, “China Dreams”, {Hong Kong Philharmonic, Samuel Wong, Juliana Gondek (sop), Zhang Qiang (pip)} - Naxos

WorldView is a classical music radio show featuring composers from everywhere in the world - except Western Europe. Tune in to hear works by lesser-known artists such as Jennifer Higdon and Sergio Assad, and widen your knowledge of classical music. Hinke Younger hosts each week’s episode of WorldView on Mondays at 4AM, 9AM and 6PM (with rebroadcasts Saturdays at 2PM and 7PM) on Charlottesvilleclassical.org.