Orrego-Salas, Juan (Antonio)
Orrego-Salas, Juan (Antonio)
Orrego-Salas, Juan (Antonio), distinguished Chilean composer and musicologist; b. Santiago, Jan. 18, 1919. He studied composition at the National Cons. (1936-43) and architecture at the Catholic Univ. (graduated, 1943) in Santiago. In the meantime, he became a teacher of music history at the Univ. of Chile and in 1938 founder-conductor of the Catholic Univ. Chorus. After receiving a Rockefeller Foundation grant and a Guggenheim fellowship, he studied musicology with Lang and Herzog at Columbia Univ. (1944–45), and composition with Thompson at Princeton Univ. (1945-46) and Copland at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood (summer, 1946). Upon returning to Santiago in 1947, he became prof. of composition at the Univ. of Chile. He also resumed his post as conductor of the Catholic Univ. Chorus. In 1949 he became ed. of the Revista Musical Chilena and in 1950 music critic of the newspaper El Mercurio. In 1953 he was made Distinguished Prof, of composition at the Univ. of Chile. In 1954 he received a second Guggenheim fellowship and revisited the U.S. Upon returning to Santiago, he was director of the Instituto de Extension Musical until 1956. He then became the first director of the music dept. at the Catholic Univ. while continuing to teach at the Univ. of Chile. In 1961 he became a prof. at the Ind. Univ. School of Music in Bloomington, where he was founderdirector of its Latin American Music Center. From 1975 to 1980 he also was chairman of its composition dept. He retired as prof. emeritus in 1987. In addition to monographs on composers, Orrego-Salas publ. numerous articles in journals in the U.S., England, and Latin America. In 1956 and 1958 he won the Olga Cohen prize for composition. He was made a corresponding member of the Chilean Academy of Fine Arts in 1971. In 1988 the OAS awarded him the Inter- American Gabriela Mistral Cultural Prize. In 1992 the Chilean government honored him with the Premio Nacional de Arte. He was honored as Distinguished Prof, of the Catholic Univ. in Valparaiso, Chile, in 1999. As a composer, Orrego-Salas has revealed himself as a refined craftsman and an assured master of neo- Classical techniques.
Works
dramatic:Juventud, ballet (Santiago, Nov. 19, 1948; based on Handel’s Solomon); El Retablo del rey pobre, opera-oratorio (1950–52; first stage perf., Bloomington, Ind., Nov. 10, 1990); Umbral del sueno, ballet (Santiago, Aug. 8, 1951); La Veta del diablo, film score (1953); Caleta olvidada, film score (1959); The Tumbler’s Prayer, ballet (concert perf., Santiago, Nov. 1960; stage perf., Santiago, Oct. 1961); Versos de ciego, incidental music (Santiago, June 1961); Widows, opera (1987–90); The Goat That Couldn’t Sneeze, musical comedy (Bloomington, Ind., Oct. 25, 1992). orch.:Escenas de cortes y pastores, 7 symphonie scenes (1946; Santiago, May 16, 1947); Obertura festiva (Santiago, April 1948); 6 syms.: No. 1 (1949; Santiago, July 14, 1950), No. 2, to the memory of a wanderer (1954; Minneapolis, Feb. 17, 1956), No. 3 (Washington, D.C., April 22, 1961), No. 4, of the distant answer (1966; Bloomington, Ind., April 7, 1967), No. 5 (1995), and No. 6, semper reditus (1996); 2 piano concertos: No. 1 (Santiago, Nov. 24, 1950) and No. 2 (1985; Bloomington, Ind., Oct. 28, 1988); Concierto de cámara (Santiago, Nov. 28, 1952); Serenata concertante (1954; Louisville, May 14, 1955); Jubileaus musicus (Valparaíso, Chile, Dec. 15, 1956); Psalms for Wind Orch. (Pittsburgh, July 1962); Concerto a tre for Violin, Cello, Piano, and Orch. (1962; Washington, D.C., May 7, 1965); Concerto for Wind Orch. (1963–64; Pittsburgh, June 1964); Quattro liriche brevi for Saxophone and Chamber Orch. (1967; Washington, D.C., May 1, 1974; also for Alto Saxophone and Piano); Volte for Chamber Orch. (Rochester, N.Y., Dec. 11, 1971); Variaciones serenas for Strings (Santiago, Nov. 23, 1971); Concerto for Oboe and Strings (1980; Santiago, June 16, 1981); Violin Concerto (1983; Bloomington, Ind., Oct. 3, 1984); Riley’s Merriment, scherzo (Indianapolis, Oct. 7, 1986); Fantasia for Piano and Wind Orch. (1986; San Antonio, April 29, 1987); Fanfare for the tenth Pan American Games (1986–87; Indianapolis, June 27, 1987); Cello Concerto (1991–92; Bloomington, Ind., Feb. 5, 1995); Introduction and Allegro Concertante for Piano, 4-Hands and Chamber Orch. (1999) chamber: Violin Sonata (N.Y., April 1945); Sonata a duo for Violin and Viola (1945; Santiago, Aug. 1947); Bandoneon Suite (1952; Paris, June 2, 1953); Sextet for Clarinet, String Quartet, and Piano (1953; Tanglewood, Aug. 15, 1954); Duos concertantes“in memoriam Hans Kindler” for Cello and Piano (1955; Washington, D.C., Jan. 9, 1956); Pastorale y scherzo for Violin and Piano (1956; N.Y., April 1957); 2 divertimentos for Flute, Oboe, and Bassoon (Santiago, Aug. 23, 1956); 2 string quartets: No. 1 (1957; Washington, D.C., April 19, 1958) and No. 2 (1995); Concertino for Brass Quartet (Bloomington, Ind., Nov. 19, 1963); Sonata a quattro (Edgezvood Sonata) for Flute, Oboe, Harpsichord, and Contrabass (Washington, D.C., Oct. 31, 1964); 2 trios for Violin, Cello, and Piano: No. 1 (Caracas, May 12, 1966) and No. 2 (1977; N.Y., May 13, 1981); Quattro liriche brevi for Alto Saxophone and Piano (1967; London, Jan. 19, 1969; also for Saxophone and Chamber Orch.); Mobili for Viola and Piano (1967; Santiago, Nov. 1969); A Greeting Cadenza for Viola (1970; Bloomington, Ind., Nov. 1, 1971); Esquinas for Guitar (1971; Winona Lake, Ind., March 10, 1973); Serenata for Flute and Cello (Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 22, 1972); Sonata de estio for Flute and Piano (1972; Bloomington, Ind., Oct. 27, 1974); Presencias for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Harpsichord, Violin, Viola, and Cello (1972; Washington, D.C., May 5, 1977); De Profundis for Tuba and Cello Quartet (1979; N.Y., Jan. 5, 1981); Variations for a Quiet Man for Clarinet and Piano for Copland’s 80thbirthday (1980; Miami, Oct. 3, 1982); Tangos for 11 Players (Miami, Oct. 2, 1982); Balada for Cello and Piano (1982–83; Bloomington, Ind., Sept. 26, 1983); Glosas for Violin and Guitar (1984; Buenos Aires, April 9, 1985); Variations on a Chant for Harp (1984; Jerusalem, July 24, 1985); Gyrocantus for Flute, Clarinet, Percussion, Harpsichord or Celesta, Violin, and Cello (Santiago, Sept. 1987); Midsummer Diversions for Cello and Tuba (Bloomington, Ind., Sept. 27, 1987); Partita for Alto Saxophone and Piano Trio (1988); 3 Fanfares for Brass Quintet (Santiago, Nov. 1994); Encuentros for Piano and String Quartet (1997); Espacios for Cello and Piano (1998; Washington, D.C., Nov. 17, 1999). piano: 2 suites: No. 1 (N.Y., July 31, 1946) and No. 2 (Santiago, Aug. 1951); Variaciones y fuga sobre el tema de un pregón (Santiago, July 15, 1946); Diez piezas simples (1951; Santiago, Dee. 1, 1952); Canción y danza (1951); Rústica (1952; Santiago, Jan. 15, 1954); Sonata (Minneapolis, Nov. 18, 1967); Dialogues in Waltz for Piano, 4-Hands (1984); Rondo- Fantasia (Boulder, Colo., Oct. 16, 1984); Cantango for 2 Pianos (Bloomington, Ind., Nov. 4, 1999). vocal:Villancico for Chorus (1942; Santiago, June 9, 1947); Romance a lo divino for Chorus (1942; Washington, D.C., April 14, 1947); Let Down the Bars, Oh Death for Chorus (1945); Romances pastorales for Chorus (1945; Santiago, Sept. 28, 1950);Condones en très movimientos for Soprano and String Quartet (1945); Cantata de Navidad for Soprano and Orch. (Rochester, N.Y., Oct. 23, 1946); Romance a la muerte del Señor Don Gato for Men’s Voices (1946); Cánones y rondas for Children’s Chorus (1946); Canciones castellanas for Soprano and 8 Instrumentalists (Santiago, Dec. 12, 1948); Cànticos de Navidad for Women’s or Children’s Chorus (N.Y, Dec. 12, 1948); Cantos de Advenimiento for Woman’s Voice, Cello, and Piano (Santiago, June 26, 1948); El Alba del Alhelí, song cycle for Soprano and Piano (1950; Santiago, July 10, 1951); Garden Songs for Soprano, Flute, Viola, and Harp (1959; Santiago, Nov. 28, 1960); Alabanzas a la Virgen for Voice and Piano (1959; Valparaíso, Chile, Feb. 1960); Alboradas for Women’s Chorus, Harp, Piano, Timpani, and Percussion (Bloomington, Ind., March 17, 1965); América, no en vano invocamos tu nombre, cantata for Soprano, Baritone, Men’s Chorus, and Orch. (Ithaca, N.Y., May 10, 1966); Très madrigales for Chorus (Bloomington, Ind., Nov. 9, 1967); Missa “in tempore discordiae” for Tenor, Chorus, and Orch. (1968–69; Louisville, April 20, 1979); Palabras de Don Quijote for Baritone and Chamber Ensemble (Washington, D.C., Oct. 31, 1970); The Days of God, oratorio for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone, Chorus, and Orch. (1974–76; Washington, D.C., Nov. 2, 1976); Psalms for Baritone and Piano (Bloomington, Ind., Aug. 3, 1977); Un Canto a Bolivar, cantata for Men’s Voices and Folk Instruments (1980–81; Athens, Nov. 1981); Canciones en el estilo popular for Voice and Guitar (1981; Bloomington, Ind., Jan. 23, 1983); Bolívar for Narrator, Chorus, and Orch. (1981–82); Yo digo lo que no digo for Voices and Popular Instruments (1983); Biografía Mínima de Salvador Allende for Voice, ’Guitar, Trumpet, and Percussion (San Diego, Aug. 16, 1983); Cinco canciones a seis for Mezzo-soprano, 2 Violins, Clarinet, Cello, and Piano (Bloomington, Ind., Dec. 6, 1984); Ash Wednesday, 3 songs for Mezzo-soprano and String Orch. (1984); Saludo for Unison Voices (1988); Cancion de Cuna for Voice and Piano (1991); La Ciudad Celeste, cantata for Baritone, Chorus, and Orch. (1992); 3 Sacred Songs“in memoriam Alfonso Letelier” (1994–95); Canto a la Cordillera for Chorus and Orch. (1997–98).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire