Leng, Alfonso (1894–1974)

Alfonso Leng (b. 11 February 1894; d. 11 November 1974), Chilean composer. Born in Santiago, Leng was largely a self-taught composer, he attended the conservatory in Santiago for less than a year (1905). Leng was a member of the Grupo de los diez (Group of the Ten), which had been formed by fellow composers Pró spero Bisquertt, García-Guerrero, Acario Cotapos, and Carlos Lavín, whose works introduced the concept of modernism into the Chilean cultural aesthetic. By about 1906 Leng had acquired his definitive style, as shown in such compositions as Preludio no. 2 (1906) and his five Doloras for piano (1901–1914). In 1921 he composed La muerte de Alsino, a symphonic poem. Leng's style was strongly connected with German late romanticism. He wrote a considerable number of works for voice and piano as well as choral works. He was awarded the National Art Prize in Music in 1957. A noted dentist, he wrote several major papers on odontology. He died in Santiago.

See alsoMusic: Art Music; Music: Popular Music and Dance.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Revista Musical Chilena (Leng issue), 98 (1966); Composers of the Americas, vol. 15 (1969), pp. 156-160.

John Vinton, ed., Dictionary of Contemporary Music (1974); New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 10 (1980).

Additional Bibliography

Ficher, Miguel, Martha Furman Schleifer, and John M. Furman. Latin American Classical Composers: A Biographical Dictionary. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 1996.

                                            Susana Salgado