Santoro, Claudio (1919–1989)

Claudio Santoro (b. 23 November 1919; d. 27 March 1989), Brazilian composer, conductor, violinist, and teacher. Santoro studied composition with Hans Joachim Koellreutter, a pupil of Paul Hindemith. Through his studies with Koellreutter, he was introduced to serial compositional techniques, which, according to Santoro, were the most significant single influence on the works he produced between 1939–1947. His Impressions of a Steel Mill (1943), an orchestral composition, won a competition sponsored by the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, and his First String Quartet won the Chamber Music Guild Award, Washington, D.C.

From 1950 to 1960 Santoro focused on national subjects for his compositions. The period after 1960 represents a return to serialism and the beginnings of electro-acoustical writing. In 1962 Santoro became director of the department of music of the University of Brasília, a post he held until 1964, when political changes in the government resulted in resignations at the university. Following his departure from Brasília, Santoro went to Germany, where he did research in Heidelberg on electronic music and experiments in aleatoric sketches combining painting and aleatoric sound.

Santoro returned to Brazil in 1978 as professor of composition at the University of Brasília. He founded the Orquestra Sinfônica do Teatro Nacional and worked tirelessly to establish a national center for theater. Santoro's final Symphony no. 14, first performed eight months after his death, is one of his best works.

See alsoMusic: Art Music; Musical Instruments.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1980).

David P. Appleby, The Music of Brazil (1983).

Additional Bibliography

Gandelman, Saloméa. 36 compositores brasileiros: Obras para piano (1950–1988). Rio de Janeiro: Ministério da Cultura, Funarte: Relume Dumará, 1997.

Mariz, Vasco. Cláudio Santoro. Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira, 1994.

                                       David P. Appleby