Alberto Ginastera

Alberto Ginastera was born in Buenos Aires in 1916.

During his second stylistic period, Ginastera elaborated abstract musical forms with complete technical mastery. In his String Quartet no. 1 and Piano Sonata no. 1 he evolved specific musical prototypes for each movement, the possibilities of which he explored throughout his career. A work generally opened with a bithematic sonata movement whose initial motivic cells generated melodic, harmonic and formal processes. He cast his second movements into mysterious scherzos that echoed sublimated malambo rhythms using evanescent pianissimo effects. He balanced the chromatic intensity of his expressive third movements with diatonic malambo finales which achieved an unprecedented vigour through their increasing use of irregular beat patterns and changing metres.

The composers of the Second Viennese School provided important models for his adaptation of dodecaphony during his third stylistic period. His Cantata para América mágica (1960), for soprano and 53 percussion instruments, reveals the influence of Webern. Its fourth movement is palindromic, repeating its materials in retrograde after arriving at a central 12-note cluster. It uses a symmetrical series reminiscent of Webern, with its second hexachord a transposed retrograde of the first. Tritones and minor 2nds dominate the row, with the latter most often transcribed as major 7ths or minor 9ths, resulting in a pointillist sonic effect. Ginastera's free use of the series, his preference for multiple 12-note rows and his predilection for opera, however, reveal his affinity with Berg. Schönberg also influenced Ginastera's stylistic development, in his use of Klangfarbenmelodie in Milena (1971) and String Quartet no.3 (1973), and in his addition of a soprano to the latter ensemble, specifically recalling Schönberg's String Quartet no. 2. In general, Expressionism dominated his æsthetic outlook of the period, while he enhanced its intensity with microtones, clusters, indeterminacy, polymetre and unusual sound effects.

His Piano Quintet opus 29 appeared in 1963.

There are seven movements:

I. Introduction
II. Cadenza I for viola and cello
III. Scherzo fantastico
IV. Cadenza II for two violins
V. Piccola musica notturna
VI. Cadenza III for piano
VII. Finale

The performers were:

Lim Yan, piano
Foo Say Ming, violin
Lim Shue Churn, violin
Chan Yoong Han, viola
Chan Wei Shing, cello