Leonardo Balada

Leonardo Balada (born September 22, 1933 in Barcelona, Catalonia), Spain, is a Spanish Catalan composer and naturalized American citizen.

Life

He graduated from Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu in Barcelona and in 1956 emigrated to the United States, where in 1960, he graduated from the Juilliard School in New York. He studied composition with Vincent Persichetti and Aaron Copland, and studied conducting with Igor Markevitch. In 1981, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Since 1970 he has been teaching at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Music

His works in the early 1960s are somewhat neo-classical in nature, but the composer was dissatisfied and in 1966 saw a change to an avant-garde style, producing such works like "Guernica". The composer felt a need for a change again in 1975, and the works from then onwards are characterized by the combination of folk dance rhythms with avant-garde techniques of the previous period. Harmonically, there is a combination of tonality (folk music) with atonality. Works marking this new trend including "Homage to Sarasate" and "Homage to Casals".

In and out of his stylistic phases, Leonardo Balada's music promises rhythmic excitement, often haunting atmospheres and unceasingly innovative orchestrations.

Balada's works have been extensively recorded by Naxos Records.

Works

Opera

*"Hangman, Hangman!", chamber opera (1982)
*"Zapata", opera (1984)
*"Christopher Columbus", opera (1986)
*"Death of Columbus", opera (1996)
*"The Town of Greed", chamber opera (1997) (sequel to "Hangman, Hangman!")
*"Faust-bal", opera (2007)

Orchestral

*Symphonies
**Symphony No. 1 "Sinfonia en Negro", a homage to Martin Luther King (1968)
**Symphony No. 2 "Cumbres", a short symphony for band (1972)
**Symphony No. 3 "Steel Symphony" (1972)
**Symphony No. 4 "Lausanne" (1992)
**Symphony No. 5 "American" (2003)
**Symphony No. 6 "Symphony of Sorrows" (2005)

*"Guernica" (1966)
*"Homage to Sarasate" (1975)
*"Homage to Casals" (1975)
*"Sardana" (1979)
*"Quasi un Pasodoble" (1981)
*"Fantasias Sonoras" (1987)
*"Zapata: Images for Orchestra" (1987)
*"Columbus: Images for Orchestra" (1991)
*"Divertimentos", for string orchestra (1991)
*"Celebracio" (1992)
*"Folk Dreams" (1994-8)
*"Passacaglia" (2002)
*"Prague Sinfonietta" (2003)

Concertante

*Piano
**Piano Concerto No. 1 (1964)
**Piano Concerto No. 2, for piano, winds, and percussion (1974)
**Piano Concerto No. 3 (1999)

*Violin
**Violin Concerto No. 1 (1982)
**Caprichos No. 2 (2004)
**Caprichos No. 3 (2005)

*Cello
**Cello Concerto No. 1, for cello and nine players (1962)
**Cello Concerto No. 2 "New Orleans" (2001)
**Concerto for Three Cellos and Orchestra "A German Concerto" (2006)

*Flute
**"Morning Music", for flute and orchestra (1994)
**Music for Flute and Orchestra (2000)

*Guitar
**Guitar Concerto No. 1 (1965)
**Sinfonia Concertante for Guitar and Orchestra "Persistencies" (1974)
**Concerto for Four Guitars and Orchestra (1976)
**"Concierto Magico", for guitar and orchestra (1997)
**Caprichos No. 1 (2003)

*Concerto for Bandoneon and Orchestra (1970)
*Concertino for Castanets and Orchestra "Three Anecdotes" (1977)
*Music for Oboe and Orchestra "Lament from the Cradle of the Earth" (1993)

Vocal/Choral

*"Maria Sabina" (1969)
*"La Moradas" (1970)
*"No-res" (1974)
*"Ponce de Leon", for narrator and orchestra (1974)
*"Torquemada" (1980)
*"Thunderous Scenes" (1992)
*"Dionisio: In Memoriam" (2001)
*"Ebony Fantasies", cantata (2003)

External links

* [http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/balada/index.htm Leonardo Balada's website with Carnegie Mellon University]
* [http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/default.asp?pn=Composers&char=B&ComposerID=1263 Short Biography of Leonardo Balada and list of Recordings of his work on the Naxos Records website]
* [http://artofthestates.org/cgi-bin/composer.pl?comp=143 Art of the States: Leonardo Balada]