Halffter, Rodolfo (1900–1987)

views updated

Halffter, Rodolfo (1900–1987)

Rodolfo Halffter (b. 20 October 1900; d. 14 October 1987), Spanish composer. Mainly self-taught, Halffter in 1929 sought advice from the eminent composer Manuel de Falla with whose spare, neoclassic style his music is frequently compared. He gained recognition in Europe in the mid-1930s but moved to Mexico in 1939. A permanent resident and citizen of Mexico from 1940, he held posts as professor at the National Conservatory (from 1940) and director of the composers' cooperative publishing firm, Ediciones Mexicanas de Música (from 1946). In 1969 Halffter was inducted into the Mexican Academy of Arts. He wrote some twelve-tone serial music, the first in Mexico, but his style retained its characteristic clarity and melodiousness with tinges of dissonance and without any Mexican influences. His students include Héctor Quintanar and Eduardo Mata.

See alsoMusic: Art Music .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dan Malmström, Twentieth-Century Mexican Music (1974).

Gérard Béhague, Music in Latin America: An Introduction (1979).

Additional Bibliography

Alvarez Coral, Juan. Compositores mexicanos. México: EDAMEX, 1993.

Ito, Misa. "The Piano Works of Rodolfo Halffter (1900–87)." Ph.D. diss., University of Cincinnati, 1999.

                                        Robert L. Parker