Leo Brouwer

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Leo Brouwer

Background information
Birth name Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida
Born March 1, 1939 (1939-03-01) (age 69)
Flag of Cuba Havana, Cuba
Genre(s) Folkloric, Aleatoric, Atonal
Occupation(s) Composer,Classical guitarist, Conductor
Years active 1968-
Label(s) Egrem

Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida (born March 1, 1939) in Havana, is a Cuban composer, guitarist and conductor.

Contents

[edit] Biography

As a child, Brouwer received his initial stimulus from his father, a physician, who was an aficionado of Villa-Lobos, Tárrega and Granados. He initiated his son encouraging him to play these composers' works, mostly by ear.

Young Brouwer received his first formal guitar instruction from the noted Cuban guitar master Isaac Nicola[1] (1916-1998?), in turn a disciple of Emilio Pujol. Afterwards, Brouwer went to the United States to study music at the Hartt College of Music of the University of Hartford, and later at the Juilliard School, where he studied under Vincent Persichetti and took composition classes with Stefan Wolpe.

Brouwer's early works show the influence of Cuban folk music, but during the 1960s and 70s, he became interested in the music of modernist composers such as Luigi Nono and Iannis Xenakis, using indeterminacy in works such as Sonograma I. Other works from this period include the guitar pieces Canticum (1968), La espiral eterna (1971), Parábola (1973) and Tarantos (1974). More recently, Brouwer's works have started leaning towards tonality and modality. The solo guitar works El Decamerón Negro (1981) the Sonata (1990; for Julian Bream) and Paisaje cubano con campanas (1986) exemplify this tendency.

Brouwer has held a number of official posts in Cuba, including the directorship of the Cinema Institute of Cuba's music department. Among his works are a large number of solo guitar pieces, several guitar concertos and over forty film scores. Leo Brouwer is involved in the "Concurso y Festival Internacional de Guitarra de la Habana" (International Guitar Festival of the Havana). He travels freely to attend guitar festivals throughout the world, and especially to other latin American countries, where his presence is always welcome.

[edit] Guitar Concertos

  • Concierto para Guitarra (No. 1)
  • Concierto de Lieja (No.2) (1981)
  • "From yesterday to Penny Lane" for guitar and orchestra (1985)
  • Concierto Elegiaco (No. 3) (1986)
  • Concierto de Toronto (No. 4) (1987)
  • Concierto de Helsinki No. 5 (1991-2)
  • Concierto Omaggio a Paganini (1995) *
  • Concierto de Volos (No. 6) (1997)
  • Concierto No. 7 "La Habana" (1998)
  • Concierto No. 8 "Concierto Cantata de Perugia" (1999)
  • Concierto No. 9 "de Benicassim" (2002)
  • Concierto No. 10 "Book of Signs" (2003-4) **

* Double concerto for violin and guitar ** Double concerto for two guitars

[edit] Solo Guitar Works

  • Suite No. 2
  • Piezas sin títulos Nos. 1-3
  • Fuga No. 1
  • Two Popular Cuban Themes: Cancion de Cuna & Ojos Brujos
  • Two Popular Cuban Airs: Guajira Criolla & Zapateado
  • Danza del Altiplano
  • Variations on a Piazzolla Tango
  • Canción Triste
  • Preludio (1956)
  • Danza Característica "Quítate de la Acera" (1957)
  • Tres Apuntes (1959)
  • Elogio de la Danza (1964)
  • Un Dia de Noviembre (1968)
  • Canticum (1968)
  • La Espiral Eterna (1971)
  • Estudios Sencillos (Nos. 1-20) (1973)
  • Parábola (1973)
  • Tarantos (1974)
  • El Decamerón Negro (1981)
  • Preludios Epigramáticos (1981)
  • Variations on a Theme of Django Reinhardt (1984)
  • Paisaje Cubano con Campanas (1987)
  • Sonata (1990)
  • Rito de los Orishás (1993)
  • Paisaje Cubano con Tristeza (1996)
  • Hika: In Memoriam Toru Takemitsu (1996)
  • An Idea (Passacaglia for Eli) (1999)
  • Viaje a la Semilla (2000)
  • Nuevos Estudios Sencillos (Nos. 1-10) (2003)

[edit] Trivia

The sixth of his Etudes Simples was quoted by heavy metal guitarist Randy Rhoads (when he was working with Ozzy Osbourne) as the introduction to the song "Diary of a Madman". He composed the sound track music for the celebrated Mexican movie Como Agua Para Chocolate (1992)[2]. He composed the orchestral score for Vicente Amigo's flamenco album, Poeta.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Article on Isaac Nicola in the Spanish Wikipedia
  2. ^ IMDb movie credits - Leo Brouwer as author of Original Music

[edit] External links

Cuba portal

[edit] Recordings

[edit] Films

[edit] Videos

[edit] Articles

[edit] Interviews

[edit] Bibliography

  • Leo Brouwer by Isabelle Hernández. (Andante. Editora Musical de Cuba) ISBN 959-7153-01-7
  • Gajes del oficio by Leo Brouwer [2]

[edit] Biography

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Brouwer"
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