Alberto Ginastera was a renowned 20th century Argentine composer known for integrating Argentine folk themes into his classical compositions. He studied music in Buenos Aires and was a founding member of the Grupo Renovación that championed modernist styles. Ginastera composed in three stylistic periods - objective nationalism, subjective nationalism, and neo-expressionism - and is renowned for works like "La doma" and Variaciones Concertantes that featured folk dances like the malambo. His opera Bomarzo established him as a leading opera composer and featured microtonal scales.

1. Alberto
Ginastera
CJ., Bailey, Delilah

2. Background Information
Alberto Ginastera was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
to a Catalan father and Italian mother in 1916
Musically gifted as a child, Ginastera studied in
Buenos Aires at the Conservatorio Williams and the
National Conservatory
He is one of the most renowned composers of the 20th
century with a repertoire consisting of ballets, operas,
and concertos

3. The Renovation Movement
In 1929 a group of young composers founded the
Grupo Renocación (Renovation Group)
Key members included Juan José Castro, Juan Carlos
Paz, and Luis Gianneo
Championed dissonant, atonal music alongside
serialism. Employed Neo-classical techniques

4. Career
His first opera, Don Rodrigo (1964) was unsuccessful in Buenos Aires, but was
very successful when it debuted in New York
His chamber Opera, Bomarzo (1967) established him as a leading opera
composer of the 20th century
Won acclaims at the 1961 Interamerican Music festival
He has received a Guggenheim Award, an award given to those "who have
demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional
creative ability in the arts."

5. Genre
Genre: Classical
Ginastera notably often used microtones throughout his
compositions. Microtones are pitches that fall in-between the standard
scale of semitones (half-steps).

6. Microtones
In the western music sphere, music
that is not found in the traditional
western tuning, known as the twelve-
tone equal temperament, is called
“microtonal”. Essentially, a microtone
is a note that exists between the
notes produced by piano keys.
Theoretically, there is an infinite
amount of notes that exist between two
semitones, but music theorists have
divided semitones into one hundred
parts called “cents”. Humans typically
can differentiate tones that are about 5-
6 cents apart.

7. Genre
Genre: Classical
Ginastera featured folk guitar traditions and syncopated folk dance rhythms
with a development of the musical themes through: the vidala, a type of
vocal music found in Argentina and Bolivia; the baguala, a lyric song form
that comprises of three pitches found in Northern Argentina and Paraguay;
and andino cantos de caja, folk music originating from the Andes region.

8. Style
○ Often Integrates Argentine folk themes
in a straightforward fashion
○ He would construct original thematic
material, rhythmic patterns and
harmonic progressions that were
predicated on the rhythmic and
harmonic properties of actual Latin
folk music

9. Style
His compositions composed of unified musical styles to create a
harmonious musical expression. He would compose his music in 3
different periods:
○ Objective Nationalism (1934-1948)
○ Subjective Nationalism (1948-1958)
○ Neo-Expressionism (1958-1963)

10. Styles incorporated:
● Gato
● Bailecito
● Huella
● Malambo
● Milonga
● Tango

11. “La doma" (Horsebreaking), from Estancia
A piece from “objective nationalism” period
Date of Composition 1941
Genre: chamber orchestra
Style: Malambo
Famous Compositions

12. Variaciones Concertantes op.23
A central work during his era of “subjective nationalism” at
a time where he was forced to resign as director of the music
conservatory at the National University of La Plata due to
political conflicts.
Date of composition: 1953
Genre: chamber orchestra
Style: Malambo
Famous Compositions

13. "Bomarzo" op.23 (Act II: Scene XI The Garden of Eros)
The production was originally banned due to sexual content and was not performed
in Argentina until 1972
Date of composition: 1967
Genre: chamber orchestral/opera
Famous Compositions
“The main point of crisis in the opera is the Erotic Ballet, in which the Duke of Bomarzo
dreams and his nightmare foresees his Scaro Bosco—the garden of monsters, which he
creates at the end of his life. In death he becomes one with the statues. They are his
immortality.” -Alberto Ginastera

14. Works Cited
“Alberto Ginastera.” Alberto Ginastera - New World Encyclopedia,
www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Alberto_Ginastera.
“Alberto Ginastera: South American Musical Spokesman.” Musics of Latin America, by Robin Moore, Norton &
Company, 2012, pp. 313–317.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Alberto Ginastera". Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 Jun. 2020,
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alberto-Ginastera.
Ginastera, Alberto. “Bomarzo.” Boosey & Hawkes, boosey.com/cr/music/Alberto-Ginastera-Bomarzo/2132.

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