Juan Orrego-Salas

Juan Orrego-Salas – Founder and Director of the LAMC (1961-1987) Catalog / Discography / Bibliography / Writings on the composer and his work Juan Orrego-Salas is one of the most important figures in the history of contemporary Latin American music. He has contributed as a musician to diverse areas of music, especially as a composer and musicologist. He has worked extensively in both scholarly and administrative fields, serving as one of the founders of the Escuela Moderna de M�sica, creator and first director of the music department of the Universidad Cat�lica de Chile, and founder of the Latin American Music Center of Indiana University in the United States. Orrego-Salas was born in Santiago, Chile, in January 1919. He began his initial education and training as a musician in his native city, later studying and obtaining his diploma in architecture in 1943. By that time he had completed his undergraduate work in composition with Pedro Humberto Allende and Domingo Santa Cruz, and was teaching history and literature of music at the Universidad de Chile and conducting the Universidad Cat�lica de Chile, which he established in 1938. In 1944 he abandoned his work as an architect to dedicate his time fully to music. This period in his life started with a two year residence in the United States, first as a Rockefeller Foundation grantee and later as a Guggenheim Foundation Fellow. He studied composition with Aaron Copland in Tanglewood and at the universities of Virginia and Princeton with Randall Thompson, as well as musicology with Paul Henry Lang and Georg Herzog at Columbia University. In 1947 he returned to his home country as full music faculty professor of the Universidad de Chile and as choral conductor at the Universidad Cat�lica. In 1949 he traveled to Europe as a guest of the British Council and the French and Italian governments. On this tour he conducted the world premi?re performance of his Canciones castellanas, Op. 20, selected for the XXIII Festival of the International Society of Contemporary Music (ISCM) held in Palermo and Taormina, Sicily. Upon his return from Europe he accepted the editorship of the Revista Musical Chilena and in 1950 became the music critic of El mercurio, Chile’s leading morning paper. An uninterrupted dedication to composition resulted in continuous performances of his works in Chile and abroad; he received many commissions to write compositions for orchestra and a variety of chamber ensembles. In 1953 the Universidad de Chile conferred upon him the title of Profesor Extraordinario (Distinguished Professor) of composition, and the following year he returned to the United States and spent a year composing in New York, making use of a second Guggenheim Fellowship. He then returned to Chile to become the director of the Instituto de Extensi�n Musical, the organization under whose leadership the Orquesta Sinf�nica de Chile, the Ballet Nacional Chileno, and a number of choral and chamber ensembles operated. After two years in this position he resigned to become the founder and first director of the Departamento de M�sica (now Instituto de M�sica) of the Universidad Cat�lica in Santiago. He remained in this position until 1961 and after a twenty year career as a member of the music faculty of the Universidad de Chile, he was granted a partial retirement and returned to the United States, this time to establish and direct the Latin American Music Center and teach composition at the School of Music of Indiana University, in Bloomington. After serving twenty-seven years at Indiana University, including a period between 1975 and 1980 as chairman of the composition department, he retired in 1987 as ?Professor Emeritus.? As a composer he was on four occasions the winner of prizes in the Festivales de M�sica Chilena (1948, 1950, 1952, 1998) and twice recipient of the Olga Cohen Prize (1956, 1958) in his home country. He was granted the title of Doctor ?Honoris Causa? by the Universidad Cat�lica (1971) and named Corresponding Member of the Chilean Academy of Fine Arts and Distinguish Professor by the Pontificia Universidad Cat�lica of Valparaiso, Chile (1999). In 1992 he received the Premio Nacional, the highest recognition conferred by the Chilean Government to its artists, writers, scientists, and historians. In the international realm the Organization of American States in Washington D.C. granted him in 1988 the Premio Interamericano de Cultura Gabriela Mistral. One of his frequent returns to Chile was in November 2005 to attend the presentation of his book Encuentros, visions y repasos: Cap�tulos en el camino de mi m�sica y mi vida, in part memoirs and a chronicle of his thoughts and ideas on music in general as well as reflections on his own work as a creator. He then attended a concert of two of his major works by the Orquesta Sinf�nica de Chile conducted by his son Juan Felipe Orrego. Orrego-Salas received commissions from the Koussevitzky, Coolidge, Kindler, Wechsler, Riley, and Stieren foundations; the Lousville Orchestra and the National Symphony of Washington. D.C.; Cornell, Miami, Trinity, and Santa Mar�a universities; the National Endowment for the Arts and the Inter-American Music Council in the United States; the Frei Foundation and the Colegio de Arquitectos in Chile, and numerous chamber music ensembles, soloists, and individuals. As a teacher and lecturer he appeared in many universities, colleges, and cultural institutes in Chile and the United States, as well as in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, France, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela, and the former Yugoslavia, and he participated in several international meetings.

Titles:

• – Variations for a Quiet Man Op. 79
• – Sonata de Estio, op. 71
• – Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, Op. 104
• 1945/1971 – Sonata a duo, Op. 11
• 1946 – Escenas de Cortes y Pastores, Op. 19: Seven Symphonic Scenes
• 1946 – Romance a Lo Divino, Op. 7
• 1946 – Cantata de Navidad, Op. 13
• 1948 – Cantos de Advenimiento, Op. 25 for Mezzo-Soprano, Cello and Piano
• 1949 – Symphony No. 1, Op. 26
• 1950 – Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 28
• 1951 – Umbral Del Sueno, Op. 30
• 1952 – Concierto de Camara, Op. 34
• 1954 – Serenata Concertante, Op. 40
• 1954 – Symphony No. 2, Op. 39
• 1956 – Jubilaeus Musicus, Op. 45
• 1960 – The Tumbler’s Prayer, Op. 48
• 1961 – Symphony No. 3, Op. 50
• 1962 – Concerto a Tre, Op. 52
• 1965 – Alboradas, Op. 56 for SSA Chorus, Harp, Piano and Three Percussion
• 1966 – Symphony No. 4, Op. 59: Of the Distant Answer
• 1966 – America, No en Vano Invocamos Tu Nombre, Op. 57
• 1967 – Three Madrigals, Op. 62
• 1967 – Moca Tan Fermosa from Three Madrigals, Op. 62
• 1967 – Pidiole a Narciso from Three Madrigals, Op. 62
• 1967 – Amarilis from Three Madrigals, Op. 62
• 1969 – Missa, Op. 64 (Mass “In Tempore Discordiae”)
• 1971 – Palabras de Don Quijote, Op. 66 for Baritone Voice and Piano
• 1971 – Variaciones Serenas, Op. 69
• 1971 – Volte, Op. 67
• 1971 – Palabras de Don Quijote, Op. 66 for Baritone and Chamber Ensemble
• 1972 – Presencias, Op. 72
• 1972 – Serenata, Op. 70 for Flute and Cello
• 1976 – The Days of God, Op. 73
• 1977 – Trio No. 2, Op. 75
• 1977 – Psalms, Op. 74
• 1978 – Romances Pastorales, Op. 10
• 1978 – De Los Montes Vengo from Romances Pastorales, Op. 10
• 1978 – Las Flores Del Romero from Romances Pastorales, Op. 10
• 1978 – El Retablo del Rey Pobre (The Dawn of the Poor King)
• 1978 – En Un Pastoral Albergue from Romances Pastorales, Op. 10
• 1979 – De Profundis for Tuba and Four Cellos
• 1980 – Concerto for Oboe and String Orchestra, Op. 77
• 1981 – Canciones in Popular Style, Op. 80 for Soprano and Guitar (2 performance scores)
• 1982 – Tangos, Op. 82
• 1982 – Bolivar, Op. 81
• 1983 – Violin Concerto, Op. 86
• 1984 – POP see x816505 Cinco Canciones a Seis, Op. 87
• 1984 – Balada, Op. 84
• 1984 – Cinco Canciones a Seis, Op. 87 for Mezzo-Soprano, Clarinet, Two Violins, Cello, and Piano
• 1984 – A Greeting Cadenza for William Primrose, Op. 65
• 1984 – Ash Wednesday, Op. 88
• 1984 – Rondo – Fantasia, Op. 90
• 1984 – Glosas, Op. 91 for Violin and Guitar
• 1984 – Cinco Canciones a Seis, Op. 87 for Mezzo-Soprano and Mixed Quintet
• 1985 – Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 93
• 1986 – Variations on a Chant Op. 92
• 1986 – Fantasia for Piano and Wind Orchestra, Op. 95
• 1986 – Riley’s Merriment, Op. 94
• 1987 – Fanfare for Large Orchestra, Op. 97
• 1987 – Midsummer Diversions for Cello and Tuba
• 1987 – Gyrocantus, Op. 98
• 1987 – POP see x662806 Gyrocantus, Op. 98
• 1988 – Partita, Op. 100 for Alto Saxophone and Piano Trio
• 1990 – Widows (Viudas)
• 1990 – Widows (Viudas), Op. 101
• 1991 – Diferencias del Retablo
• 1992 – La Ciudad Celeste (The Celestial City), Op. 105
• 1994 – Three Fanfares, Op. 107 (Tres Fanfarrias)
• 1995 – String Quartet No. 2, Op. 110
• 1995 – Three Canticos Sagrados, Op. 108: Three Sacred Songs for SATB Chorus and Chamber Ensemble
• 1995 – Symphony No. 5, Op. 109
• 1996 – Symphony No. 6, Op. 112 “Semper Reditus”
• 1997 – Encuentros Op. 114
• 1998 – Cantango, Op. 116
• 1998 – Espacios, Op. 115: A Rhapsody for Cello and Piano
• 1999 – Introduccion y Allegro Concertante, Op. 117
• 2000 – Toccata ed Arioso, Op. 118
• 2000 – Fantasias, Op. 119
• 2001 – Secuencias, Op. 120 for Alto Saxophone and Percussion
• 2001 – Concerto Grosso, Op. 122
• 2001/ 2004 – Turns and Returns (Vueltas y Revueltas), Op. 121
• 2003 – String Quartet No. 4, Op. 125
• 2003 – String Quartet No. 3, Op. 124
• 2003 – Movimiento Concertante, Op. 123 for Alto Saxophone and String Quartet