Alberto Ginastera
Alberto Ginastera was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on April 11, 1916. He was graduated with honors from the National Conservatory in his native city where, in 1953, he became professor. In 1946 he visited the United States remaining a year on a Guggenheim Fellowship. Ginastera’s music combines musical elements native to Argentina with modern techniques and idioms, and includes ballets, chamber music, a Pastoral Symphony and other works for orchestra, and pieces for the piano.
The Dances from the ballet, Estancia (1941) is among his most popular works. The ballet, choreography by George Balanchine, was first introduced by the Ballet Caravan. It describes life on an “estancia,” an Argentine ranch, tracing the activities of its principal character through a single day from dawn of one day to dawn of the next. The orchestral dances are rich in native melodies and rhythms, presenting the various dance sequences in “stylized version.” Two dances are especially popular: “Dance of the Wheat” and “Malambo.”