Alejandro Viñao (1951- )
Alejandro
Viñao was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He studied composition with the Russian composer Jacobo Ficher in
Buenos Aires. In 1975 he moved to Britain where he continued his
studies at the Royal College of Music and the City University in
London. He has been resident in Britain since then. In 1988 he was
awarded a PhD. D. in composition at the City University. Viñao has
received a number of international prizes and awards including the
Golden Nica Prix Ars Electronica (1992), 1st Prize at The
International Rostrum at the Unesco World Music Council (1984) and many
others. Viñao's music has been played and broadcast world-wide and
has been featured in international festivals such as the Tanglewood
Festival, the Warsaw Autumn Festival and the London PROMS. He has
received commissions from various performing groups and institutions
around the world such as IRCAM and GRM in France, MIT in the
USA and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. During the 80’s Viñao worked at
IRCAM at regular intervals and in 1987 he was composer in residence at
MIT in the U.S.A. In 1994 Viñao was awarded a Guggenheim
fellowship in composition. His piece Apocryphal Dances was premiered by
the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London in 1997. The same year Viñao was
invited to Japan to present his music in a Portrait Concert. Later that
year, his chamber opera Rashomon was premiered in Germany. It has since been produced in Paris, London and
Gothenburg. Following the success of his choral work Epitafios, Viñao
was commissioned to compose a new piece La Trama
for mixed choir and computer by
the German Sudwestrundfunk. Viñao's music is
characterised by the use of pulsed rhythmic structures to create large
scale form, and by a melodic writing which -as in the case of much
non-European music- develops through rhythm rather than harmony.
He has written music for a wide range of musical genre including
opera,
music-theatre, choral, instrumental and electro-acoustic compositions.
He's also been involved in the creation of multimedia works, has
composed music for some 20 films and produced several radio programmes
for the BBC. In recent years Viñao has written a variety of percussion
works which are rapidly becoming standard repertoire in the concert
hall and in the pedagogical world of the conservatory and the
university. His latest music-theatre work The Baghdad Monologue has
been performed in Germany, France, Britain, Sweden, Portugal and
Norway, and a new production by Theatre Cryptic will be touring
Sctotland in 2009 and Mexico and Argentina in 2010 and 2011.COMPOSITIONS Viñao Links ~ ~ ~ Works by Genre
Una Orquesta Imaginaria, 4 channel electroacoustic composition (1979)
Go, 8 channel electroacoustic composition (1981)
Hendrix Haze, 4 channel electroacoustic composition (1983)
Triple Concerto, flute, cello, piano and computer (1984)
Toccata del Mago, 8 strings (4 vln, 2 va, cello, doublebass) and computer (1986/87)
Son Entero, 4 singers (S, A , T, B ) and computer (1985/88)
Tumblers, violin, marimba and computer (1989)
Algebra on Fire, 19 players and computer (1988/91)
Chant d'Ailleurs, soprano and computer (1991)
Borges y El Espejo, soprano and computer (1992)
Marimba Concerto, marimba and chamber orchestra (1993)
Hildegard's Dream, soprano and computer (1994)
Phrase & Fiction, string quartet and computer (1994/95)
Apocryphal Dances, orchestra and computer (1996/97)
Epitafio para Borges, chorus (1998)
Rashomon: the opera, 5 singers, chorus and computer (1995/99)
- Masago's Confession, soprano and computer (1996) [from "Rashomon: the Opera"]
Epitafios, chorus and computer (1999)
Cuaderno del ritmo, fl, cl, str qt, db, pf and perc (2000/01)
Khan Variations, marimba (2001)
La Trama, chorus and computer (2002/03)
The World We Know, electroacoustic composition in 5.1 format (2003)
Estudios de Frontera, 5 or 6 percussion players (2004)
Colisión y momento, fl, cl, str qt and piano, with or without conductor (2002/05)
Have I Spoken Out of Turn?, electroacoustic 5.1 composition (2005)
Riff, marimba and piano (2006)
Arabesco Infinto, vibraphone and marimba (2006)
The Baghdad Monologue, music theatre piece, soprano and computer (2007)
Conversation Is Not Compulsory, electroacoustic 5.1 composition (2008)
Formas del Viento, flute and 1 percussion player (vibraphone and marimba played by one player) (2008, version 1)
Formas del Viento, flute and 2 percussion players (vibraphone and marimba played by 2 players) (2009, version 2)
What I Am Trying to Say, electroacoustic 5.1 composition (2009)
Chicos del 21, soprano and electronics (2009/2010)
WORKS BY GENRE Viñao Links ~ top of page ~
Dramatic/Theater
Rashomon: the opera, 5 singers, chorus and computer (1995/99)
The Baghdad Monologue, music theatre piece, soprano and computer (2007)
Orchestra
Apocryphal Dances, orchestra and computer (1996/97)
Soloist(s) w/Orchestra
Marimba Concerto, marimba and chamber orchestra (1993)
Chorus w/Orchestra
Choral
Epitafio para Borges, chorus (1998)
Epitafios, chorus and computer (1999)
La Trama, chorus and computer (2002/03)
Chamber
Triple Concerto, flute, cello, piano and computer (1984)
Toccata del Mago, 8 strings (4 vln, 2 va, cello, doublebass) and computer (1986/87)
Son Entero, 4 singers (S, A , T, B ) and computer (1985/88)
Tumblers, violin, marimba and computer (1989)
Algebra on Fire, 19 players and computer (1988/91)
Phrase & Fiction, string quartet and computer (1994/95)
Cuaderno del ritmo, fl, cl, str qt, db, pf and perc (2000/01)
Colisión y momento, fl, cl, str qt and piano, with or without conductor (2002/05)
Riff, marimba and piano (2006)
Formas del Viento, flute and 1 percussion player (vibraphone and marimba played by one player) (2008, version 1)
Formas del Viento, flute and 2 percussion players (vibraphone and marimba played by 2 players) (2009, version 2)
Percussion
Estudios de Frontera, 5 or 6 percussion players (2004)
Arabesco Infinto, vibraphone and marimba (2006)
Solo Instrument
Khan Variations, marimba (2001)
Vocal
Chant d'Ailleurs, soprano and computer (1991)
Borges y El Espejo, soprano and computer (1992)
Hildegard's Dream, soprano and computer (1994)
Masago's Confession, soprano and computer (1996) [from "Rashomon: the Opera"]
Chicos del 21, soprano and electronics (2009/2010)
Electronic
Una Orquesta Imaginaria, 4 channel electroacoustic composition (1979)
Go, 8 channel electroacoustic composition (1981)
Hendrix Haze, 4 channel electroacoustic composition (1983)
The World We Know, electroacoustic composition in 5.1 format (2003)
Have I Spoken Out of Turn?, electroacoustic 5.1 composition (2005)
Conversation Is Not Compulsory, electroacoustic 5.1 composition (2008)
What I Am Trying to Say, electroacoustic 5.1 composition (2009)
VINAO LINKS Works by Genre ~ top of page ~
15 Questions to Alejandro Viñao (Tobias, Tokafi)
Perception, Reception, and All That Popular Music: An Interview with Alejandro Viñao (Sean Bellaviti, discouses.ca)
Composer's website
Viñao @ Wikipedia
Viñao @ Ars Electronica
Viñao @ Digital Music Archives
Viñao @ Facebook
Viñao @ InstantEncore
Viñao @ IRCAM
Viñao @ MusicWeb International
Viñao @ The New York Times
Viñao @ UNESCO Culture Centre
Viñao @ Zeltsman Marimba Festival
Publisher
Viñao @ Composer's website
Streaming Audio
Viñao @ Composer's website
Viñao @ last.fm
Recordings
Viñao @ ArkivMusic
Viñao @ ClassicsOnline
Viñao @ Discogs
Vinao @ electrocd
Video
Viñao @ YouTube
Viñao @ Google Video
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