José Luis de Delás
From Unearthing The Music
José Luis de Delás Franco (Born in Barcelona, Spain, in March 28th 1928 - died in Bornheim, Germany, September 21st 2018) was a Spanish conductor and composer.
Biography
José Luis de Delás received private violin lessons and studied at the Conservatory of Barcelona before creating his first compositions, at 19 years old. After attending Law school for a year, he decided to devote himself completely to music, and in the process he met several of the notable future intellectuals of his time and developed an interest in the works of the modern Vienna school.
In 1949 he began composition and violin studies at the Musikhochschule in Munich, while working as a Spanish teacher. Between 1951 and 1954 he studied composition and orchestra conduction at Hermann von Waltershausen's renowned academy. In 1951 he married Barcelona singer Margarita Sabartés, and his daughter Isabel was born the following year in Munich.
After returning from Germany, he developed his musical activity in Barcelona and Bilbao, where he directed the municipal orchestra, until his disagreement with the Franco regime led him to leave Spain in 1957, settling first in Aachen and shortly thereafter in Cologne. There he was influenced by Theodor Adorno and the writer Walter Benjamin, directed a painting gallery and was finally hired as recording director for the Department of Contemporary Music of the radio and television of Cologne, WDR. He also worked as a commentator there, as well as at the Electronic Music Studio of the University of Utrecht from 1968 to 1970.
In 1975 he spent a long season in Naples doing research work and began his teaching activity, teaching harmony, counterpoint and musical forms at the Cologne Conservatory, and shortly after, composition at the Alanus-Hochschule de Alfter, near Bonn. During the 80's his recognition and activity in Spain increased, with premieres of his works being presented, new commissions and training activities developed, while continuing to teach at the University of Bonn, as Professor of Composition and Improvisation and Introduction to Contemporary Music.
From 1993 to 2005 he was professor of the Music Classroom of the University of Alcalá de Henares, combining it with his work in Germany. [1][2]
In 1995 he received the National Music Award for composition from the Ministry of Culture of Spain. [3][4]
Works
His pieces were influenced by serialism, randomness and collage techniques. [4] His oeuvre includes the following works: [1]
- Borders (1964)
- Imago (1965)
- News (1967)
- Eilanden (1967)
- Clouds (1968)
- Episoden des Tages und der Nacht (1970)
- Outremer Clair et Foncé (1971)
- Five stamps (1972)
- Concetti (Concepts) (1975)
- Sets (1976)
- Denkbild Kurze Schatten (1977)
- Stories (1979)
- Les paroles et l'air (1985)
- Symbols of sonar (1990)
- To the sonorous crystal, to the mute crystal (1994)
- Texts (1996)
- Umbra Vitae (1998)
- Signs (2004/2005)
- Quadrant é Cel (2005)
References
- tallersonoro.com - Study by José Luis Sánchez, September 2007.
- elpais.com - José Luis de Delas premieres his work "Conceptos" in Spain, November 1, 1980
- Ministry of Culture of Spain - National Music Award
- La Vanguardia - National Music Award 1995, December 16, 1995
Related content
External links
- Sul Ponticello - José Luis de Delás: again, oblivion ... (III era, n. 53, October 2018)
- El País - A sad day for Spanish music(September 24, 2018)
- In memoriam José Luis de Delás in Ars Sonora (part I) / In memoriam José Luis de Delás in Ars Sonora (part II). Double monograph on the work of the composer in the radio program Ars Sonora, directed and presented by Miguel Álvarez-Fernández on Radio Clásica of RNE.
- Aesthetics and philosophy of music - The improbable musical canon: José Luis de Delás (September 27, 2010)
- ABC - The Autumn Festival honors Barcelona composer José Luis de Delás (November 28, 1998)
- La Vanguardia - Intimate concert dedicated to the music of the composer José Luis de Delás (September 23, 1967)
Text adapted from the Spanish Wikipedia.