Rodolfo Halffter

Rodolfo Halffter Escriche ( born January 30, 1900 in Madrid, † October 14, 1987 in Mexico City) was a Spanish- Mexican composer.

Biography

Halffter was born into a Spanish family of musicians. His father Ernesto Halffter Hein was a jeweler and came from Königsberg, his mother Rosario Escriche Erradón from Catalonia.

Initiated by the mother, Rodolfo and Ernesto Halffter learned as children making music. Ernesto later deepened his skills mainly self-taught, in part, he was assisted by Manuel de Falla. His brother later became known as a composer, as well as his nephew Cristóbal Halffter.

In Madrid, Ernesto gave concerts as a pianist and composer. He was one of the local intellectual community and several musical groups, including the " Grupo de Madrid " and " Grupo de los Ocho " (Eng.: Group of Eight ) that the Generación del 27 was associated.

After the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939 Halffter emigrated to Mexico and took a year out Mexican citizenship to. In Mexico, he made a name for himself as a composer and became a professor at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música. In the Mexican music magazine " Ediciones Mexicanas de Música " he was director.

From 1963, he has made repeated visits in Spain, and taught as a professor of composition in Granada and Santiago de Compostela and participated in music and concert events in Cuenca and Madrid in part.

For his works Roldolfo Halffter was awarded, among others, in 1976 with the Mexican National Prize for Arts and Humanities, and in 1985 with the Spanish National Music Prize. He was a member of the Mexican Academia de Artes.