Life and Career
He was born in Barcelona, where he held conducting posts at the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona and the Gran Teatre del Liceu. He studied composition with Enrique Morera at the Barcelona Conservatory, then went to Germany, where he studied in Berlin with Max Trapp, and also with Richard Strauss, taking five of Strauss's seminars. In 1948 his opera El mozo que caso con mujer brava premiered in Barcelona. In 1951, he emigrated to the United States, where he became a successful composer for the dance. He became a U.S. citizen in 1959. He composed three ballet scores for the renowned choreographer Martha Graham: Embattled Garden (1958), Acrobats of God (1960) and The Owl and the Pussycat (1978). He also composed for the Joffrey Ballet (Feast of Ashes). His harp concerto was commissioned by Charles Royce for his daughter Maria. The premiere was in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1978, with Nicanor Zabaleta playing. The concerto was then performed by maria Royce at Interlochen. The Surinach harp concerto added richly to the harp concerto repertoire; but, unfortunately, it has not been played since.
Surinach also orchestrated part of Isaac Albéniz's piano suite Iberia.
His notable students include Louis W. Ballard.
The BMI Foundation sponsors The Carlos Surinach Awards and Commissioning Programs, which recognizes talented emerging young musicians for their service to American music and funds the creation of new works by former winners of the BMI Student Composer Awards. The program was established by a bequest from Surinach.
The final "ch" in Surinach's surname is pronounced "k", following ancient Catalan orthography (in modern orthography this phoneme is rendered with a "c"). The "ch" ending is commonly found in Catalan surnames, many of which retain this spelling. Also, before Surinach left Spain, his surname was spelled "Suriñach", with a tilde over the "n". He eventually dropped this tilde, but saw the original spelling used on concert posters whenever he visited Spain.
Read more about this topic: Carlos Surinach
Famous quotes containing the words life and, life and/or career:
“He’s indestructible. Frankenstein’s creation is man’s challenge to the laws of life and death.”
—Edward T. Lowe, and Erle C. Kenton. Dr. Edelman (Onslow Stevens)
“There was something so free and self-contained about him, something in the young fellow’s movements, that made that officer aware of him. And this irritated the Prussian. He did not choose to be touched into life by his servant.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“It is a great many years since at the outset of my career I had to think seriously what life had to offer that was worth having. I came to the conclusion that the chief good for me was freedom to learn, think, and say what I pleased, when I pleased. I have acted on that conviction... and though strongly, and perhaps wisely, warned that I should probably come to grief, I am entirely satisfied with the results of the line of action I have adopted.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)