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Blas Galindo Dimas (February 3, 1910 – April 19, 1993) was a Mexican composer.


Biography

Born in San Gabriel,
Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...
, Galindo studied intermittently from 1931 to 1944 at the National Conservatory in
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
, studying with
Carlos Chávez Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez (13 June 1899 – 2 August 1978) was a Mexican composer, conducting, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influence ...
(composition), Candelario Huízar, José Rolón, and Manuel Rodríguez Vizcarra (piano). In 1934, he formed the '' Grupo de los cuatro'' with fellow composers Daniel Ayala, Salvador Contreras, and
José Pablo Moncayo José Pablo Moncayo García (June 29, 1912 – June 16, 1958) was a Mexican pianist, percussionist, music teacher, composer and conductor. "As composer, José Pablo Moncayo represents one of the most important legacies of the Mexican nationali ...
, seeking to use indigenous Mexican musical materials in art-music compositions . In 1941, he was an assistant at the Berkshire Music Festival at
Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue and Music festival, festival in the towns of Lenox, Massachusetts, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony ...
, and studied under
Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...
at the
Berkshire Music Center The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops. The center operates as a part of the Tanglew ...
in 1941 and again in 1942, when his orchestral suite ''Arroyos'' was performed there (Stevenson 2001). Returning to Mexico in 1942, he became a professor of composition at the National Conservatory and in 1947 was named Director of the conservatory (a position which he held until 1961) as well as director of the music department of the National Institute of Fine Arts . From 1960 to 1965, he was music director for the Symphony of the Mexican Institute of Social Security . In 1947, Galindo was named Chief of the Department for the National Institute of Fine Arts. In September 1947, Chávez named him Director of the National Conservatory of Music, a title he maintained until 1961. Before this appointment he began as a student at the Conservatory, later becoming a professor of many subjects including "harmony, counterpoint, musical analysis, history of music and composition." While at the Conservatory, Galindo also conducted the student orchestra, reformed the bylaws and built a new building. In August 1949, he was invited to be an adjudicator at the fourth Chopin piano competition in Warsaw. During this visit to Europe he travelled to seven countries to officially inspect schools of music . In 1952, he married Ernestina Mendoza Vega. He became Director of Artistic Activities for the
Mexican Social Security Institute The Mexican Institute of Social Security (, IMSS) is a Federal government of the United Mexican States, governmental organization that assists public health, pensions and social security in Mexico operating under the Secretariat of Health (Mexic ...
(I.M.S.S.) in 1955 and in 1959 I.M.S.S. named him Chief of the Music Section of the Department of Social Services. In 1960, he began conducting the Social Security Institute's Symphony Orchestra. Galindo was a frequent attendee of music festivals and guest conductor of symphony orchestras. Also, he was a lecturer and editor of magazines, sometimes writing articles concerning music. In 1960, he was able to focus on composition when he was awarded a "fellowship from the Secretary of Public Education". Galindo retired in 1965 and dedicated himself to his composition, writing some for pleasure and others for "commission". To do this, he would frequently "retreat from Mexico City to a house in the country for weeks at a time in order to immerse himself fully." To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the opening of the new building at the Conservatory, he directed the Conservatory orchestra and chorus in 1974. In July 1974, Galindo accompanied the President of Mexico with "a number of other intellectuals" to South America. Galindo "constantly oughtthe problem of trying to have is worksperformed more than just once and the financial problems of having them published". R.P. Conant wrote of Galindo, "He would, however, like to write an opera or even a cycle of operas dealing with the life of Mexico, the agitated life of Mexico from the Aztec leader Cuauhtémoc through the leaders of Mexican independence like Morelos, Juárez, Zapata, and Cardenas" .


Awards

"José Angel Lamas" prize from Secretary of Public Education; honor diploma from the Venezuelan Society of Authors and Composers; gold medal as "the best composer of the year"; diploma from the Municipality of Los Angeles, California; National Arts and Science Award for 1958–1964, presented by the President of the republic of Mexico, Adolfo Lopez Mateos


Works

Galindo's compositions number over 150, and include works in a variety of styles and ensemble forces.


Orchestral

* 1940: '' Sones de Mariachi'' * 1942: Concerto No. 1, for piano and orchestra * 1945: ''Nocturno'', for orchestra * 1951: ''La Manda'', ballet * 1951: Suite from the ballet ''La manda'' * 1952: ''Scherzo mexicano'' for string orchestra * 1956: ''Sinfonía breve'', for strings * 1957: Symphony No. 2 * 1960: Concerto, for flute and orchestra * 1961: Concerto No. 2, for piano and orchestra * 1961: Symphony No. 3 * 1962: Concerto, for violin and orchestra * 1973: Concertino. for electric guitar and orchestra * 1984: Concerto, for cello and orchestra * ''Homenaje a Cervantes'', suite * ''Letanía erótica'' * ''Obertura mexicana no. 2'', for piano and orchestra * ''Poema de Neruda'', for string orchestra * Concerto, for flute and band * Concerto, for guitar and band


Vocal works

* 1939: ''Jicarita'' * 1939: ''Mi querer pasaba el río'' * 1939: ''Paloma blanca'' * 1946: ''Cantata a la Patria'', cantata based on the poem ''Suave Patria'' by
Ramón López Velarde Ramón López Velarde (June 15, 1888 – June 19, 1921) was a Mexican poet. His work was a reaction against French-influenced '' modernismo'' which, as an expression of a purely Mexican subject matter and emotional experience, is unique. He ach ...
, for mixed choir and orchestra * 1947: Two Songs, for voice and piano * 1947: Three Songs, for voice and piano (; ) * 1948: ''Me Gusta Cuando Callas'', after
Pablo Neruda Pablo Neruda ( ; ; born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto; 12 July 190423 September 1973) was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old an ...
* 1957: ''Cantata Homenaje a
Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican politician, military commander, and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. A Zapotec peoples, Zapotec, he w ...
'' * 1965: ''Letania erótica para la paz'', cantata on the poem by G. Álvarez * 1975: ''Cinco canciones a la madre muerta'', for voice and piano * ''Dos Corazones'' for mixed choir * ''Arrullo'', for soloist and orchestra * ''Canciones de Jalisco'' * ''Madre mía cuando muera'', for soprano and orchestra * ''Segundo himno de Jalisco''


Chamber music

* 1947: Sonata, for clarinet and piano * 1948: Sonata, for cello and piano * 1956: Sonata, for violin and piano * 1961: Piano Quintet * 1961: Suite, for violin and piano * 1972: String Quartet


Solo piano

* 1935: ''La lagartija'' * 1936: Suite No. 2 *# Impresión *# Caricatura de vals *# Jalisciense * 1937: ''Sombra, Preludio'' * 1937: Prelude * 1938: ''Llano alegre'' * 1939: ''Danzarina'', waltz * 1941: Fugue in C * 1944: ''Allegro para una sonata'' * 1944: Prelude * 1945: Five Preludes * 1945: ''Y ella estaba triste, Preludio'' * 1952: Seven Pieces * 1964-1973: ''Piezas infantiles'' * 1976: Sonata * 1987: Preludio No. 6


Cello

*Sonata for unaccompanied cello


Guitar

* ''Suplica de Amor''


Film scores

* 1955 ''Raices''


References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Galindo, Blas 1910 births 1993 deaths 20th-century Mexican classical composers Mexican male classical composers National Conservatory of Music of Mexico alumni Musicians from Jalisco 20th-century Mexican male musicians Members of the Academia de Artes