Ernesto Halffter Escriche (16 January 19055 July 1989) was a Spanish

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

. He was the brother of Rodolfo Halffter and part of the ''Grupo de los Ocho'' (), which formed a sub-set of the ''

Generation of '27 The Generation of '27 () was an influential group of poets that arose in Spain, Spanish literary circles between 1923 and 1927, essentially out of a shared desire to experience and work with avant-garde forms of art and poetry. Their first form ...

''.

Early years

Ernesto Halffter was the third son of Prussian jeweller Ernest Halffter Hein and his wife Rosario Escriche Erradón. He was the younger brother of composer Rodolfo Halffter and the uncle of composer

Cristóbal Halffter Cristóbal Halffter Jiménez-Encina (24 March 1930 – 23 May 2021) was a Spanish classical composer. He was the nephew of two other composers, Rodolfo and Ernesto Halffter, and is regarded as the most important Spanish composer of the gen ...

. Halffter was born in Madrid and studied at the Colegio Alemán de Madrid. He wrote his earliest composition at the age of six, and in 1922 his piano teacher Fernando Ember performed three pieces from ''Crepúsculos'' at the Ritz Hotel in Madrid. After meeting

Manuel de Falla Manuel de Falla y Matheu (, 23 November 187614 November 1946) was a Spanish composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Francisco Tárrega, and Enrique Granados, he was one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20t ...

in 1923, Halffter sent Falla the score of his "Homenajes" trio for violin, cello and piano, which began a long relationship that included composition lessons from Falla.

Career

Halffter's ''Sinfonietta'' is one of his earliest and best works; it shows the influence of

Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti (26 October 1685 – 23 July 1757) was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque music, Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical peri ...

. Later, he became more nationalistic with ''Rapsodia portuguesa'' for piano and orchestra, composed in 1938, during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. He wrote music for a dozen films. Perhaps the most noteworthy is '' Don Quixote de la Mancha'', the 1947 film version of

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...

classic novel A classic is a book accepted as being exemplary or particularly noteworthy. What makes a book "classic" is a concern that has occurred to various authors ranging from Italo Calvino to Mark Twain and the related questions of "Why Read the Cl ...

. He also adapted and conducted the music for ''

El amor brujo ''El amor brujo'' (, "Love, the sorcerer") is a ballet by Manuel de Falla. The libretto is by María de la O Lejárraga García, although for years it was attributed to her husband Gregorio Martínez Sierra. It exists in three versions as well ...

'' (1967), based on the ballet by Falla. It was directed by

Francisco Rovira Beleta Francisco Rovira Beleta (1913 in Barcelona – 23 June 1999) was a twice Academy Awards, Academy Award nominee Spanish screenwriter and film director. His film ''The Robbers (film), Los atracadores'' was entered into the 12th Berlin International ...

, was nominated for an

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and features guitarist

Narciso Yepes Narciso Yepes (14 November 19273 May 1997) was a Spanish classical guitar, guitarist. He is considered one of the finest virtuoso classical guitarists of the twentieth century. Biography Yepes was born into a family of humble origin in Lorca, ...

. In 1934 Halffter became director and conductor of the

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

Conservatory of Music but, being married to the Portuguese pianist

Alice Câmara Santos Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

, chose to live in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

during this period up to 1954. His only pupil was the Finnish composer Ann-Elise Hannikainen, who also became his life companion during his later life. When Falla died in 1946, he left his opera '' Atlántida'' incomplete; Ernesto Halffter was asked to complete it. It premiered in 1962, but Halffter later revised it. The second version was completed in 1976. In 1974, the

Dalí Theatre and Museum The Dalí Theatre and Museum (, ; ) is a museum dedicated to the artist Salvador Dalí in his home town of Figueres, in Catalonia, Spain. Salvador Dalí lived there from 1984 to 1989, and is buried in a crypt below the stage. The museum received ...

Figueras Figueres (; ) is the capital city of Alt Empordà county, in the Girona region, Catalonia, Spain. The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Dalí Theatre and Museum, a large museum designed by Dalí himself which att ...

, Spain, was opened. Halffter was a personal friend of

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

, and was asked to write a piece of music to celebrate the event. In response he composed ''Homenaje a Salvador Dalí''. Halffter was awarded Spain's

Premio Nacional de Música The National Music Award () is one of Spain's annual National Awards by the Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of ...

for composition in 1984. He died in Madrid.

Compositions

* ''Deux esquisses symphoniques pour orchestre'' (La chanson du lanternier; Paysage mort) (1922-1925) * ''Hommages: petite suite pour trio'' (1922) * ''Sinfonietta'' (1925) * ''Automne malade'' (poem by

Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire (; ; born Kostrowicki; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the early ...

), 1925/1927, published in 1929 (voice and piano or orchestra) * ''Dos canciones'' (1927) * ''L'hiver de l'enfance'' (1928–34) * ''Canciones del niño de cristal'' (1931–34) * ''Canzone e pastorella'' for cello and piano (1934) * ''Amanecer en los jardines de España'' (1937) * ''Señora'' (1938) * ''Rapsodia portuguesa'' for piano and orchestra (1939) * ''Seis canciones portuguesas'' (1940–41) * ''Canção do berço'' (1940–41) * ''Canto inca'' (1944) * ''Seguidilla caselera'' (1945) * ''Canción de Dorotea'' (1947) * ''Fantasía española for cello and piano'' (1952) * '' Atlántida'' (completion of Falla's work: 1961; revision 1976) * ''Canticum'' (1964) * ''Psalmi'' (1967) * ''Concerto'' for guitar and orchestra (1969) * ''Madrigalesca'' for guitar (1969) * ''Homenaje a Salvador Dalí'' for trumpets, percussion, tenor, piano and mixed choir (1974) * ''Pregón'' (1974) * ''Sonatina'', one-act ballet (first performed in a version for piano solo, played by José Cubiles on 16 November 1927; then in a concert version for orchestra, 11 February 1928, and finally as a fully staged ballet, 18 June 1928)

References

External links

Biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Halffter, Ernesto 1905 births 1989 deaths Musicians from Madrid Spanish people of German descent 20th-century Spanish classical composers 20th-century male composers Generation of '27 Spanish male classical composers Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (National faction) 20th-century Spanish musicians 20th-century Spanish male musicians Spanish film score composers Spanish male film score composers