Antón García Abril
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"Spain's leading film composer is Antón García Abril, who began scoring movies in the 60's and has written the music for a number of Spanish horror films since then, using a variety of impressive horror and melodic motifs, a such as a romantic theme for THE LORELEI' S GRASP"--Musique Fantastique: A Survey of Film Music in the Fantastic (1985) by Randall D. Larson |
Related e |
Featured: |
Antón García Abril OAXS (19 May 1933 – 17 March 2021) was a Spanish composer and musician.
Contents |
Biography
Between 1974 and 2003, he was the head of the department of Compositions and Musical Forms (Composición y Formas Musicales) of the Madrid Royal Conservatory, and in 1982 he was elected a member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. In 1994, he was awarded Spain's Premio Nacional de Música for composition, and in 2008, he was also named a member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos in Valencia.
He died on 17 March 2021, at the age of 87.
Works
García Abril has composed as many orchestral works as he has chamber and vocal pieces, and he has composed music for films and television series such as El hombre y la Tierra, Fortunata y Jacinta, Anillos de oro, Segunda enseñanza, Brigada Central, Ramón y Cajal, La ciudad no es para mí and Compuesta y sin novio.
In 1966, he composed the soundtrack for the film Texas, Adios, a Spaghetti Western starring Franco Nero. Also, in 1969, he worked alongside Rafael Romero Marchent, a film director from Madrid, on the soundtrack of the movie Awkward Hands, another Spaghetti Western. He also composed the music for Amando de Ossorio's Blind Dead series of films, being Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972), Return of the Blind Dead (1973), The Ghost Galleon (1974) and Night of the Seagulls (1975).
Compositions
- 1969. Twelve songs to texts by Rafael Alberti (for voice and orchestra)
- 1972. Hemeroscopium (for orchestra)
- 1976. Concierto aguediano (for guitar and orchestra)
- 1986. Concierto mudéjar (for guitar and orchestra)
- 1987. Vademecum (a collection of 12 pieces for the guitar)
- 1992. Divinas palabras (opera after Ramón del Valle-Inclán, premiered 1997 with Plácido Domingo)
- 1994. Concierto (for piano and orchestra)
- 1996. Nocturnos de la Antequeruela (for piano and orchestra)
- 1999. Concierto de las tierras altas (for cello and orchestra)
- 2001. Concierto de la Malvarrosa (for flute, piano and strings)
- 2007. Alba de los caminos (for piano and string quintet)
- 2012. Cantos de Ordesa, Concerto for viola and orchestra
Music for films and television
Between 1956 and 1994, Antón García Abril created more than 150 compositions for movies and television. He has provided soundtracks for the films:
- 1962. La muerte silba un blues
- 1964. La chica del trébol
- 1966. La ciudad no es para mí
- 1966. Texas, Adios
- 1967. Maneater of Hydra
- 1967. The Cobra
- 1969. Awkward Hands
- 1971. The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman
- 1972. Tombs of the Blind Dead
- 1972. Dr. Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo
- 1972. Pancho Villa
- 1973. Curse of the Devil
- 1973. Return of the Blind Dead
- 1974. The Loreley's Grasp
- 1974. The Ghost Galleon
- 1975. A Long Return
- 1975. Night of the Seagulls
- 1984. Los santos inocentes
He also created the soundtracks of the television series:
- 1974. El hombre y la Tierra
- 1980. Fortunata y Jacinta
- 1983. Anillos de oro
- 1986. Segunda enseñanza
- 1972. Los camioneros
Pages linking in as of March 2021
3 Songs, A Long Return, Abril, Alejandro Román, Alex Conrado, Amore Eterno, Aragon, Ashan Pillai, Asier Polo, Awkward Hands, Consuelo Díez, Dagored, Deaths in 2021, Dr. Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo, Eduardo Morales Caso, El hombre y la Tierra, El Retorno de Walpurgis, Elisabete Matos, Father Cami's Wedding, For Men Only (1960 film), Fortunata y Jacinta (TV series), Franco, ese hombre, Generación del 51, Hilary Hahn, Himno de Aragón, José Luis Turina, La ciudad no es para mí, La Noche de Walpurgis, List of 20th-century classical composers, List of 21st-century classical composers, List of composers by name, List of composers by nationality, List of composers for the classical guitar, List of compositions for keyboard and orchestra, List of compositions for piano and orchestra, List of film score composers, List of regional anthems, List of Spanish composers, Los tramposos, Madrid Royal Conservatory, María Escribano, María José Montiel, Muhammad XII of Granada, Night of the Seagulls, Pancho Villa (film), Pino Rucher, Plácido Domingo, Premio Nacional de Música, Province of Teruel, Queen Sofía Composition Prize, Repertoire of Plácido Domingo, Return of the Blind Dead, Rosalía de Castro, Savage Guns (1961 film), Sociedad Coral de Bilbao, Teatro Real, Texas, Adios, The Cobra (film), The Economically Handicapped, The Ghost Galleon, The Holy Innocents (film), The Loreley's Grasp, Three Ladies, Tombs of the Blind Dead, Vente a Alemania, Pepe, Zorrita Martinez