Cristóbal Halffter

Cristóbal Halffter Jiménez-Encina (born 24 March 1930) is a Spanish classical composer. He is the nephew of two other composers, Rodolfo and Ernesto Halffter.

Halffter was born in Madrid, but in 1936 the family moved to Velbert, Germany, to escape the Spanish Civil War. They returned to Madrid in 1939, and Halftter studied with Conrado del Campo at the Madrid Royal Conservatory, graduating in 1951 (Alonso 2001). He continued his studies outside of his university education with Alexandre Tansman and André Jolivet.

In 1955, Halffter was appointed conductor of the Falla orchestra. He forged a successful career as composer and conductor, writing music which combined a traditional Spanish element with avant-garde techniques. His neoclassical Piano Concerto (1953) won the National Music Prize in 1954 (Alonso 2001). In 1961 he became Professor of Composition at the Royal Conservatory of Madrid, where he became Director in 1964 but remained only until 1966 (Kennedy 2006). Among his notable pupils are Jean-Luc Darbellay (Anon. n.d.(b)), David Philip Hefti (Anon. n.d.(c)), and Javier Jacinto (Jacinto 2008).

During the 1960s and 1970s, Halffter composed a number of works relating to human rights, including the 1968 choral work Yes, speak out, yes (Cummings n.d.). He was awarded Spain's highest award for composition, the Premio Nacional de Música, in 1989 (Alonso 2001). Also he has received the 2009 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Contemporary Music (Anon. 2009).

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