Luis de los Cobos Almaraz (Valladolid, 20 April 1927 – Geneva, 16 November 2012)[1] was a Spanish composer. In 1944, he was briefly jailed for taking part in protests against the Francoist government, and after he finished his studies in 1949 he couldn't find a job since he lacked the certificate of adherence to the Spanish State,[2] so he went to exile, settling in Geneva after studying orchestral conducting under Bernardo Molinari in Rome and Eugène Bigot in Paris. Like Xavier Montsalvatge and Manuel Castillo he has been defined as a missing link in the postwar Spanish music, as he was influenced by Shostakovichian modernism while the Spanish scene evolved from nationalism to the Darmstadt avantgarde through his contemporaries of the 1951 Generation.[3] He composed four operas, two symphonies, four concertos and six string quartets.[4]

Compositions edit

Opera edit

  • La gloria de Don Ramiro (1975)
  • Mariana Pineda (1982)
  • La Pasión de Gregorio (1983)
  • The Incarnation of Desire (1994)

Ballet edit

  • Winnie the Pooh (1992)

Orchestral edit

Symphony orchestra edit

  • Symphony No. 1 ″Cursus Vitae″ (1956)
  • Agonía recurrente (1966)
  • Symphony No. 2 ″El pinar perdido″ (2012)

String orchestra edit

  • Jungla 1967 (1967)

Chamber orchestra edit

  • SoJin Suite (música para un nacimiento y un bautizo) (1991)
  • Cuentos de la princesita (2002)

Concertante edit

Cello edit

  • Cello Concerto No. 1 (1958)
  • Cello Concerto No. 2 ″De la resurrección″ (1981)

Piano edit

  • Album del olvido (1982), for two pianos and orchestra

Guitar edit

  • Concierto de Nerja (1991)

Violin edit

  • Concierto de los cercos (1995)
  • Rapsodia de la espera (2004)

Chamber music edit

Duos edit

  • Nana de la madre pobre (1952), for cello and piano
  • Elegía a las manos de una muchacha (1952), for cello and piano
  • Retrato del olvido y ojos de pájaro herido (1983), for cello and piano
  • Duo para violín y viola (1985)
  • Sonata del cisne (2003), for violin and piano
  • Nana del Campogrande (2006), for violin and piano

Trios edit

  • Blue Talks (1987), for two pianos and percussion

Quartets edit

  • String Quartet No. 1 ″De la pequeña muerte″ (1978)
  • String Quartet No. 2 ″Una princesa de Kranach en el tren″ (1983)
  • Serenata caprichosa (1987), for flute, bassoon, harp and guitar
  • String Quartet No. 3 ″La nada y el mar″ (1988)
  • String Quartet No. 4 ″De la ausencia″ (1993)
  • String Quartet No. 5 ″Del ensueño″ (1999)
  • String Quartet No. 6 ″Juego de la vida y de la muerte″ (2000)

Solo edit

Guitar edit

  • Añejo mosaico (1952)

Violin edit

  • Caprichos (1987)

Cello edit

  • Ariana Suite (1996)

Choral edit

With orchestra edit

  • Oración paralela (Requiem) (1977)
  • Misa de Requiem (1996)

A cappella edit

  • Miserere (1950)

Vocal edit

with orchestra edit

  • La tierra de Alvargonzález (1951)
  • Hijo del sol y de la sombra (1956)

with chamber ensemble edit

  • Nocturno (1952)
  • Hacia el Sur se fue el domingo (1966)
  • Tres cuentos populares (1978)
  • Cinco cantos (1981)
  • Cuatro lieder para cantaor flamenco (1981)
  • La destrucción o el amor (1981)
  • Weinheber Lieder (1996)
  • Suite Ferrández (1997)

with piano edit

  • Canciones en el estilo popular (1950)
  • Homenaje a Miguel Hernández (1952)
  • La voz a tí debida (1985)

with other solo instrument edit

  • Canciones para mezzo y guitarra (1985)
  • Cuatro piezas blancas (1986), for soprano and two clarinets

Electronic music edit

  • Suite infantil (1986)

References edit

  1. ^ Valladolid's composer Luis de los Cobos dies in Switzerland. ABC, 20 November 2012
  2. ^ Review of the Verso release of his orchestral works by Andrés Ruiz Tarazona. Diverdi.com
  3. ^ The notes that escaped from the desk. El Norte de Castilla, 11 February 2011
  4. ^ List of works in the Valladolid Ambassadors Network's website