Castro, Juan José
Castro José María, *15 December 1892 Avellaneda (now Buenos Aires), †2 August 1964 Buenos Aires, Argentine composer, conductor, and cellist. He studied in Buenos Aires and then he graduated with a gold medal from the Conservatorio di S. Cecilia in Rome. After returning to the country, he developed activity as one of the founders of Grupo Renovación (1929), was a soloist of numerous Argentine orchestras, and created many chamber ensembles, including in 1928 Orquesta de Cámara de la Asociación del Professorado Orquestal; in 1931, he became the conductor of this association. In 1933–56, he was conductor of the Banda Municipal de la Ciudad in Buenos Aires.
As a co-author of the Grupo Renovación programme, Castro was a spokesman for national tendencies in Argentine music, but in terms of musical language, form and expressive categories, his works represent the universal neoclassical style.
Instrumental:
orchestra:
Concerto grosso 1933
Obertura para una opera comica 1935
Piano Concerto 1941, 2nd version 1956
Concerto for orchestra 1944
Concerto for cello and 17 instruments, 1945
Concerto for violin and 18 instruments, 1953
Sinfonia de Buenos Aires 1953
10 Improvisaciones breves for chamber orchestra, 1957
Preludio, tema con variaciones y final 1959
chamber:
3 string quartets – 1944, 1947, 1956
piano pieces, including:
6 sonatas – 1919, 1924, 1927, 1931
Sonata de primavera 1939
Sonata dramática 1944
Vocal-instrumental:
solo songs
Cinco liricas for voice and orchestra, 1961
13 sonets Con la patria adentro for solo tenor and orchestra, 1964
Scenic:
ballets:
Georgia 1939
El sueno de la botella 1948
Falarka 1951
monodrama La otra voz 1953