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Leo brouwer compositions

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The Biography
of Leo Brouwer
(b. 1939)







Early years in Cuba

Leo Brouwer was born in Havana, Cuba. His father, a physician, was an aficionado of classical guitar composers such as Heitor Villa-Lobos, Francisco Tárregaand Enrique Granados. This interest was passed on from father to son and from a young age Brouwer was encouraged to learn the works of such composers, largely by ear.



His later formal classical guitar instruction from the noted Cuban guitarist and pedagogue Isaac Nicola, who was himself a former student of Emilio Pujolthus benefiting from a teaching method which can be traced back to the Francisco Tárrega. Studies in the United States of America at the Hartt College of Music, part of the University of the Hartford followed. A further stint at the Julliard School of Music in New York City featuring guitar studies under Vincent Persichetti, and composition classes with Stefan Wolpe added to his musical education. Cuban folk music was a major influence in Leo Brouwers early compositions , but later during the 1960's and 70's he became more interested in mod
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Leo Brouwer (1939 - )
The Cuban composer Leo Brouweris one of the most significant composers for the classical guitar. He became widely known, among guitarists at least, in the early 1970s and I picked up the scores to several of his pieces not too long after they were published. He started composing in his teens and studied with Vincent Persichetti and Stefan Wolpe in the US and later with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Germany. While in Europe he became familiar with the music of Hans Werner Henze, Luigi Nono and Iannis Xenakis. He also studied the performance practice of early music with harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt. Some of this is in the Wikipedia article, other information is from my personal knowledge.

Brouwer is a complex figure. On the one hand he is anything but an aesthetic ideologue. His music draws from the structures and ideas of modernism and the avant-garde, but also from Cuban and African folk music. He has created purely electronic music and at the same time done very lush settings of traditional lullabies. He has written film music, such as the soundtrac
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From the CG Vault: A 2008 Interview with Leo Brouwer, Plus Some History

BY THÉRÈSE WASSILY SABA / FROM THE JANUARY 2010 ISSUE of CLASSICAL GUITAR

(Next year, 2019, will mark the 80th birthday of Leo Brouwer. For most of this past year—2018—he has been traveling the world, picking up honors left and right at guitar festivals, holding master classes, and generally soaking up some much-deserved appreciation from the guitar word for his long, illustrious career. So, we thought it might be fun to dig back in to the CG archives for this (slightly edited) interview and story by Thérèse Wassily Saba, timed around Brouwer’s 70th birthday. Think about all the amazing things he has accomplished since! —Blair Jackson)

For over a year, the Cuban composer, conductor, guitarist, and inspirational teacher Leo Brouwer has been tirelessly touring the world, attending many international celebrations for his 70th birthday.

Brouwer was born in Havana on March 1, 1939, and his work as a musician has been multifaceted and prolific. His debut as a guitarist was in Havana in 1955, and by 196

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