Rodrigo Asturias (b. 1940) was born in Guatemala City in 1940. He began studyng piano at an early age. In 1959 he moved to Europe, and after two years at the University of Lausanne, he settled in París, where he pursued the fundamentals of his musical formation.
With Simone Plé-Caussade he studied harmony, counterpoint and fugue. He attended analysis classes with Olivier Messiaen in 1963. From 1963 to 1965 he studied composition with René Leibowitz, simultaneously working in Henry Dutilleux’s classes throughout 1964. He studied conducting with Igor Markevitch in 1966 and in Salzburg with Bruno Maderna in 1968.
In 1964 he composed his first Sonata for Piano, for which he received the Dutilleux Class Award. Between 1965 and 1971 he composed the vast cycle “Livre pour Piano”, consisting of Sonatas for Piano No. 2 (1965-1966), No. 3 (1966), No. 4 (1966-1967), No. 5 (1968-1971) and No. 6 (1968-1969). This work was followed by the Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (1971-1975); the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra “The Garden of Paths which Divided” (1976-1979), in the form of mobiles, in homage to Jorge Luis Borges; the “Livre pour Orchestre” (1979-1990), comprising Symphonies No. 1 (1981), No. 2 (1984), No. 3 (1986), and No. 4 (1990); and the song cycle “The Banquet of the Clouds” (1986-1991), twenty-one songs after texts by Juan Ramón Jiménez in three versions: a) voice and piano, b) voice and instrumental ensemble, and c) voice and orchestra.
Asturias is the composer of several pieces for different instruments and ensembles: “Serenade pour Guitare” (1981), “Puisqu’il n’est pas question de force” for choir a capella with lyrics by Paul Eluard (1965). Other compositions include: “Son, double sens d’un mot” for two instrumental ensembles (1980), “In Memoriam” for piano and brass instruments (1981), and “Serenata Fiesolana” (1978) for fifteen instruments.
Asturias also composed a Sonata for Two Pianos (1993-1995) by appointment of the French Radio Television and the Ministry of Culturan Affairs of France. In 1969 he orchestrated Ricardo Castillo’s suite “Guatemala, serie de impresiones” and in 1995 he transcribed for piano the three final dances from the “Paal Kabá” ballet by the same author. He also completed several unfinished projects such as Castillo’s “Vocalise of Paal Kabá” and “Scherzo for Two Pianos” by Manuel Herrarte, among other pieces.
His works have been published by C.F. Peters (New York-Frankfurt), APNM (New York), and Editions Musicales Max Eschig Co. (París).
In 1980, Rodrigo Asturias was the first composer to receive the Karlheinz Stockhausen Musical Composition Prize for his Fourth Sonata for Piano. He was invited to participate, as a composer, at the Institute de Recherches Accoustiques Musicales (IRCAM) in París in 1990.
In 1989 he began a musicological research and came across the work of Manuel Martinez-Sobral (1879-1946), a Guatemalan composer whose work had been considered irretrievably lost. He then became interested in recovering and revising the music by Ricardo Castillo (1891-1966) and by Manuel Herrarte (1925-1974). These compositions have also been edited under his supervision in París by Editions Musicales Max Eschig Co., a total of 72 scores.
In 1982, he founded “Los Grandes Conciertos de Guatemala” in Guatemala City. The purpose of this society was to acquaint the Guatemalan public with the greatest musical compositions of the past, those never previously heard in Guatemala, as well as the most important pieces of the contemporary repertoire.
Web: http://www.edition-peters.com/php/artist_details.php?artist=ASTURIAS§ion=composer (2010)