Juan José Castro (March 7, 1895September 3, 1968) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

composer and conductor. Born in

Avellaneda Avellaneda (, ) is a port city in the provinces of Argentina, province of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the seat of the Avellaneda Partido, whose population was 342,677 as per the . Avellaneda is located within the Greater B ...

, Castro studied piano and violin under Manuel Posadas and composition under

Eduardo Fornarini Eduardo is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the male name Edward. Another version is Duarte. It may refer to: Association football * Dudu (footballer, born 1992) (Eduardo Pereira Rodrigues), Brazilian footballer * Eduardo (footballer, born 1 ...

, in Buenos Aires. In the 1920s he was awarded the

Europa Prize Europa may refer to: Places * Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace * Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro * Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development * Europa Cliffs, Alexande ...

, and then went on to study in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

at the

Schola Cantorum The Schola Cantorum de Paris ( being ) is a private conservatory in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera. History The Schol ...

under

Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the Pa ...

and

Édouard Risler Joseph-Édouard Risler (23 February 1873 – 22 July 1929) was a French pianist. Biography Risler was born in Baden-Baden (Germany) of a German mother and an Alsatian father. He studied under Louis Diémer, Théodore Dubois and Émile Decomb ...

. Returning to Buenos Aires in 1925, he was named conductor of the Renacimiento Chamber Orchestra in 1928 and the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón () is a historic opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acoustics expert Leo Beranek among leadin ...

in 1930. From 1939 to 1943 he was a professor at the Buenos Aires Conservatory. Castro's international career began in the 1940s. In 1947 he conducted the Havana Philharmonic, and the Sodre Orchestra in

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

in 1949. In 1952-53 he was the conductor of the

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an Australian orchestra based in Melbourne. The MSO is resident at Hamer Hall. The MSO has its own choir, the MSO Chorus, following integration with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008. The MSO relies on fun ...

(then known as the Victorian Symphony Orchestra) in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

.eMelbourne: the city past and present
/ref> He returned to the Americas and conducted the National Symphony in Buenos Aires from 1956-1960. From 1960 to 1964, he was director of the

Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico The Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music () is a public conservatory in San Juan, Puerto Rico.Conservatorio de Musica de Puerto RicoSOBRE EL CONSERVATORIO DE MÚSICA DE PUERTO RICO: Información General del Conservatorio.Retrieved: February 14, 200 ...

. Castro's brothers,

José María José María (abbreviated José Mª) is a Spanish language male given name, usually considered a single given name rather than two names, and is a combination of the Spanish names of Saint Joseph, Joseph and Mary (mother of Jesus), Mary, the paren ...

and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, were also both composers. Juan José Castro married the daughter of the composer

Julián Aguirre Julián is the Spanish equivalent of the name Julian. Notable people with the name include: * Julián, Julián Cuesta, Spanish footballer * Julián Orbón (1925–1991) Cuban composer * Julián Carrón (1950) Spanish Catholic theologian * Julián ...

. He died in Buenos Aires in 1968, aged 73.

Works

''Note: This list is incomplete'' *''Violin Sonata'', 1914 *''Cello Sonata'', 1916 *''Piano Sonata No. 1'', 1917 *''A una madre'', 1925 *''Symphony No. 1'', 1931 *''Biblical Symphony'', 1932 *''Mekhano'',

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, 1934 *''Sinfonia Argentina'', 1934 *''Symphony No. 3'', 1936 *''Symphony No. 4'', 1939 *''Piano Sonata No. 2'', 1939 *''Offenbachiana'', ballet, 1940 *''Piano Concerto'', 1941 *''String Quartet'', 1942 *''La zapatera prodigosa''

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

after

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

, 1943 *''Martin Fierro'',

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

, 1944 *''El Llanto de las Sierras'', 1947 *''Corales Criollos No. 1 & 2'', piano, 1947 *''Proserpina y el extranjero'' (

Proserpina Proserpina ( ; ) or Proserpine ( ) is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whos ...

and the Foreigner), opera after Omar del Carlo, 1951 *''Bodas de sangre'' (Marriage of Blood), opera after Lorca, 1952 *''Corales Criollos No. 3'', orchestra, 1953 *''Symphony No. 5'', 1956 *''Epitafio en ritmos y sonidos'', chorus and orchestra, 1961 *''Suite introspectiva'', orchestra, 1962

Notes

References

Don Randel Don Michael Randel (born December 9, 1940) is an American musicologist, specializing in the music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance in Spain and France. He is currently the chair of the board of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a truste ...

, ''The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music''. Harvard, 1996, p. 144. 1895 births 1968 deaths People from Avellaneda Argentine people of Galician descent Argentine male conductors (music) Schola Cantorum de Paris alumni 20th-century Argentine classical composers 20th-century Argentine conductors (music) Argentine male classical composers 20th-century Argentine male musicians Chief conductors of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra {{Argentina-composer-stub