Ramiro Cortés Jr. (25 November 1933 – 2 July 1984) was an American composer. Cortés was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1933 to Ramiro Cortés, Sr. and Elvira Cortés (née Acosta). He studied with Henry Cowell, Richard Donovan, Ingolf Dahl, Vittorio Giannini, Roger Sessions, Halsey Stevens, and, in Rome on a Fulbright Fellowship, with Goffredo Petrassi. He worked for a brief period in the 1960s as a computer programmer, and then taught composition at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(1966–67),

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(1967–72), and the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

(1972–84). He died of heart failure in Salt Lake city on 2 July 1984. His earlier compositions employed serial technique, but beginning in the late 1960s he turned to a freer form of chromatic

atonality Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on ...

. He was "perhaps the first Mexican-American composer of classical music to earn an international reputation."

Works (selective list)

*Piano Sonata no. 1 (1954) *''Sinfonia sacra'' (1954/59) Premiered in 1954 at USC's Diamond Jubilee concert. *''Yerma'', Symphonic Portrait of a Woman (1955). Premiered Nov 23, 1955 by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, after winning a composition prize by the Philharmonic's Women's Committee. *Three Pieces for Piano *Suite for Piano *''The Falcon'', for soprano and piano. A setting of the Corpus Christi Carol. *Chamber Concerto for Cello and 12 Winds (1957–58/78) *''Prometheus'', opera, after Aeschylus (1960) *String Quartet no. 1 (1962) *''Three Movements for Five Winds'', for wind quintet (1967–68) *''Rêve parisien'' (text: Baudelaire), for soprano and string quartet (1971–72) *Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1975) *Piano Sonata no. 3 (1979) *String Quartet no. 2 (1983) *''Music for Strings'' (1983)

Sources

* *Pitt, Roland Charles. 1990. "The Piano Music of Ramiro Cortés." DMA Dissertation. Austin: University of Texas.
Ramiro Cortés papers and recordings in University of Utah's J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cortes, Ramiro 20th-century American classical composers 1933 births 1984 deaths UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music faculty University of Southern California faculty University of Utah faculty American musicians of Mexican descent American opera composers American male opera composers 20th-century American male musicians Hispanic and Latino American musicians