Iglesias, Alberto

Education

Alberto Iglesias began to receive a musical education in his hometown, comprehending harmony , polyphony and playing the piano , then he studied composition in Paris and continued to take piano lessons. In addition, in the Barcelona studio Phonos Iglesias got acquainted with the methods of electro-acoustic composition . At the end of his “formal” training, Iglesias organized a duet with Javier Navarrete , also a renowned film composer in the future. The duet, which existed from 1981 to 1986 , performed electronic music and arranged tours. The musical discoveries made within the framework of this collaboration have seriously affected the creative originality of Iglesias ^{[2] [3]} .

Composer career

In the mid-1980s, Iglesias, thanks to the personal connections of his brother, Jose Luis, made a breakthrough in the film industry. At first, while working on Basque films, the composer did not gain popularity among film audiences, but he gained a good reputation among film producers ^[2] .

In the late 1980s, Iglesias began to collaborate with a beginner at that time, and subsequently one of the most important for Spanish cinema directed by Julio Medem .

After a period of creative duet work on short films , the full-length “ Cows ” and “ Red Squirrel ” were shot. The success of these films added fame to the young composer.

Cows

In “Cows”, Iglesias demonstrated through music the atmosphere of a forest, which throughout the film is a constant venue for the whole story, and the composer gave his own musical “I” to each character involved in the plot. This result, coupled with numerous sound effects, drew the attention of the cinema community to Iglesias and brought him a nomination for Goya .

Red Squirrel

The ensuing "Red Squirrel" strengthened the composer's reputation, and he was finally awarded the prestigious film award. In “Red Squirrel”, the music is designed to emphasize the state of loss of the main character of the film and the relentlessness of its pursuer. The expression of obsession here is achieved through the persistent sound of chalaparta - the Basque folk percussion instrument. In the film you can hear the Iglesias song, written by one of the characters according to the script and acquiring different meanings as the plot develops. The published soundtrack of “Red Squirrel” turned out to be unique for its time, and even received its share of criticism for the fact that the tracks of the original Iglesias music were accompanied by fragments of dialogues from the film ^[3] .

Peak of Popularity

Having gained fame, Alberto Iglesias became popular among many Spanish directors. In their film productions, the composer continued to demonstrate his creative skill, in particular in writing and processing compositions for strings . Striking examples of Iglesias' wide use of instruments of this class are two musical pieces from the film “ Shoot! " Carlos Saura , as well as the soundtrack of the film Daniel Calparsoro " Moving ", which consists entirely of compositions for the string quartet , including a trio of cellos and double bass ^[3] .

The Flower of My Secret

In 1995 , the most significant creative union was formed in the career of Iglesias. To record the soundtrack for the film “ Flower of My Secret ”, the director Pedro Almodovar invited him. As in the case of Moving, Almodovar’s film uses the minimum amount of music recorded with a pair of violas and cello. Starting from this motion picture, it was Alberto Iglesias who consistently composed music for films of the famous director ^[3] .

Earth

The third feature film by Julio Medem, on which Iglesias worked, was Earth , released in 1996 . At this stage, Medem was already one of the recognized directors of Spain, his authority contributed to the promotion of paintings made under his leadership. “Earth” in 1996 participated in the main program of the Cannes Film Festival , and the film’s music, written in the post - romantic style, allowed Iglesias to get his second “Goya”. In the same year, the composer was invited to the jury of the San Sebastian Film Festival ^[3] .

The Maid of the Titanic

In 1997 , films with Iglesias music were released - “The Maid of the Titanic” by the Catalan director Bigas Luna and “ Living Flesh ” - the result of the composer's second collaboration with Almodovar. Both soundtracks are riddled with nostalgia, combined in the first case with the recollections of the character of Aytana Sanchez Gijon about a fleeting novel, and in the second with the pain and jealousy of the boyfriend of the main character played by Javier Bardem ^[3] .

Lovers of the Arctic Circle

The Goya won by Iglesias and other awards accompanied the next success and recognition of Julio Medem in connection with his film Lovers of the Arctic Circle . The soundtrack of this film is probably one of Iglesias' most complex works. The musical recreation of the Arctic atmosphere, arising from images of northern nature, as well as the detailed embodiment of all the nuances in the characters of the two main characters, their relationship and feelings for each other, took about four months ^[3] .

“ All About My Mother ”

One of the peaks of Almodovar’s directorial career was the 1999 film All About My Mother . This work has collected more than 40 awards at various film screenings, including the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film . Alberto Iglesias - the author of the soundtrack - also did not remain without awards and received, including the next “Goya”. The emotions and drama inherent in this picture are projected onto the music of Iglesias, who used, firstly, the jazz design of some scenes, and secondly, large-scale orchestrations performed with the help of the Prague City Philharmonic Orchestra . In addition to Iglesias' music, the soundtrack includes two songs by the Argentine composer Dino Saluzzi and the composition of the Senegalese Ismael Lo . While working on the picture, Almodovar rejected the first version of the soundtrack, and Alberto Iglesias had to create another ^[3] .

In 2000, Iglesias was awarded the Ricardo Franco Prize as part of the Festival of Spanish Films in Malaga . A retrospective of films with the music of the laureate was timed to coincide with this event. At the Cervantes Theater , the venue for the festival, Iglesias presented his work, Habitación en Do, dedicated to film music. In this work, you can hear fragments of the recorded speech of John Malkovich , in whose directorial debut at that time Iglesias took part ^[3] .

In the next Medem film, Lucia and Sex , released in 2001, Iglesias proposed two main musical schemes. Episodes demonstrating the relationship between the two protagonists are accompanied by a melodic waltz . At the same time, the background is the sound of a synthesizer , which recreates the hypnotic effect of the island, which is the scene for a number of scenes. Having won the fifth Goya for the best music, Iglesias caught up with the leader in the number of awards in this category, Jose Nieto , and a year later, after the release of the film Talk to Her , he was able to surpass this result. The soundtrack created by Iglesias for the new creation of Almodovar received the following characteristic from the director ^[3] :

Music (...) serves the heroes of the roof and the earth and covers the action like an airy cashmere blanket on a cold winter night.

Original text (Spanish)

a música (...) sirve de techo y de suelo a los personajes y arropa la acción como porosa manta de cachemira en una fría noche invernal

The continuation of the collaboration between Iglesias and Almodovar was the film-provocation " Bad Education ." In accordance with the fact that this thriller was shot under the influence of Hitchcock’s work, when recording the soundtrack, Iglesias relied on the work of Bernard Herrmann for the films “ Psycho ” and “ Dizziness ” - a classic of musical accompaniment to films ^[4] .

Thanks to Fernando Meyrellis ’s film “The Loyal Gardener, ” Iglesias earned the first serious attention from American critics. Minimalist, built on the sound of the piano, strings and inserts of the choral performance, the soundtrack allowed the composer to become an Oscar nominee ^[4] . Iglesis could have repeated this result with the sixth joint project with Almodovar - the 2006 film “ Return ”. The soundtrack is closest to the music of “The Flower of My Secret” - the first experience of collaboration between Iglesias and Almodovar - and is distinguished by a “lighter” sound compared to the music of Iglesias from previous films by the Spanish director. Iglesias with his new work was considered by such film composers as Hans Zimmer , Gabriel Yared , Howard Shore and Gustavo Santaolaglia as the favorite of the Oscars, but did not get into the main competition ^[5] . At the same time, the composer became a laureate of the “ European Oscar” in his nomination .

Runner in the Wind

In the film directed by Marc Forster, “ Runner for the Wind ”, for the story connected with the events in Afghanistan , musical design in an epic vein was required. The reference point was to be the music from the movie Lawrence of Arabia . In accordance with the theme, it was decided to use motives of ethnic culture. Iglesias when creating the soundtrack was based on Spanish musical traditions, Indian and Middle Eastern music. After the release of the picture in 2007, the composer was among the nominees for the Oscars and Golden Globes and received the Sputnik Award ” ^[4] .

Che and Open Hugs

Creating the soundtrack for the documentary " Che " about the famous revolutionary , Iglesias collaborated with Stephen Soderbergh , which again resulted in the nomination for "Goya". The composer claimed the same prize after the release of Almodovar's new film, “ Open Hugs ” ^[6] .

Other activities

Throughout the 1990s, Alberto Iglesias collaborated with Spanish dancer and choreographer Nacho Duato . During this time, Iglesias became the author of music and the producer of several ballets included in the repertoire of the National Ballet of Spain and shown in many countries ^[3] . Among these productions are Cautiva (1992), Tabulae (1994), Cero Sobre Cero (1995) and Self (1997) ^[7] .

In the movie, I have to adapt to the images that give me, and sometimes offer ideas, working fast; this is not so in dance. ”

Original text (Spanish)

En el cine me tengo que adaptar a las imágenes que me dan ya veces sintetizar las ideas, trabajando rápido; y en la danza, no tanto

- Alberto Iglesias ^[3]

Ballet

• Cautiva (1992)
• Tabulae (1994)
• “Cero Sobre Cero” (1995)
• Self (1997)

Other works

• Sh-hh (1988): piece for string quartet and electronic instruments
• Cautiva (1992): a work based on the texts of Ezra Pound and James Joyce
• “Group of dogs” (1996): a short piece for the ensemble
• "A registered Patent" (2001): music for a radio show based on the text of Juan Munoz performed by John Malkovich
• Habitación en Do (2004): instrumental piece for ensemble
• Assault to the Castle (2006): vocal and orchestra piece
• Orfeo en Palermo (2007): orchestration for cello solo, sound simulator, narrator and symphony orchestra
• “In The Land of The Lemon Trees” (2009): three-part composition for soprano , guitar and orchestra
• Cuarteto Breve (2010): piece for string quartet

• Официальный сайт (исп.) (англ.)
• Альберто Иглесиас (англ.) на сайте Internet Movie Database