Osvaldo Noé Golijov (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡoli'xof]; born December 5, 1960) is an Argentine composer of classical music and music professor known for his vocal and orchestral work.
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Biography
Osvaldo Golijov was born and raised in La Plata, Argentina, to a Jewish family that immigrated to Argentina from Romania and USSR. His mother was a piano teacher, and his father was a physician. He studied piano in La Plata and studied composition with Gerardo Gandini.
In 1983, Golijov emigrated to Israel, where he studied with Mark Kopytman at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. Three years later, he studied with George Crumb at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree. In 1991, Golijov joined the faculty of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he was named Loyola Professor of Music in 2007. During the 2012-2013 concert season, he occupied the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer's Chair at Carnegie Hall.
As of 2016, Golijov lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Golijov is married to author Leah Hager Cohen. He was previously married to architect and designer Neri Oxman, and he has three children with his first wife, Silvia, who is a Special Education teacher.
Music career
Golijov grew up listening to chamber music, Jewish liturgical and klezmer music, and the nuevo tango of Ástor Piazzolla. His Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind was inspired by the writings and teachings of Rabbi Yitzhak Saggi Nehor.
In 1996, his work Oceana was premiered at the Oregon Bach Festival. He composed La Pasión según San Marcos for the Passion 2000 project in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach. In 2010, he composed Sidereus for a consortium of 35 American orchestras, to commemorate Galileo.
Golijov had a long working relationship with soprano Dawn Upshaw, who he called his muse. She premiered some of his works, often written specifically for her. These included Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra and his popular opera, Ainadamar, which premiered at Tanglewood in 2003.
Starting in 2000, Golijov composed movie soundtracks for documentaries and other films, including The Man Who Cried, Youth Without Youth, Tetro and Twixt. He also composed and arranged chamber music, including for the Kronos Quartet (Nuevo) and the St. Lawrence String Quartet.
Golijov's song cycle "Falling Out of Time" was inspired by a novel by Israeli author David Grossman.
Golijov composed the soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola's "Megalopolis" which he subsequently developed into a symphonic work premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on November 8, 2024. Coppola was present at the world premier of this work.
Controversies
Golijov came under scrutiny in 2011 for a series of commissions that were either delayed or cancelled. A violin concerto written for the Los Angeles Philharmonic was not completed in time, Golijov missed a second deadline the following year in Berlin, and a third composition missed its January 2013 premiere at Disney Hall.
This followed a similar cancellation in 2010, when a scheduled song cycle had to be removed from the program when it was not completed in time. The March 2011 premiere of a new string quartet for the St. Lawrence Quartet was also postponed, though the work, Qohelet, was completed later that year and premiered by the quartet in October 2011.
Around 2006, the Metropolitan Opera commissioned Golijov to compose an opera, to be performed in the 2018–19 season. In 2016, the Met cancelled the commission because of the composer's lack of progress.
Tom Manoff, a composer and critic, and Brian McWhorter, a trumpeter, alleged that Golijov's Sidereus was largely copied from Michael Ward-Bergeman's composition Barbeich. Alex Ross of The New Yorker reviewed both scores and wrote, "To put it bluntly, 'Sidereus' is 'Barbeich' with additional material attached." Ross added that Ward-Bergeman knew of and did not object to Golijov's borrowings, having written, "Osvaldo and I came to an agreement regarding the use of 'Barbeich' for 'Sidereus.' The terms were clearly understood, and we were both happy to agree. Osvaldo and I have been friends and collaborators for years. I don’t have anything else to say about the matter." A consortium of 35 orchestras had paid Golijov $75,000, supplemented by a $50,000 grant from the League of American Orchestras, to write a 20-minute work. The work that Golijov produced was only 9 minutes long. Golijov had used that same musical material in his 2009 composition Radio.
Golijov responded to these questions by explaining that he composed the original musical material jointly with Ward-Bergeman for a film score which in the end did not include the material, and that he used it by agreement with Ward-Bergeman, who did not comment publicly on the matter. Golijov cited Monteverdi, Schubert and Mahler as other composers who used existing musical material to create new music.
Notable compositions
Opera
Ainadamar (2003), One act opera, libretto by David Henry Hwang
Orchestral & concertante works
Last Round (1996) for string orchestra
Tenebrae (2002) for string orchestra (also version for string quartet)
Rose of the Winds (2007) for ensemble and orchestra
Youth Without Youth Suite (2007/2011) for chamber orchestra
ZZ's Dream (2008) for chamber orchestra (also version for piano)
Sidereus (2010)
Phoenix (2010)
Megalopolis Suite (2024)
Concertante
The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind (1994) for clarinet and string orchestra
Azul (2006), Concerto for cello, obbligato group and orchestra
Sign of the Leviathan (2015) for horn and string orchestra
The Given Note (2024), Concerto for violin and chamber orchestra
Chamber music
Yiddishbbuk (1992) for string quartet
The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind (1994) for klezmer clarinet and string quartet
Fish Tale (1998) for flute and guitar
Mariel (1999) for cello and marimba (also version for cello and orchestra)
Lullaby and Doina (2001) for flute or soprano, clarinet and string quartet
Tekyah (2005) for chamber ensemble
Air to Air (2006) for ensemble
Radio (2009) for hyperaccordion, laptop and string quartet
Qohelet (2011) for string quartet
Um Dia Bom (2021) for string quartet
Ever Yours (2022) for string nonet (also version for string quartet and string orchestra)
Laika (2024) for mixed ensemble
Tintype (2024) for string quintet
Solo instrument
Omaramor (1991) for solo cello
Levante (2004) for piano
Wasserfluth (2016) for piano
The Last Moho Brachatus (2022) for solo cello
Vocal music
There Is Wind and There Are Ashes in the Wind (1991) for clarinet, piano and narrator
Sarajevo (1993) for voice and ensemble
Oceana (1996), Cantata for soloists, chorus and orchestra
La Pasión según San Marcos (St. Mark's Passion) (2000) for soloists, chorus and orchestra
Tenebrae (2002) for soprano, clarinet and string quartet
Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra (2002) (also version for soprano and string orchestra)
Ayre (2004) for soprano and chamber ensemble
Drag Down the Sky (2016) for baritone and string quartet
Falling Out of Time (2019) for three singers and amplified ensemble
Arrangements
She Was Here (2008), an orchestration of four songs by Schubert
Se Me Hizo Facil (2013) by Agustín Lara, arranged for string quartet
Two Bagatelles (2016) by Beethoven, arranged for two violins
Awards and recognition
Awards
Guggenheim Fellowship (1995)
MacArthur Fellowship (2003)
Musical America Composer of the Year (2006)
Grammy Awards x2 (2007): Ainadamar, Best Opera Recording and Best Classical Contemporary Composition
Vilcek Prize in Music (2008)
Appointments
Merkin Hall (New York), composer-in-residence (1998)
Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Alive Series, composer-in-residence (2001)
Ravinia Festival, composer-in-residence (2002)
Spoleto Festival USA, composer-in-residence (2002, 2011)
Ojai Music Festival, composer-in-residence (2006)
Mostly Mozart Festival, composer-in-residence (2007)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, composer-in-residence (2007–2010)
Holland Festival, composer-in-residence (2008)
Carnegie Hall, Debs Composer Chair (2012–13)
Selected discography
Film soundtracks
The Man Who Cried soundtrack (Sony Classical/SME SK 61870)
Youth Without Youth soundtrack (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics, 2007)
Tetro soundtrack (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics, 2009)
Twixt soundtrack
Megalopolis soundtrack
Voice, chamber music and orchestral
Yiddishbbuk (EMI Classics 7243 5 57356 2 1) – nominated for a 2003 Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance
Oceana (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics, 2007)
Ayre (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics 477 5414)—nominated for a 2006 Grammy for Best Classical Contemporary Composition
Ainadamar (Dawn Upshaw, Robert Spano, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra) (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics)—won two 2007 Grammy Awards for recording and for composition
La Pasión según San Marcos The Passion according to St. Mark (live & studio) (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics 479 0346)
The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind performed by the Kronos Quartet (Nonesuch/Elektra 79444)
Voices of Light, Lúa Descolorida sung by soprano Dawn Upshaw (Nonesuch/Elektra 79812)
Night Prayers, K'vakarat on recording of the Kronos Quartet (Nonesuch/Elektra 79346)