The Influences of Argentinean Criollo Dance and Folk Music in the Orchestral Works of Alberto Ginastera

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how the folk elements from Argentina’s pre-colonial and colonial periods permeated the music of one of Argentina’s leading composers, Alberto Ginastera. This study will not only focus on Ginastera’s life and music, but it will also provide an ample historical context, to explain the political, historical and cultural conditions in which Ginastera emerged as a composer with a distinctive Argentinean voice. This document will examine the rhythmic content of Ginastera’s music from his first compositional period (1937-57) and compare it to native and European (immigrant) folk rhythms, to explain its origins and development within Argentina. Parallels will be drawn between different compositions by Ginastera and folk dances from the pampa such as la huella, el bailecito, el gato and especially malambo.