Henrique Oswald
Considered as one of the most important composers of his generation, Henrique Oswald (1852-1931) cultivated a refined and Romantically inspired style that is even
today admired for its unique charm and craft. Although his parents sent him to
Europe to study with Von Bülow, upon arriving in Italy Oswald decided to enter
the Moriani Institute in Florence, where he studied counterpoint, harmony and
composition. By 1896, having firmly established his reputation, Oswald,
accompanied by his wife and a cellist, returned to Brazil where they performed
his music to great acclaim in both São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Oswald was
sent back to Europe in 1900 as a diplomat, and was briefly unable to continue
composing. In 1902 his work,
Il Neige! won a five-hundred-franc first
prize in a competition sponsored by the French newspaper,
Figaro. It had
been selected from 647 entries submitted from around the world. From 1903 to
1906 he directed the National Institute of Music in Rio de Janeiro. In 1922 the
“Semana de Arte Moderna” manifesto produced a new artistic aesthetic in Brazil.
Oswald’s music, now “drowned by the nationalistic tidal wave,” soon fell into
disfavor.
Maestro Oswald’s Compositions
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