Cristóbal Halffter

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Contemporary Music category goes to Spanish composer and conductor Cristóbal Halffter (Madrid, 1930), whose works breathe with inspiration, in the words of the prize jury. “Through their coherence and the continuity of their commitment, they have greatly contributed to the idea of a European contemporary music”.

Since the late 1950s and early 1960s, the citation goes on, he “has made a major contribution to the reintroduction of Spanish music into the world of contemporary music”.

Cristóbal Halffter is one of the leading composers from the “Generation of 1951”, and is also widely acknowledged to be a key figure in the European music of the twentieth century. His work has been a force for renewal in Spanish contemporary music, which he helped bring within the mainstream of international musical creation. True to his time, he has experimented with numerous contemporary techniques including electroacoustic music and serialism. Internationally, Halffter’s reputation rests on his achievements as both composer and conductor.  

Halffter’s first words on hearing of the award were: “The real triumph is that an award family devoted to knowledge has accorded contemporary music the same recognition as physics or ecology. That is truly a fabulous stature to give us”.

The new laureate draws additional satisfaction from the fact that the prize was decided by an international jury meeting in Spain: “Although I have lived abroad and it was there that I won my first recognition, I have never cut myself off from Spain. Not only am I delighted at this prize, but it also binds me more tightly to our shared culture”.

Championing music’s place in human knowledge

While reasserting the claim of contemporary music as an essential part of human knowledge, Halffter calls for it to receive greater public attention: “Many major works expressive of the culture of the turn of the century have been virtually ignored. That is why I am so pleased to be in the company of scientists in these Frontiers of Knowledge awards. And I stress the word knowledge here, not information. Information is everywhere; it is knowledge we are running short of”.

Halffter also reflects on the idea of culture in our times: “Our society tends to confuse culture and spectacle. Culture can be spectacle, but spectacle is often anything but culture”. And it is here, in his judgment, that innovation encounters most obstacles: “For me, the world’s best tenor performing La Traviata is just not news; what really excites me is the premiere of a string quartet by any of my colleagues”.

Halffter was nominated for the award by the Royal San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts (Spain), music publisher Universal Edition (Austria), the Paul Sacher Foundation (Switzerland), and the Prince Pierre of Monaco Foundation.

International jury

The jury was chaired by Juerg Stenzl, Professor of Musicology at the University of Salzburg (Austria), with Siegfried Mauser, President at Munich University of Music and Performing Arts (Germany), acting as secretary. Remaining members were Hugues Dufourt, composer and Emeritus Research Director at France’s Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Ranko Markovic, Artistic Director of the Konservatorium Wien University (Austria); Luis de Pablo, Spanish composer, and Dieter Torkewitz, Professor of Music Theory at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna (Austria).