Valcárcel, Edgar

Valcárcel, Edgar, Peruvian composer and teacher, nephew of Teodoro Valcárcel; b. Puno, Dec. 4,1932. He studied composition with Andrés Sas at the Lima Cons., then went to N.Y., where he studied with Donald Lybbert at Hunter Coll.; subsequently traveled to Buenos Aires, where he took composition lessons with Ginastera; also had sessions with Messiaen in Paris, and with Malipiero, Maderna, and Dallapiccola in Italy; furthermore, he joined the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center and worked with Ussachevsky. He held 2 Guggenheim fellowships (1966, 1968). He was prof, of composition at the Lima Cons, (from 1965). In his compositions, he adopted an extremely advanced idiom that combined serial and aleatory principles, leaving to the performer the choice to use or not to use given thematic materials.

Works

orch: Concerto for Clarinet and Strings (1965; Lima, March 6, 1966); Quenua (Lima, Aug. 18, 1965); Aleaciones (Lima, May 5, 1967); Piano Concerto (Lima, Aug. 8, 1968); Checán II (Lima, June 5, 1970); Ma’karabotasaq hachana (1971); Sajra (1974); Anti Memoria II (Washington, D.C., April 25, 1980). CHAMBER: 2 string quartets (1962, 1963); Espectros Ifor Flute, Viola, and Piano (1964), IIfor Horn, Cello, and Piano (1968), and IIIfor Oboe, Violin, and Piano (1974); Dicotomías IIIfor 12 Instruments (Mexico City, Nov. 20, 1966); Fisionesfor 10 Instruments (1967); Hiwana urufor 11 Instruments (1967); Trio for Amplified Violin, Trombone, and Clarinet (1968); Poemafor Amplified Violin, Voice, Piano, and Percussion (1969); Checán Ifor 6 Instruments (1969), IIIfor 19 Instruments (1971), and Vfor Strings (1974); Montage 59for String Quartet, Clarinet, Piano, and Lights (1971). P i a n o : 2 sonatas (1963, 1972); Dicotomias Iand II (1966). OTHER: Choral pieces; multimedia works; electronic music, including Antarasfor Flute, Percussion, and Electronics (1968).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire