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Created a new section called Personal Life. Moved his marriage and descent details. Updated marriages to 3 instead of two.
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Moved the section about South Pasadena to the personal life section of the page.
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Catán was the first Mexican composer to have an opera produced in the United States, when [[San Diego Opera]] produced his opera ''[[Rappaccini's Daughter (opera)|Rappaccini's Daughter]]'' in March 1994. He has also composed orchestral and [[Chamber music|chamber works]] and film music. His style can be described as neo-impressionist. His music is richly lyrical, often painting evocative colours with the orchestral palette with soaring melodies atop.
Catán was the first Mexican composer to have an opera produced in the United States, when [[San Diego Opera]] produced his opera ''[[Rappaccini's Daughter (opera)|Rappaccini's Daughter]]'' in March 1994. He has also composed orchestral and [[Chamber music|chamber works]] and film music. His style can be described as neo-impressionist. His music is richly lyrical, often painting evocative colours with the orchestral palette with soaring melodies atop.


In addition to composition, Catán had a fruitful career as a writer on music and the arts, reflective of his knowledge of world literature. He lived in [[South Pasadena, California]]. In 1998, Catán received the Plácido Domingo Award for his contribution to opera, and he received a [[Guggenheim Fellowship]] in 2000. His last opera, ''Il Postino'', whose premiere featured Plácido Domingo in the role of [[Pablo Neruda]], is based on the 1983 novel ''[[Ardiente paciencia]]'' by [[Antonio Skármeta]] and the 1994 film ''[[Il Postino]]'' by [[Michael Radford]]; it premiered at the [[Los Angeles Opera]] in September 2010.
In addition to composition, Catán had a fruitful career as a writer on music and the arts, reflective of his knowledge of world literature. In 1998, Catán received the Plácido Domingo Award for his contribution to opera, and he received a [[Guggenheim Fellowship]] in 2000. His last opera, ''Il Postino'', whose premiere featured Plácido Domingo in the role of [[Pablo Neruda]], is based on the 1983 novel ''[[Ardiente paciencia]]'' by [[Antonio Skármeta]] and the 1994 film ''[[Il Postino]]'' by [[Michael Radford]]; it premiered at the [[Los Angeles Opera]] in September 2010.


Catán died aged 62 on April 8, 2011, in [[Austin, Texas]], a few days after he attended rehearsals for ''Il Postino'' at the [[Moores School of Music|Moores Opera Center]] at the [[University of Houston]]. At the time of his death, Catán was a member of the faculty at [[College of the Canyons]] and had been commissioned by the [[Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music]] at the [[University of Texas at Austin]] to write a new opera, ''Meet John Doe.''<ref name="ON"/> Other planned projects included a collaboration with Michael Charles Tobias on his libretto "The Misadventures of Pinocchio".
Catán died aged 62 on April 8, 2011, in [[Austin, Texas]], a few days after he attended rehearsals for ''Il Postino'' at the [[Moores School of Music|Moores Opera Center]] at the [[University of Houston]]. At the time of his death, Catán was a member of the faculty at [[College of the Canyons]] and had been commissioned by the [[Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music]] at the [[University of Texas at Austin]] to write a new opera, ''Meet John Doe.''<ref name="ON"/> Other planned projects included a collaboration with Michael Charles Tobias on his libretto "The Misadventures of Pinocchio".
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==Personal Life==
==Personal Life==
Catán was of [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardic Jewish]] descent. He was married three times, two of which ended divorce. He and his first wife Liza had two children.<ref name="Stearns">{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/apr/17/daniel-catan-obituary|title=Daniel Catán obituary:Mexican-born composer whose romantic operas in Spanish have flourished in the US|work=[[The Guardian]]|author=David Patrick Stearns|date=17 April 2011}}</ref>
Catán was of [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardic Jewish]] descent. He was married three times, two of which ended divorce. He and his first wife Liza had two children.<ref name="Stearns">{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/apr/17/daniel-catan-obituary|title=Daniel Catán obituary:Mexican-born composer whose romantic operas in Spanish have flourished in the US|work=[[The Guardian]]|author=David Patrick Stearns|date=17 April 2011}}</ref> He lived in [[South Pasadena, California]] at the time of his death.


==Works==
==Works==

Revision as of 17:37, 7 August 2016

Daniel Catán
Daniel Catán
Background information
Born(1949-04-03)April 3, 1949
Mexico City, Mexico
DiedApril 9, 2011(2011-04-09) (aged 62)
Austin, Texas
Occupation(s)Composer, Writer, Professor
Years active1972-2011
Websitedanielcatan.com

Daniel Catán (April 3, 1949 – April 9, 2011)[1] was a Mexican composer known particularly for his operas.

Career

Catán was born in Mexico City and studied philosophy at the University of Sussex and music at the University of Southampton. He received a Ph.D. from Princeton University, where he studied with Milton Babbitt, James K. Randall, and Benjamin Boretz.[2]

Catán was the first Mexican composer to have an opera produced in the United States, when San Diego Opera produced his opera Rappaccini's Daughter in March 1994. He has also composed orchestral and chamber works and film music. His style can be described as neo-impressionist. His music is richly lyrical, often painting evocative colours with the orchestral palette with soaring melodies atop.

In addition to composition, Catán had a fruitful career as a writer on music and the arts, reflective of his knowledge of world literature. In 1998, Catán received the Plácido Domingo Award for his contribution to opera, and he received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2000. His last opera, Il Postino, whose premiere featured Plácido Domingo in the role of Pablo Neruda, is based on the 1983 novel Ardiente paciencia by Antonio Skármeta and the 1994 film Il Postino by Michael Radford; it premiered at the Los Angeles Opera in September 2010.

Catán died aged 62 on April 8, 2011, in Austin, Texas, a few days after he attended rehearsals for Il Postino at the Moores Opera Center at the University of Houston. At the time of his death, Catán was a member of the faculty at College of the Canyons and had been commissioned by the Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin to write a new opera, Meet John Doe.[2] Other planned projects included a collaboration with Michael Charles Tobias on his libretto "The Misadventures of Pinocchio".

Compositional style

Catán composed his music in a neo-Romantic and lyrical style.[2] Opera News stated that his music had "a distinctive lushness that seemed of a piece with the twentieth century's great movie music yet remained unquestionably operatic in scope."[2] Accountable to constraints of their commissions, Catán’s compositions stand clearly self-contained. Music critic David Patrick Stearns wrote, "Though Catán's style was often compared to that of Puccini and Debussy, it changed with every work, from the lush nature painting of Florencia en El Amazonas (1996) to the Cuban ethnic influences of Salsipuedes (2004), and the more integrated sonorities that portrayed the inner emotions of Il Postino (2010). Other critics noted the influences of Richard Strauss and Heitor Villa-Lobos with his orchestral structures.[3]

Of his own music Catán said, "I have inherited a very rich operatic tradition. In my work, I am proud to say, one can detect the enormous debt I owe to composers from Monteverdi to Alban Berg. But perhaps the greatest of my debts is having learnt that the originality of an opera need not involve the rejection of our tradition—which would be like blindly embracing the condition of an orphan—but rather the profound assimilation of it, so as to achieve the closest union between a text and its music."[2] Catán also cited in many interviews Igor Stravinsky, Maurice Ravel, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold among those who had most influenced his music and compositional style.

Personal Life

Catán was of Sephardic Jewish descent. He was married three times, two of which ended divorce. He and his first wife Liza had two children.[4] He lived in South Pasadena, California at the time of his death.

Works

Ballet
  • Ausencia de Flores (Absence of Flowers) (1983)
Chamber and instrumental
  • Quintet (1972)
  • Trío (1982)
  • Cuando bailas, Leonor (1984)
  • Adagio (tema del amor) (1994)
  • Encantamiento, for flute and harp (2003)
  • Sexteto (2003-2004)
  • Concertino (2005)
  • Amaya (2009)
Choral
  • Cantata (1981)
  • O, Pardon Me, Thou Bleeding Piece of Earth (2006)
Film, theater and TV
  • El medallón de Mantelillos (1982)
  • Antonieta: A Musical (1992-1993)
  • El Vuelo del águila (Don Porfirio) (1994)
  • I'm Losing You (1996)
Opera
Orchestral
  • Hetaera Esmeralda (1975)
  • El Árbol de la Vida: variaciones sinfónicas (The Tree of Life) (1980)
  • En un Doblez del Tiempo (A Fold in Time) (1982)
  • Tu son tu risa tu sonrisa (1991)
  • El Vuelo del Águila (Don Porfirio) (The Eagle's Flight) (1994)
  • Florencia en el Amazonas: Suite for Orchestra (2003)
Solo Instrument
  • Variaciones para piano ca (1977)
  • Encantamiento, for 2 recorders (1989)
  • Vals “Don Porfirio” (1994)
  • Son de Salsipuedes (1999)
Solo Voice and Piano
  • “Giovanni’s Aria” (1983-1989)
  • “Contristada” (1991)
  • “Del Destino” (1996)
  • “Duet Act I (Now that I Have Found You)” (1992-1993)
  • “Comprendo” (1992-1993)
  • “Nothing can go Wrong” (1992-1993)
  • “Song (When I am dead)” (1992-1993)
  • “There were days” (1992-1993)
  • “Trust, Antonieta…” (1992-1993)
  • “You that think love…” (1992-1993)
  • “Hail the World’s Soul and Mine!” (Undated)
Soloist and Orchestra
  • Ocaso de medianoche (1977)
  • Mariposa de obsidiana (1984)
  • Terra Final (1985)
  • Caribbean Airs (2007)

See also

References

  1. ^ "Daniel Catán, composer of the opera Il Postino, dies at 62" by Chris Tomlinson, Associated Press (11 April 2011)
  2. ^ a b c d e "Daniel Catán, 62, Composer of Il Postino and Florencia en el Amazonas, Has Died". Opera News. 11 April 2011.
  3. ^ "Daniel Catán (1949–2011)". Gig. 13 April 2011.
  4. ^ David Patrick Stearns (17 April 2011). "Daniel Catán obituary:Mexican-born composer whose romantic operas in Spanish have flourished in the US". The Guardian.
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