Luis Bacalov

Luis Enríquez Bacalov
Born (1933-08-30) 30 August 1933
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Nationality Argentinian, Italian
Occupation Composer of film scores

Luis Enríquez Bacalov (born 30 August 1933) is an Argentine-born Italian composer of film scores. Early on in his career, he composed scores for Spaghetti Western films. In the early 1970s, he collaborated with Italian progressive rock bands. Bacalov has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Original Score, winning it in 1996 for Il Postino. Bacalov has composed significant works for chorus and orchestra. Presently he is the artistic director of the Orchestra della Magna Grecia in Taranto, Italy.[1]

Life and career

Luis Bacalov was born in Buenos Aires to a family of Bulgarian-Jewish origin, but even though he identifies as a Jew, he does not practice Judaism.[2][3][4] His paternal grandparents were Banat Bulgarians who emigrated to Argentina.[5] His film credits include westerns such as Django, A Bullet for the General, and The Grand Duel, and Italian crime films such as Caliber 9, Il Boss and Mister Scarface. He also scored Fellini's City of Women in 1980.

Bacalov has been nominated twice for Academy Award for Original Score—music adaptation or treatment— in 1967 for Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew, and winning the award for Il Postino in 1996.

In the early 1970s, he collaborated with Italian progressive rock bands such as New Trolls, on their 1971 album, Concerto grosso per i New Trolls,[6] Osanna, on the band's second album, Preludio Tema Variazioni e Canzona released in 1972,[7] and Il Rovescio della Medaglia for the 1973 release of their third album, Contaminazione.[8]

Bacalov has also composed significant works for chorus and orchestra, including his Misa Tango (1997), a work setting a Spanish-language adaptation of the classic liturgical Mass to the tango rhythms of his native Argentina. The standard Mass text has been significantly truncated in accordance with Bacalov's desire that the work appeal to those of all Abrahamic faiths: Christians, Muslims and Jews.[4] All references to Christ — except for the Lamb of God (Latin: Agnus Dei) — have been deleted. Credo, the third and longest text part of a sung Mass, has been reduced to most of its first strophe and part of the second one: "Credo in unum Deum, ... omnipotentem, factorem cœli et terrae." (" I believe in one God, ... Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth") plus "Amen" at the end. Misa Tango debuted in Rome with Plácido Domingo as solo tenor in 2000 and was later recorded by Deutsche Grammophon with Plácido Domingo (tenor), Ana María Martínez (mezzo-soprano) and Héctor Ulises Passarella (bandoneón).

Bacalov composed Cantones de Nuestro Tiempos (Psalms for our Times: The Cambridge Psalms) (2006), a commissioned work with text from the Psalms of David for baritone and soprano soloists, orchestra and chorus, which had its world premiere at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in spring 2006 by the Cambridge Community Chorus (William E. Thomas, Music Director). This followed the 19 May 2002 U.S. premiere performance of "Misa Tango" also at Harvard University's Sanders Theatre (William E. Thomas, Music Director).

Two of his songs, "The Grand Duel (Parte Prima)" and "Summertime Killer", were used in Quentin Tarantino's film Kill Bill (2003). Tarantino also used three Bacalov songs from the Spaghetti western era in his 2012 movie Django Unchained: "Django" and "La Corsa (2nd Version)" originally from Django (1966), and "Lo Chiamavano King" from His Name Was King.

Bacalov was the first to write a triple-concerto for bandoneón, piano, soprano and symphony orchestra: Tango Music with Symphonic Proportions.

As of 2014, he is the principal director of Orchestra della Magna Grecia in Taranto, southern Italy.

Selected filmography

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Bootleg and unauthorized

References

  1. ↑ "Bacalov: "Più attenzione per l'orchestra ICO della Magna Grecia"" [Bacalov: "More care for the Orchestra ICO della Magna Grecia"] (in Italian). 7 July 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  2. ↑ Luis Bacalov, la vuelta al pago (Interview with Luis Bacalov)
  3. ↑ Luis Bacalov: ‘Io, musicista ebreo affascinato da Cristo’
  4. 1 2 Italian television, TG2 Mizar, 08.09.2014, La musica, il cinema e materia: Il vangelo secondo PPP vis(su)to da Luis E. Bacalov (The Gospels according to Pier Paolo Pasolini seen and lived by Luis E. Bacalov), at 00:10:35. See also Giuseppina Manin, Bacalov in concerto, il tango diventa una messa in Corriere della sera, 1 October 2000, page 35.
  5. ↑ Moskov, Nikolay (2013-02-01). "The composer of Django Unchained — a Banat Bulgarian". 24 Chasa (in Bulgarian). Sofia: VGB. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  6. ↑ New Trolls. ItalianProg.com.
  7. ↑ Osanna. ItalianProg.com.
  8. ↑ Il Rovescio della Medaglia. ItalianProg.com.
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