Alberto Ginastera was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on April 11,
1916. He was graduated with honors from the National Conservatory in his
native city where, in 1953, he became professor. In 1946 he visited the
United States remaining a year on a Guggenheim Fellowship. Ginastera’s
music combines musical elements native to Argentina with modern
techniques and idioms, and includes ballets, chamber music, a _Pastoral
Symphony_ and other works for orchestra, and pieces for the piano.
The _Dances_ from the ballet, _Estancia_ (1941) is among his most
popular works. The ballet, choreography by George Balanchine, was first
introduced by the Ballet Caravan. It describes life on an “estancia,” an
Argentine ranch, tracing the activities of its principal character
through a single day from dawn of one day to dawn of the next. The
orchestral dances are rich in native melodies and rhythms, presenting
the various dance sequences in “stylized version.” Two dances are
especially popular: “Dance of the Wheat” and “Malambo.”