Radamés Gnatalli(1906-1988)
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Radamés Gnatalli was born in January 27 of 1906, in Porto Alegre, the
son of an Italian piano teacher named Alessandro Gnatalli, who loved
opera very much and called his children opera character's names
(Radamés, Aída and Ernani). When he was 6 years old, Radamés started to
learn from his mother how to play the piano. His mother, Adélia Fonseca
Gnatalli, was a piano teacher. Since childhood, Radamés showed his
musical ability. Once, he was awarded by the Italian Consul in a party,
where the 9-year-old boy conducted a children's orchestra, with scores
composed by himself. He entered in the Conservatory at age of 14, and
had classes with the teacher Guilherme Fontainha, who after some years
was the director of the Escola Nacional de Música (National School of
Music), in Rio de Janeiro. Before got his diploma, he gave a piano
recital in Rio in 1924. Back in Porto Alegre, Radamés did his final
exam, finishing his course with excellent marks. Still in 1924, he
participated in the Araújo Viana Prize and got the gold medal. By 1931,
Radamés Gnatalli had dedicated himself to musical composition. He was
the conductor of the orchestra of the Rádio Nacional do Rio de Janeiro
(National Broadcast), author of 6000 musical arrangements, considered
the best arranger of popular music in Brazil. He played his popular and
concert compositions, with great success, around Europe and the USA.
From 1963 to 1967, the composer worked in the TV Excelsior; and after,
until 1986, when he fell ill, was arranger and conductor in the TV
Globo. He died in February 3 of 1988, in Rio de Janeiro. Radamés used
Brazilian musical traditions and folklore in his work, creating a
personal style with some jazz and Debussy influences. His main works
are the ten Brasilianas, quartets and trios and 26 concerts - among
them a concert for the piano and orchestra, concerts for the harp and
clarinet and a Concerto para Harmônica de Boca (Harmonica's Concert),
dedicated for Eduardo Nadruz, the Edu da Gaita.