Benet Casablancas Domingo (born 2 April 1956 in Sabadell) is a Catalan composer and musicologist.
Casablancas started to study music in Barcelona's Conservatory of Music and privately with Josep Soler Sardàand then moved to Vienna, where he attended lessons in the Vienna Academy of Music with Friedrich Cerha and Karl Heinz Füssl. He also graduated in philosophy in Universidad Autònoma de Barcelona (1982) and has a PhD in musicology by the same university. He has always combined composition with teaching and research. In 2000, he published the book âÂÂEl humor en la músicaâ and in 2002, he was appointed Academic Director of the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu of Barcelona.
Since the 1990s, Casablancasâ music enjoys an increasing international diffusion. His âÂÂNew Epigramsâ (1997), which have been performed all around the world (USA, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Venezuela, Croatia, Lituania, Japan, etc.), represented Spain at the ISMC World Music Days Vilnius (2008). Also in 2008, the âÂÂSeven Scenes of Hamletâ had its UK premiere in a performance by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and in 2009, his work âÂÂAlter Klang. Impromptu for Orchestraâ was first played in the Netherlands and Belgium by the NJO of the Netherlands, in Sweden by the Malmö Symfoni Orkester and performed again in Belgium by the Orchestre National de Belgique. In the chamber field, the Arditti Quartet gave the premiere of Casablancas' "String Quartet n.3". In December 2009, he was invited to visit Japan (Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka), where he gave lectures and master-classes and attended several concerts which included the JP Prémière of his set of "Haiku".
In the last years, several monographic concerts have taken place in Vienna at the Musikverein, Madrid (Auditorio 400 del Museo Reina SofÃÂa, Música dhoy, Residencia de Estudiantes, CÃÂrculo de Bellas Artes) and Barcelona (LôAuditori). They were followed, in February 2010, by a Composer's Portrait by Perspectives Ensemble in Miller Theatre of New York, conducted by Angel Gil-Ordoñez, which included the US Premiere of the "Seven Scenes from Hamlet" (with the actor Chuck Cooper in the soloist role) and the World Premiere of the new work, âÂÂFour Darks in RedâÂÂ, after Rothko, commissioned by Miller Theatre with the collaboration of the Foundation for Iberian Music. There has been another premiere planned for 2010, that of his âÂÂChamber Concerto n.1 for Clarinet and Chamber OrchestraâÂÂ, which has been commissioned by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Also in 2010, his work âÂÂNew Epigramsâ was performed by The London Simfonietta, conducted by Frank Ollu, in Barcelona (âÂÂ'Festival Nous Sons'09', L'AuditoriâÂÂ) and in Madrid (Saison of CDMC, Auditorio 400 Museo Reina Sofia)
Next commitments include new commissions and performances by Ensemble 88 Maastricht, Deutsches Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Ensemble Nomad Japan, Ensemble Cantus Croatia, Grupo Encuentros de Buenos Aires, The Tokyo Sinfonietta, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, conducted by Oliver Knussen and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. He has been "Visiting Composer" at the "Cairo Contemporary Music Days 2011" and currently he is working in several commissions by Fundación Autor y la Asociación de Orquestas Españolas (AEOS), the pianist Diego Fernández Magdaleno (homage to Jordi Savall), and the Foundation for Iberian Music at The City University New York.
In 2011, Benet Casablancas has signed an exclusive publishing agreement with The Music Sales Group (UME). Previous publishers include Tritó Edicions, EMEC and Boileau.
In 2013, Casablancas was distinguished with the Spanish National Music Prize 2013 (âÂÂPremio Nacional de Música 2013âÂÂ) granted by the Spanish Ministry of Culture. This award is the most prestigious honour of its kind within Spain. The decision of the jury was unanimous regarding the intellectual maturity of Casablancas's works, the diversity of genres mastered by him and the international impact of his works.
Benet Casablancas has been appointed Composer in Residence of the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya for the 2013âÂÂ14 and 2014âÂÂ15 seasons. Currently he works in several commissions: CNDM de Madrid (for the Joven Orquesta Nacional de España (JONDE) and the Festival de Granada), and Ensemble Reconsil in Vienna. Recently he has received the commission of a new opera, "Lôenigma di Lea", based on the original idea and libretto by Rafael Argullol, by the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona to be premiered next 2016âÂÂ2017 Season.
In 1990, the composition of the first piece of the âÂÂEpigramsâ series was a turning point in Casablancas' musical language; it evolved from the early influence of the formal techniques of serialism towards wider and more sensual idiom, which shows a renewed harmonical, textural and instrumental thinking. Critics have praised his music for keeping balance between constructional rigour and expressive strength, as well as for its timbrical richness. Casablancasâ output covers a wide range of genres, although recently he has been very prolific in the orchestral field; since 2005, he has written âÂÂThe Dark Backward of Timeâ (after âÂÂThe Tempestâ by Shakespeare), âÂÂAlter Klang. Impromptu for Orchestra after Kleeâ and âÂÂDarkness visible. Nocturnal for orchestraâ (after Milton). Casablancas's inspiration in paintings by artists like Paul Klee, Mark Rothko or Pablo Picasso is also one of his personal aims, in his search of creative feed-back between different artistic fields. At the same time, he attains a new kind of rhythmical freedom and formal fluidity, close to the character of free improvisation, together with a new sense of harmonic brightness, in such pianistic works like the three "Haiku" (2007) or the "Impromptu" (2009), commissioned by the Finnish pianist Kristiina Junttu. The opera "L'enigma di Lea" (text: Rafael Argullol), premiered with great success at the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona) in February 2019, constitutes a broad and successful synthesis of his technical procedures and his aesthetic universe.
Various performers (London Sinfonietta, Arditti Quartet, Barcelona SO, BCN 216, etc.) EMEC/Fundació Música Contemporània E-068 (2005)
Various performers. Columna Música 1CM0112 (2004)
Jordi Masó, Miquel Villalba. Naxos 8.570757 (2008)
Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Ofèlia Sala, cond: S. Mas. Naxos 8.579002 (2010)
Ensemble Barcelona 216, cond: M. Valdivieso. Naxos 8.579004 (2010)
Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, Will Keen, actor, cond: J. R. Encinar. Stradivarius STR 33828 (2010)
Arditti Quartet. Tritó TD 0077 (2010)
Orquesta Nacional de España, cond: Josep Pons. Anemos C33010 (2010)