Mauricio Sotelo
*2 October 1961
Works by Mauricio Sotelo
Biography
Mauricio Sotelo (1961) is today one of Spain’s most prominent and internationally recognized composers. The premiere of his opera El Público, a work commissioned by Gerard Mortier for Madrid’s Teatro Real, at the Teatro Real itself in February 2015, was met with critical acclaim by the international press and an enthusiastic reception by the audience.
Sotelo studied composition with Francis Burt at the university of music in Vienna, graduating with distinction as winner of the “extraordinary prize” in 1987. He also studied electroacoustic music with Dieter Kaufmann and conducting with Karl Österreicher. He was further coached by Luigi Nono, a composer of continual inspiration for his work.
Sotelo, over the course of his career, received numerous awards for his music including the Spanish national music prize in 2001, the Reina Sofía international prize for composition in 2000, the Ernst von Siemens Foundation’s composers prize in 1997 and composition awards from the cities of Hamburg, Cologne and Vienna.
Mauricio’s works have been performed by many different orchestras and ensembles including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony, the SWR Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna RSO Symphony Orchestra, the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Spain, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, St Paul Chamber Orchestra, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Klangforum Wien, MusikFabrik, Ensemble Modern, Artemis Quartett, Cuarteto Casals and Quatuor Diotima, as well as by soloists including Juan Manuel Cañizares, Enrique Morente, Nicholas Hodges, Juan Carlos Garvayo, Joan Enric Lluna, Benjamin Schmid, Tabea Zimmermann or Patricia Kopatchinskaja, to name but a few.
His music has been published since March 1991 in the Universal Edition catalogue together with works by Bartók, Mahler, Schoenberg, Berg, Webern and Pierre Boulez.
Since 2010, Mauricio acts as professor of composition at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC), as well as guest lecturer at institutions in Austria, Argentina, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. Mauricio Sotelo is also a member of the Consejo Superior de Enseñanzas Artísticas, an advisory body to the Spanish Ministry for Education and Culture.
In 2011 and 2012 Mauricio Sotelo was the first Spanish composer to be invited as a Composer in Residence at the prestigious Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. 2018 saw the awarding of his life's work and career with the GamoMusica Award from the city of Florence/Italy. Sotelo ,furthermore, acted as a Composer in Residence at the Centro Nacional de Difusión Musical (CNDM) as well as the 71st Festival Internacional de Música y Danza de Granada in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
About the music
Mauricio Sotelo, a prominent Spanish composer, has significantly influenced contemporary music with his unique style, particularly through his integration of Flamenco into avant-garde composition. A defining characteristic of Sotelo's work is his deep connection with Flamenco, which he approaches not only as a musical genre but as a comprehensive artistic and philosophical concept. This has led him to develop a style known as 'spectral Flamenco', adapting principles from French Spectral Music. Sotelo's compositions often feature intricate interactions between traditional Flamenco elements (like cante and baile) and classical music forms, creating a rich, multi-dimensional sound landscape.
Significant influences on Sotelo's work include the Venetian composer Luigi Nono, whose impact is evident in several of Sotelo's pieces that intertwine biographical and musical affinity, including the incorporation of Andalusian cante jondo. He also draws heavily on the poetry of José Ángel Valente and Federico García Lorca, infusing his music with lyrical and thematic elements inspired by their works.
Sotelo's collaboration with artists from different fields, such as the painter Sean Scully, further exemplifies his interdisciplinary approach. He has created compositions that are conceptually connected to Scully's work, achieving a deep and complex interplay between visual arts and music.
Sotelo's aim is to transcend traditional boundaries and create a new form of contemporary Flamenco, blending the aesthetic, artistic, and technical aspects of traditional Flamenco with modern compositional techniques. This innovative approach has led to the incorporation of Flamenco dancing into his compositions, further enriching the sensory and emotional depth of his work.
In summary, Sotelo's compositions represent a unique fusion of traditional Flamenco with contemporary classical music, making his work a distinctive and important contribution to modern music. His approach is characterized by a deep respect for tradition, coupled with a bold drive to innovate and explore new artistic territories
