Alberto Ginastera Alberto Ginastera (1916 - 1983)   Born in Buenos Aires, he began his music studies at a very early age. Throughout his life he composed so many pieces in so many styles, it is a wonder he had time to do anything else.  He composed three operas, five ballets, orchestra works, one harp concerto, two piano concertos, two cello concertos, one violin concerto, two choir works, cantatas, works for piano, voice, organ, flute, guitar, and chamber music. He also composed music for the theater and for eleven movies.  Still, he found time to marry the cellist Aurora Natola, receive innumerable important awards and honors (including, among others, a Guggenheim and an honorary doctorate from Yale), and to hold many important posts (as a member of UNESCO and university professor). He is the foremost representative of Argentine musical nationalism.   Ginastera divided his work into three periods he called Objective Nationalism, Subjective Nationalism, and Neo-Expressionism.  In his first period, he used Argentine folk and popular elements in a straightforward manner. Stavinsky was a major influence. The ballet Estancia belongs to this period.  After the Guggenheim grant to visit the US, he started to use more advanced composing techniques in his Subjective Nationalism period.  He used popular traditional elements mainly for symbolic purposes. Melody was still important, as well as rhythmic contrasts between tension and relaxation. Works from this period include Pampeana No. 3 and his Piano Sonata No. 1, a staple in the repertoire of today's pianists.  His Neo-Expressionist period started approximately in 1958.  In Ginastera's own words, "There are no more folk melodic or rhythmic cells, nor is there any symbolism. There are, however, constant Argentine elements, such as strong, obsessive rhythms, meditative adagios suggesting the quietness of the Pampas; magic, mysterious sounds reminding the cryptic nature of the country.   He spent the last period of his life in Geneva where he died.