Osvaldo Noé Golijov (Spanish pronunciation:[ɡoli'xof]; born December 5, 1960) is an Argentine composer of classical music and music professor, known for his vocal and orchestral work.
Golijov is married to author Leah Hager Cohen. He was previously married to architect and designer Neri Oxman.,[5] and has three children with his first wife, Silvia, who is a Special Education teacher.[6]
Golijov had a long working relationship with soprano Dawn Upshaw, who he called his muse.[11][12] She premiered some of his works, often written specifically for her. These included Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra and his popular opera, Ainadamar, which premiered at Tanglewood in 2003.
Golijov's song cycle "Falling Out of Time" was inspired by a novel by Israeli author David Grossman.[13]
Golijov composed the soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola's "Megalopolis" which he subsequently developed into a symphonic work premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on November 8, 2024. Coppola was present at the world premier of this work.
Golijov came under scrutiny in 2011 for a series of commissions that were either delayed or cancelled. A violin concerto written for the Los Angeles Philharmonic was not completed in time, Golijov missed a second deadline the following year in Berlin,[14] and a third composition missed its January 2013 premiere at Disney Hall.[15]
This followed a similar cancellation in 2010, when a scheduled song cycle had to be removed from the program when it was not completed in time.[16] The March 2011 premiere of a new string quartet for the St. Lawrence Quartet was also postponed,[17] though the work, Qohelet, was completed later that year and premiered by the quartet in October 2011.
Around 2006, the Metropolitan Opera commissioned Golijov to compose an opera, to be performed in the 2018–19 season.[18] In 2016, the Met cancelled the commission because of the composer's lack of progress.[19]
Tom Manoff, a composer and critic, and Brian McWhorter, a trumpeter, alleged that Golijov's Sidereus was largely copied from Michael Ward-Bergeman's composition Barbeich. Alex Ross of The New Yorker reviewed both scores and wrote, "To put it bluntly, 'Sidereus' is 'Barbeich' with additional material attached." Ross added that Ward-Bergeman knew of and did not object to Golijov's borrowings, having written, "Osvaldo and I came to an agreement regarding the use of 'Barbeich' for 'Sidereus.' The terms were clearly understood, and we were both happy to agree. Osvaldo and I have been friends and collaborators for years. I don’t have anything else to say about the matter."[20] A consortium of 35 orchestras had paid Golijov $75,000, supplemented by a $50,000 grant from the League of American Orchestras, to write a 20-minute work.[21] The work that Golijov produced was only 9 minutes. Golijov had used that same musical material in his 2009 composition Radio.[22]
Golijov responded to these questions by explaining that he composed the original musical material jointly with Ward-Bergeman for a film score which in the end did not include the material, and that he used it by agreement with Ward-Bergeman, who did not comment publicly on the matter. Golijov cited Monteverdi, Schubert and Mahler as other composers who used existing musical material to create new music.[23]
Notable compositions
Some of Golijov's notable works include the following:[24]
Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra (2001). Lúa Descolorida from this set was later repurposed as the 'Peter's Tears' Aria in La Pasión según San Marcos.[30]
Tenebrae (2002), for soprano, clarinet and string quartet.[31]
