Lorenzo Palomo

Lorenzo Palomo (10 March 1938 – 13 April 2024) was a Spanish composer and conductor. He was chief conductor of the Valencia Orchestra from 1973 to 1976 and conductor and pianist of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1981 to 2004. Several of his compositions, often based on Andalusian traditions, were performed internationally and were recorded.

Biography Soon after his birth in Ciudad Real in 1938, where his father was stationed during the Spanish Civil War, his mother returned with him to Pozoblanco where the family lived. Shortly afterwards, they moved to Córdoba where the composer spent his youth. Palomo studied piano and harmony at the Córdoba Conservatory and at the age of twenty he entered the Barcelona Conservatory, where he studied composition with Joaquín Zamacois and piano with Sofía Puche de Mendlewicz. He studied conducting further with Boris Goldovsky in New York City, with a scholarship from the Fundación Juan March.

His ballet La leyenda del Monte Bangkay was premiered in Manila, Philippines, in 1980. His song cycle Canciones españolas (Spanish Songs) was first performed by Montserrat Caballé at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1987. His Nocturnos de Andalucía (Andalusian Nocturnes) for guitar and orchestra was premiered by Pepe Romero and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Konzerthaus Berlin in 1996. His music was performed in concert halls including Symphony Hall in Boston), Suntory Hall in Tokyo and Auditorium Tschaikowsky in Moscow.

Works Palomo composed many works for the voice, such as songs and song cycles, sometimes with optional accompaniment by harp or orchestra instead of piano. Several works were recorded. Compositions La leyenda del Monte Bangkay, ballet Dulcinea, cantata for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, chorus and orchestra Danza-Scherzo''', for oboe and piano Sinfonía a Granada, for soprano, guitar and orchestra Fanfarria para una noche de estío, for trombone quartet Toccata, for guitar Nocturno y Danza, for orchestra Rebeka's Rainbow, fong for voice and piano Mi jardín solitario, song cycle for voice and guitar or piano Perlas y lágrimas, for guitar Helianthus, for guitar El amor de los dos ositos, symphonic fairy-tale for soprano, mezzo-soprano and orchestra Pinceladas de primavera, suite for two guitars Fulgores, for violin, guitar and orchestra The Sneetches (Dr. Seuss' The Sneetches), symphonic poem for narrator and orchestra or two pianos Caribiana, for orchestra Sinfonía Córdoba, for orchestra, including a short intervention of voice and guitar Humoresca, for double bass and orchestra Arabescos, for violin and orchestra Fantasía sobre temas del folklore alemán, for violin and guitar Escenas de una primavera alemana, song cycle for voice and guitar Aldonza y Alonso, for soprano, tenor, chorus and piano Rumbalina, for clarinet and piano Sendero mágico, song cycle for voice and piano El jardín de Baco, for marimba and orchestra

Recordings Dulcinea, with soloists, chorus and orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin conducted by Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez, recorded live in 2006 at Konzerthaus Berlin Andalusian Nocturnes''