Miguel Angel Roig-Francoli (born 1953) is a Spanish/American composer, music theorist, and pedagogue. His 1980 Cinco piezas para orquesta (Five Pieces for Orchestra), commissioned by Radio Nacional de Espana and written in a postmodern, neotonal style, won first prize in the National Composition Competition of the Spanish Jeunesses Musicales in 1981 and second prize at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in 1982, and continues to be widely performed in Spain. His later compositions often have spiritual themes and are based on sacred texts and the melodies of Gregorian chant. An expert on Renaissance composers Tomas de Santa Maria, Antonio de Cabezon, and Tomas Luis de Victoria, he has published numerous scholarly articles and monographs and two textbooks. Roig-Francoli is a Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music Theory and Composition at the University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music.
Life and career
Miguel A. Roig-Francoli was born in Ibiza in 1953. He studied composition privately in Madrid with Miguel Angel Coria from 1976 to 1981 as well as graduating with a degree in piano from the Conservatorio Profesional de Musica de Baleares in Majorca in 1982. He took his Master of Music degree in Composition in 1985 at Indiana University where he studied under the Chilean composer Juan Orrego-Salas. He then received the Titulo de Profesor Superior de Armonia, Contrapunto, Composicion e Instrumentacion from the Madrid Royal Conservatory in 1988 and two years later his PhD from Indiana University with his doctoral dissertation "Compositional Theory and Practice in Mid-Sixteenth-Century Castilian Instrumental Music: The Arte de taner fantasia by Tomas de Santa Maria and the Music of Antonio de Cabezon". After teaching at Ithaca College, Northern Illinois University, and Eastman School of Music, he became Professor of Music Theory and Composition at the University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music in 2000. Although the majority of his published articles relate to 16th-century Spanish music and its composers, he has also written on atonal music and on the 20th-century composer, Gyorgy Ligeti. His first textbook, Harmony in Context, was published by McGraw-Hill in 2003 and is now in its second edition. This was followed in 2006 by Understanding Post-Tonal Music (also published by McGraw-Hill).
Roig-Francoli's career as a composer began in the late 1970s while he was a student of Miguel Angel Coria. His first work, Espejismos (Mirages), premiered at the Festival Internacional de Barcelona in 1977. His most famous work, Cinco Piezas para Orquesta, was a commission by Spanish National Radio and composed in 1980. After winning the 1981 National Composition Competition of the Spanish Jeunesses Musicales, it was premiered by the Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra at Madrid's Teatro Real in 1982, and subsequently won second prize at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers (Paris, 1982). The work, described by musicologist Antoni Piza as an "absolute pioneer" in introducing the postmodern aesthetic to Spanish music, has since been performed in Spain by the Orquesta Nacional de Espana (conducted by Jesus Lopez Cobos), Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona, Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid, and Orquestra Simfonica de les Illes Balears. The score has formed the basis for two ballets: La Espera (choreographed by Ray Barra and performed by the Ballet Nacional del Teatro de la Zarzuela in 1987) and Five Elements (choreographed by Jiang Qi and performed by Dance China NY in 2010). After 1987, he concentrated primarily on his academic research and teaching but returned to composing in 2003 in what he has described as a personal reaction to the Iraq War: "Following the Iraq war and other events, I returned to composition as a way to engage with the world around me." The works from this second creative period often have spiritual themes and are based on sacred texts and the melodies of Gregorian chant. They include the choral works Dona eis requiem (In memory of the innocent victims of war and terror) (premiered by Orquestra Simfonica de les Illes Balears and Coral Carmina in 2006), Antiphon and Psalms for the Victims of Genocide (premiered by the Orquesta y Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid in 2008), and Missa pro pace (premiered by the Orquestra Simfonica i Cor Ciutat de Eivissa in 2008). One of Roig-Francoli's most recent works, Songs of the Infinite, was commissioned by the Foundation for Iberian Music and is dedicated to his wife, the violinist Jennifer Roig-Francoli. It premiered at Carnegie Hall on October 24, 2010. A monographic concert dedicated to Roig-Francoli's chamber music took place at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall on Nov. 17, 2013.
First prize, National Composition Competition of the Spanish Jeunesses Musicales (1981)
Second prize, UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers (Paris, 1982)
Dean's Dissertation Prize, Indiana University (1991)
Dana Research Fellow Award, Ithaca College (1992)
Medal of Honor, Superior Conservatory of Music of the Balearic Islands (2004)
A. B. "Dolly" Cohen Award for Excellence in Teaching, University of Cincinnati (2007)
George Rieveschl, Jr. Award for Creative and/or Scholarly Work, University of Cincinnati (2009)
Ramon Llull Prize, Government of the Balearic Islands (Spain, 2010)
Distinguished Teaching Professor Award, University of Cincinnati (2013)
Gold Medal of the Island of Ibiza, Spain (2014)
Harmony in Context (2nd edn.). McGraw-Hill, 2011, ISBN 0-07-313794-4
Understanding Post-Tonal Music. McGraw-Hill, 2006, ISBN 978-0-07-293624-7. Chinese translation, Beijing: People's Music Publishing House, 2012.
Anthology of Post-Tonal Music. McGraw-Hill, 2007, ISBN 978-0-07-332502-6 (companion volume to Understanding Post-Tonal Music)
Articles and Reviews
"Los tientos 68, 65 y 67 de Obras de Musica: Estudio analitico de tres obras maestras de Cabezon." Anuario Musical 69 (2014): 61–72
"Tonal Structures in the Magnificats, Psalms, and Motets by Tomas Luis de Victoria." In Estudios. Tomas Luis de Victoria. Studies. Ed. Javier Suarez-Pajares and Manuel del Sol. Madrid: ICCMU, 2013, pp. 145–162.
"Some Basic Principles of Good Teaching." Music Theory Pedagogy Online, 2013.
“Semblanzas de Compositores Espanoles: Antonio de Cabezon (1510–1566).” Revista de la Fundacion Juan March 393, Madrid (March 2010): 2–7.
“Reply to Ryan McClelland's article 'Teaching Phrase Rhythm through Minuets from Haydn's String Quartets,' vol. 20, 2006.” Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy 21 (2007): 179–82.
“Procesos compositivos y estructura musical: Teoria y practica en Antonio de Cabezon y Tomas de Santa Maria.” In Politicas y practicas musicales en el mundo de Felipe II (Madrid: Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales, 2004): 393–414.
“A Theory of Pitch-Class-Set Extension in Atonal Music.” College Music Symposium 41 (Fall 2001): 57–90.
“Santa Maria, Tomas de.” New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 7th ed.
Diccionario de la Musica Espanola e Hispanoamericana (Dictionary of Spanish and Latin-American Music, Madrid). Articles on “Taner a consonancias” (“Playing in consonances”) and “Taner fantasia” (“Playing fantasia”).
“Paradigms and Contrast in Sixteenth-Century Modal Structure: Commixture in the tientos of Antonio de Cabezon.” Journal of Musicological Research 19 (2000):1–47.
Review of the Italian book Canone infinito (540 pp.), by Loris Azzaroni. Analisi: Rivista di teoria e pedagogia musicale 30 (1999): 24–31.
“Dos tientos de Cabezon basados en tonos del Magnificat.” Revista de Musicologia 21 (1998): 1–19.
“Teoria, analisis, critica: Reflexiones en torno a ciertas lagunas en la musicologia espanola.” Revista de Musicologia 18 (1995): 11–25.
“Harmonic and Formal Processes in Ligeti's Net-Structure Compositions.” Music Theory Spectrum 17/2 (Fall 1995): 242–67.
Review of Historical Organ Techniques and Repertoires: An Historical Survey of Organ Performance Practices and Repertoires. Vol. 1: Spain, 1550-1830. MLA Notes (September 1995): 297–99.
“Playing in Consonances: A Spanish Renaissance Technique of Chordal Improvisation.” Early Music (August 1995): 93–103.
“Modal Paradigms in Mid-Sixteenth-Century Spanish Instrumental Composition: Theory and Practice in Antonio de Cabezon and Tomas de Santa Maria.” Journal of Music Theory 38/2 (Fall 1994): 247–89.
Review of Apparitions and Macabre Collage, by Gyorgy Ligeti. MLA Notes 51/1 (1994): 421–23.
“En torno a la figura y la obra de Tomas de Santa Maria: Aclaraciones, evaluaciones, y relacion con la musica de Cabezon.” Revista de Musicologia (Madrid) 15/1 (Spring 1992): 55–85.
“Bass Emancipation in Sixteenth-Century Spanish Instrumental Music: The Arte de taner fantasia by Tomas de Santa Maria.” Indiana Theory Review 9 (Fall 1988): 77–97.
Espejismos (10'): Flute, oboe, clarinet, vibraphone, percussion, piano, harpsichord, violin, viola, cello, tape (1977)
Suite Apocrifa (12'): Piano (1978)
Quasi Variazioni (9'): Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, violin, viola, cello, bass, piano, 4 female voices (1979)
Concierto en Do (10'40”): Double quintet and piano (1979)
Rondo, op. 5 (12'): Orchestra and chorus (1980)
Cinco Piezas para Orquestra (17”): Orchestra (1980)
Conductus (12'30”): Orchestra (1981)
Playtime, for Three Young Violinists (3'): Three violins (1982)
Cantata on Dante's Vita Nuova (30'): Baritone, chorus, orchestra (1983)
Partita for Eight Instruments (14'): Flute, oboe, clarinet, marimba, violin, viola, cello, bass (1983)
Sonata for Violoncello and Piano (12'): Cello and piano (1984)
Tres Cantigas d'Amigo (9'): Soprano, percussion quintet (1984)
Concerto Grosso (14'): Orchestra (1984)
Diferencias y Fugas (12'): String quartet (1987)
Easter Toccata (5'40"): Organ (2004)
Dona eis requiem (In memory of the innocent victims of war and terror) (11'): Chamber orchestra and chamber chorus (2005)
Antiphon and Psalms for the Victims of Genocide (17'): Chamber orchestra and optional chamber chorus (2005)
Canticles for a Sacred Earth (16'50"): Double quintet and two percussionists (2006)
Canticles for a Sacred Earth (18'20"): Orchestra (2006–07)
Missa pro pace (23'): Mixed chorus and strings (2007)
Improvisations for Jennifer, nos. 1, 2, and 3: Violin solo (2007)
Himne a Santa Agnes: Chorus and piano (2008)
Five Gothic Miniatures (10'): Chorus a cappella (2009)
Songs of the Infinite (18'30"): Violin and piano (2010)
Songs of the Infinite (18'30"): Violin and orchestra (2010)
Missa pro pace (23'): Mixed chorus and organ (2010)
Orion (12') (Three Astral Poems, no. 1): Orchestra (2011)
Songs of Light and Darkness (16'): Piano trio (2011)
Cinco canciones con los ojos cerrados (on poems by Antonio Colinas) (12'): Soprano and piano (2011)
Desconhort (on a poem by Ramon Llull) (7'): Tenor and string quartet (2012)
Andromeda (12') (Three Astral Poems, no. 2): Orchestra (2012)
Perseus (11') (Three Astral Poems, no. 3): Orchestra (2014)
Three Astral Poems (I. Orion, II. Andromeda, III. Perseus) (35'): Orchestra (2011-2014)
Un piccolo concerto grosso (3'): Three solo violins and youth string ensemble (2014)
Chaconne: Of Loss and Hope (5'): String orchestra (2014)
Perseus (11'): Symphonic band (2014)
Six Preludes after Chopin (6' 30"): Piano (2015)
Songs of Light and Darkness (16'): Chamber orchestra (2015)
