Miguel Ángel Coria

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Miguel Ángel Coria Varela (October 24, 1937 – February 24, 2016) was a Spanish classical composer. His early music showed a connection to Anton Webern, but he later absorbed French Impressionism. From 1973 he entered a postmodern phase, creating works that evoke past styles without direct quotes.

Coria was born in Madrid and began his formal study in 1952. He studied at the Madrid Royal Conservatory, where he worked with Gerardo Gombau and won the Conservatory’s Fugue Prize in 1961. He developed an early interest in electroacoustic music and helped found ALEA, Spain’s first laboratory for electronic music, in 1964 with Luis de Pablo and Carmelo Alonso Bernaola. In 1965 he received a Gaudeamus Foundation grant to study with Roman Haubenstock-Ramati and Iannis Xenakis, and in 1966 a grant from the Juan March Foundation enabled him to study with Gottfried Michael Koenig at the Institute of Sonology in Utrecht. During this period he wrote Collage (1967) and Joyce’s Portrait (1968).

In addition to instrumental music, Coria wrote an opera, Belisa, which premiered on May 15, 1992, at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid. His ballet Seis sonatas para la Reina de España (Six Sonatas for the Queen of Spain), based on Domenico Scarlatti, premiered in 1985 at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto.

Coria held influential roles in Spanish music life. He served as Administrative Director of the RTVE Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in the 1980s, helped found the Asociación de Compositores Españoles, and worked as a consultant to Spain’s Ministry of Culture. He was also Technical Director of the Fundació de Música Ferrer Salat.

Among his important works are Ravel for President (1973), Falla Revisited (1977), Ancora una volta (1979), and J’ai perdu ma plume dans le jardin de Turina (1982). His opera Belisa is a compact work, about 30 minutes long. He taught privately (one of his students was Miguel Roig-Francolí) and contributed to Spain’s musical life in various administrative roles. His music is published mainly by Editorial de Música Española Contemporánea, and a complete catalog appeared in 1991. Coria also made recordings, including En rouge et noir, a prepared-piano piece released on a 1976 Cramps LP and reissued in 2004, as well as his piano works Ravel for President and Frase on a 1994 EMEC CD.