A Spanish composer born March 10, 1967 in Valladolid (Spain).
Alberto Posadas studied music first in Valladolid then in Madrid and studied composition with Francisco Guerrero.
Attracted by mathematical models, he explores both fractal forms and architectural spaces inspired by the Egyptian pyramids, as in Nebmaat for clarinet, saxophone and string trio (2003), the new version of which was premiered by the ensemble Recherche at the festival Musica in 2016. He also studies perspective in painting, notably through the works of Francisco de Goya, Pierre Soulages and the portrait of Charles V attributed to Lucas Cranach, as in Anamorfosis for ensemble (first performed at the Donaueschingen Festival by the Schönberg Ensemble conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw in 2006). His extramusical inspiration is also literary: Tenebrae for vocal sextet, ensemble and electronics incorporates lines from Novalis, Stefan George and Rainer Maria Rilke (first performed by the Ensemble Vocal Exaudi and the Ensemble Intercontemporain at the Cité de la Musique in Paris in 2013).
Posadas undertakes extensive research into instruments and their possibilities, particularly with the saxophone player Andres Gomis, the flautist Julina Elvira, the oboist Jaime Gonzalez and the Diotima Quartet, which premiered the cycle Liturgia Fractal (2003-2008) at the festival Musica in Strasburg, as well as the cycle Sombras (2010-2012) at the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik in 2013. While retaining the expressivity and the diversity of the instrumental colours, he explores ‘micro-instrumentation’, a concept based on the idea of acquiring musical material by using what instruments produce on the microscopic scale.
Most of Posadas’ works are written for reduced formations, for example Cripsis for ensemble (first performed by the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne conducted by Lorraine Vaillancourt in Montreal in 2003), Glossoppoeia for clarinet, percussion, viola, cello, three female dancers, video and electronics (first performed by the soloists of the Ensemble Intercontemporain at the Centre Pompidou in 2009), Double for viola (first performed by Christophe Desjardins at the festival Musiques Démesurées in Clermont-Ferrand in 2015), Voces nomadas for chamber chorus and electronics (first performed by the ensemble Musicatreize in Marseilles in 2017).
Alberto Posadas also teaches composition at the Centro Superior Katarina Gurska in Madrid.