Juan Allende-Blin

Biography

Juan Allende-Blin (born 24 February 1928) is a Chilean composer and academic teacher who lives in Germany.

Career

Born in Santiago de Chile, Allende-Blin studied first with his uncle, Pedro Humberto Allende, and with Fré Focke, a pupil of Anton Webern. He then studied at the University of Santiago, and with Olivier Messiaen at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse. He was professor of musical analysis at the University of Santiago from 1954 to 1957. In 1957 he moved to Germany and worked from 1962 for the broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Hamburg. He has lived as a free-lance composer in Essen, together with the composer and organist Gerd Zacher, until Zacher's death.
Allende-Blin composed instrumental music, two ballets, chansons and music for tape. He reconstructed and orchestrated Debussy's unfinished opera La Chute de la Maison Usher. As a music publicist, he wrote about musicians and exile. His compositions were published by Edition Gravis.

Selected discography

Die Klaviermusik von Juan Allende-Blin, Thomas Günther, piano, Cybele SACD 160.401
Die Orgelmusik von Juan Allende-Blin, Gerd Zacher, organ, Cybele SACD 060.401