Edino Krieger

Origin

Brusque, SC

Years active

1944–2022

Genres

classical music, contemporary classical, orchestral music

Instruments

violin, piano

Biography

Edino Krieger was a prominent Brazilian classical composer, conductor, and music critic, born in Brusque, Santa Catarina. He began studying the violin under his father's guidance at a young age before moving to Rio de Janeiro in 1943 to study at the Conservatório Brasileiro de Música and with Hans-Joachim Koellreutter. He was a key member of the Grupo Música Viva and later studied in the United States at Tanglewood and the Juilliard School, working with notable figures such as Aaron Copland and Darius Milhaud.

Throughout his prolific career, Krieger held numerous influential positions in Brazilian musical institutions, including director of the National Music Institute at FUNARTE and president of the Academia Brasileira de Música. He was also instrumental in creating the National Symphony Orchestra and the contemporary music biennials in Brazil. His compositional style evolved through various phases, encompassing baroque and impressionist influences, dodecaphony, neoclassicism, and a distinctive nationalist synthesis that incorporated Brazilian regional elements, as seen in his renowned suite Brasiliana and Canticum Naturale.

Krieger passed away in Rio de Janeiro in 2022, leaving behind a rich legacy as a composer, cultural organizer, and fierce advocate for Brazilian art music. His work bridged international avant-garde techniques with native sounds, profoundly shaping the landscape of 20th-century classical music in Brazil. He worked alongside and was influenced by important contemporaries such as Claudio Santoro and Guerra-Peixe.