Alberto Iglesias
Alberto Iglesias Fernández-Berridi (born 21 October 1955) is a Spanish composer. He was first noticed as a score composer for Spanish films, mostly from Pedro Almodóvar and Julio Medem. His career became more international with time and he eventually started to work also in Hollywood.
Alberto Iglesias

Pedro J Pacheco · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Born
- 1955. · San Sebastián.
- Nationality
- Spain.
- Occupation
- composer, conductor and musician.
- Teachers
- Francisco Escudero.
- Honours
- European Film Award for Best Composer, Premio Feroz for Best Original Soundtrack and Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts.
- Languages
- Spanish.
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In this article
Early and personal life
Early and personal life
Since then, he has been nominated four times for an Academy Award for his work in the films The Constant Gardener (2005), The Kite Runner (2007), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), and Parallel Mothers (2021). His other film credits include soundtracks for Steven Soderbergh's Che. And Hossein Amini's The Two Faces of January (2014). Iglesias also has worked for ballet and has done other classical music.
Alberto Iglesias Fernández-Berridi was born in 1955 in San Sebastián, Spain. His sister is visual artist Cristina Iglesias. Iglesias was the brother-in-law of the Spanish sculptor, Juan Muñoz.
Career
Career
Iglesias studied harmony and counterpoint at the Conservatory of his home city, with Francisco Escudero, continuing his education in Paris, where he studied composition and piano, and at Phonos studios, in Barcelona, where he learned electronic music. Afterwards, he created a duo of electronic music with Javier Navarrete, who worked and performed together from 1981 to 1986. Iglesias began working in film composition in the 1980s. He has composed a number of scores for films directed by Pedro Almodóvar, such as The Flower of My Secret (1995), Live Flesh (1997), All About My Mother (1999), Talk to Her (2002), Bad Education (2004), Volver (2006), Broken Embraces (2009) and The Skin I Live In (2011). Iglesias also composed the music for Sex and Lucia (2001), directed by Julio Medem and for Oliver Stone's documentary, Comandante (2003). Iglesias garnered his first Oscar nomination for his score in Fernando Meirelles's film adaptation of The Constant Gardener (2005). Iglesias also composed the score for The Kite Runner (2007), based on Khaled Hosseini's 2003 novel of the same name. Iglesias earned his second Oscar nomination for that score. In 2008, Iglesias composed Steven Soderbergh's 2008 two-part biopic, Che (2008), starring Benicio del Toro as Che Guevara. That same year, Iglesias composed the music for Tomas Alfredson's film adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, starring Gary Oldman as George Smiley. Iglesias told the Los Angeles Times: "(Alfredson) explained to me very well what this film is about. It's a film about loyalties and human relationships. Their spies are victims of this moment. That was the most important thing he told me. The film and the music show the more human side." He received his third Oscar nomination for the latter film.
Ballet
Ballet
Iglesias composed the musical score for four ballets produced by Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato and the Spanish National Dance Company. 1992 – Cautiva 1994 – Tabulae 1995 – Cero sobre Cero 1997 – Self
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- MusicBrainz artist record for Alberto Iglesias
Scholarly · MetaBrainz Foundation
scholarly publication
- The music of Alberto Iglesias in the films of Pedro Almodóvar, The Routledge Handbook to Spanish Film Music, 2024
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2024
reference work
- “Alberto Iglesias”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
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Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Alberto Iglesias, revision 1369952553 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Gutierrez, Evan C. Alberto Iglesias Biography. Allmusic. Netaktion LLC.
- 2.Baker, Aaron. Steven Soderbergh. University of Illinois Press. 121. 31 May 2011. 978-0252036057.
- 3.Amini, Hossein. The Two Faces of January. Magnolia Pictures. 2014.
- 4.Alberto Iglesias. People.theiapolis. June 2017.
- 5.Fox News Channel. Composer Iglesias Wins Spain Film Award. 3 September 2007.
- 6.Lingwood, James. 'He made the world larger'. The Observer. 2 September 2001.
- 7.Juan Munoz. The Daily Telegraph. 31 August 2001.
- 8.Alberto Iglesias Biography, Allmusic
- 9.Spain Honors a Film Composer. The New York Times. 4 September 2007.
- 10.Wilmington, Michael. In 'Talk to Her,' Almodovar creates his masterpiece. Chicago Tribune. 25 December 2002.
- 11.Phillips, Michael. In 'Volver,' Almodovar masters a melange of genres. Chicago Tribune. 22 November 2006.
- 12.Mira, Alberto. The Cinema of Spain and Portugal. Wallflower Press. 2005. 9781904764441.
- 13.WQXR-FM. Alberto Iglesias, The Sound of Almodovar. 15 October 2011.
- 14.Phillips, Michael. Sleek, lovely 'Skin I Live In' reveals elegance in the grotesque -- 3 stars. Chicago Tribune. 20 October 2011.
- 15.Alberto Iglesias. Hollywood.com.
- 16.Overview for Alberto Iglesias. Turner Classic Movies.
- 17.Phillips, Michael. 'Che' stars Benicio Del Toro, Demian Bichir. Chicago Tribune. 16 September 2014.
- 18.Martens, Todd. The Scores: Iglesias searches for the sound of loyalty in 'Tinker'. Los Angeles Times. 8 December 2011.
- 19.The 84th Academy Awards. The Boston Globe. 24 January 2012.
- 20.Mira, Alberto (2010) The A to Z of Spanish Cinema, Scarecrow Press, , p. 158
- 21.EFE. La banda sonora de Alberto Iglesias para "Dolor y Gloria", premiada en Cannes. ABC. 25 May 2019.
- 22.Kilday, Greg (21 October 2012) "Alberto Iglesias Named Film Composer of the Year at the World Soundtrack Awards", The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 September 2013
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
MusicBrainz artist record for Alberto IglesiasMetaBrainz Foundation
Institutional witnessscholarly publication
The music of Alberto Iglesias in the films of Pedro Almodóvar, The Routledge Handbook to Spanish Film Music, 2024Crossref registry
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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