María Teresa Prieto

• Name — María Teresa Prieto • Born — 1896 • Birthplace — Oviedo (Spain) • Died — January 24th, 1982 • Place of death — Mexico City (Mexico) • Occupation — Composer and pianist

María Teresa Prieto was born in Oviedo in 1896 to a middle-class Asturian family. Having received musical education themselves, Prieto's parents strongly encouraged her and her siblings to study piano, singing and violin. She studied with pianist and composer Saturnino del Fresno in Asturias. In 1931, she moved to Madrid where she studied with Benito de la Parra at the Conservatory of Madrid. During this time, she was introduced to modal music which greatly influenced her later works. In 1917, she composed a miniature for piano: Escena de niños. This is one of her only surviving early works.

In 1935, Prieto's mother died, leaving her alone in Spain. Prieto went to stay with her brother Carlos in Mexico in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War. During her first years in Mexico, Prieto studied with composer Manuel Ponce. She also studied with Darius Milhaud at Mills College in Oakland, California, in 1946 and 1947. She returned to Spain briefly in 1958 to receive the Samuel Ross prize for Modal Quartet, but never returned to live there.

In 1982, Prieto's health deteriorated. She died on January 24th, 1982, in Mexico City.

• Impresión sinfónica (1940) piano and symphony orchestra • Symphony No. 1 'Asturiana' (1942) • Chichen Itza, symphonic poem (1944) • Symphony No. 2 'Breve' (1945) • Symphony No. 3 'De la danza prima' (1951) • Cuadros de la naturaleza (1965–67) includes movements Asturias and El valle de México • El palo verde, ballet suite (1967)

• Adagio y Fuga (1953) for violoncello and piano • Modal String quartet (1957)

• Seis melodías (1940) • Ave Maria para Canto y Organo o Piano (1966) • Cuatro Canciones para Canto y Piano (1971) • Anoche, cuando dormía (1977)

• Añada (1937) • Preludio y Fuga en Do M (1938) • Tema y tres variaciones (1938)