Carmen Barradas

Full biography Carmen Barradas

Carmen Barradas was a Uruguayan pianist, composer and choral teacher born on March 18, 1888 and died on May 12, 1963. Throughout her musical career, she explored graphic notation, polytonality, and the profound connections between sound and visual art. Carmen Barradas' Plástica Musical is a pioneering work of musical abstraction, and remains an important contribution to the history of music notation.

Barradas gave a groundbreaking piano recital in Madrid in 1922. Her approach to music composition and notation was unconventional for the time. She used bold colors and shapes to represent different elements of the music, and was one of the first composers to make use of graphic notation.

Barradas was also a choral teacher, and her teaching methods were innovative and effective. She emphasized the importance of making music with others, and encouraged her students to explore different genres and styles. Barradas was a pioneering figure in the world of music composition and education, and her contributions continue to be recognized and celebrated to this day.

In 2023, the Embassy of Uruguay paid tribute to the life and work of Carmen Barradas by inaugurating a chair in her name at the first Cervantes Chair in Edinburgh. Barradas is remembered as a pioneering composer and educator who pushed the boundaries of what was possible in the world of music.