Although self-taught as a composer, Rodolfo Halffier had the benefit of advice from Manuel de Falla and Arnold Schoenberg. His music is characterized by impeccable technique and careful attention to dynamics and accents, with a modernism that never ceases to be infectiously Spanish. He has spent the greater part of his life in Mexico, as musician, conductor, writer and musical administrator, while still considered in his native Madrid as an important figure in Spanish cultural life. He has received the highest honours from both Mexico and Spain.
Halffter's Obertura Festiva (Festive Overture) is carefully orchestrated for a relatively small group of instruments, used to great effect. The rhythmic flow of the music never flags and interest is maintained through the diversity of instrumental colouring and the turns of melody, with variations in rhythm that open up always new expressive possibilities.
