Son of the Spanish composer and pianist Benjamín Orbón, Julián Orbón studied in Cuba at the Orbón Conservatory, continuing his studies in Spain at the Oviedo Conservatory before returning once more to Cuba, where he played an important part in contemporary Cuban music. A scholarship allowed study with Copland at Tanglewood and in 1960 he left Cuba, continuing his career in Mexico City and in the United States.

Orchestral Music

Orbón’s musical language, influenced at first by composers such as Manuel de Falla, was developed under Copland in a productive second phase of his career, to be followed by the sadness of final exile. His Concerto grosso dates from 1958, the Dansas sinfónicas from 1956, and his Tres versiones sinfónicas from 1953.