Eduardo Soutullo (born 16 May 1968) is a Spanish composer and filmmaker. He was the recipient of the Spanish Ministry of Culture's National Prize in Music (composition) in 2023.
Life and Education
Soutullo was born in Vigo, Spain. He began his musical education at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Vigo, later moving to Madrid and Paris to complete studies in harmony and composition. He studied composition with David del Puerto, Jesús Rueda, José Luis de Delás Franco (Köln Conservatory), Richard Steinitz (Huddersfield University), and with Cristóbal Halffter and Tomás Marco. He holds a master's degree from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and a PhD from the Universidad de Vigo, with a thesis on Spanish contemporary music. He has been a professor at the Porto's Superior School of Music and Performing Arts (ESMAE) and was composer in residence at the Spanish Academy in Rome (2019–2020).
Career and Notable Works
Soutullo's compositions span orchestral, chamber, vocal, and operatic works. His orchestral triptych All the Echoes Listen, But in Vain, and They Hear no Answering Strain has been noted by musicologist Robert Fallon for its influences from Messiaen, Takemitsu, and Grisey.
In February 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he composed Threnus Helianthuses (The Lament of Sunflowers), a vocal-symphonic work based on anti-war poems by Ukrainian poet Lesya Ukrainka. The work was submitted to the XVI Open Composers Competition named after Andrey Petrov in Saint Petersburg, where it was selected as a finalist and premiered on September 15, 2022, at the Grand Hall of the St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonic, winning third prize.
On March 7, 2024, his work Elegía (Elegy) premiered in Madrid at the XXII concert "In memoriam" in tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, presided over by the King and Queen of Spain, performed by the RTVE Symphony Orchestra.
He is also the author of the opera Romance de lobos (2017), based on the theatrical play by Ramón María del Valle-Inclán.
Awards and Honors
- Spanish Ministry of Culture's National Prize in Music (composition) (2023)
- First Prize, X Edition of the AEOS-BBVA Foundation Composition Prize
- First Prize, VII Composition Competition New Note – Croatia (2018), Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra
- First Prize, Lawson-May Award for Composition (2020), Solent Music Festival, United Kingdom
- Third Prize, XVI Open Composers Competition named after Andrey Petrov, St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonic
- Finalist, RED NOTE New Music Festival Composition Competition, Illinois State University
- Honourable Mention, Lutosławski Award (2007), Warsaw
- Finalist, International Prokofiev Competition (2008), Saint Petersburg
- Finalist, XXVI Queen Sofía Composition Prize (2008) with his Piano Concerto
- First Prize, XV Andrés Gaos Prize in Music Composition (2023)
- First Prize, VII Concurso Internacional de Composición Musical Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos
- First Prize, Ciutat de Tarragona International Award for Musical Composition (2005)
- First Prize, 7th Manuel Valcárcel International Piano Composition Competition (Marcelino Botín Foundation)
- Selected to represent Spain at the World Music Days 2009 (ISCM)
Film Making
Soutullo is also a director and screenwriter of documentary and short films. His short documentary Songs to the Dead Children in Auschwitz received the Ecumenical Community Award at the 11th AGON International Archaeological Film Festival (Athens), presided over by Academy Award winner Costa-Gavras, as well as Best Editing and Best Screenplay at the 5th Festival de Cine Memoria Democrática (Madrid). His sci-fi short film Fons Vitae: A New Era for the Planet was nominated for Best Editing at the 17th Grand OFF Film Festival (Warsaw).
