Of Prussian ancestry, Rodolfo Halffter was born in Madrid in 1900 and, with his brother Ernesto, won an early reputation in Spain as a composer. In 1939 he moved to Mexico City, where he joined the teaching staff of the National Conservatory. His music was greatly influenced by Manuel de Falla, although his Concertante Overture of 1932, for solo piano and orchestra, shows a more forward-looking style. La madrugada del panadero of 1940, a ballet-pantomime, was a stage collaboration with José Bergamín, as was the 1935 ballet-pantomime Don Lindo de Almería, first seen in Barcelona. Both are in a colourful, accessible style of rhythmic and tonal contrast, enlivened by off-beat accents recalling Stravinsky.