Ángel Arteaga

Ángel Arteaga de la Guía (Campo de Criptana, Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, 28 January 1928 – Madrid, 17 January 1984) was a Spanish musician and composer. Arteaga was born in Campo de Criptana, (Ciudad Real), and his musical initiation took place in the Beethoven Philharmonic Band in his hometown.

In 1950, he entered the Madrid Royal Conservatory where he studied harmony, fugue, and composition with the professors Vitorino Echevarría, Francisco Calés Pina, and Julio Gómez García. Between 1957 and 1963 he studied at the Staatliche Hoschshule für Musik in Munich with Carl Orff and Harald Genzmer, a disciple of Hindemith. At the same time, he completed three summer courses at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena (Italy) in composition and film music. In Germany he married Waltraud Pizenbauer.

During these years he was awarded the following:

First prize in the International Bregenz Contest (Austria) for his orchestral work "Clavileño" (1960), among more than 130 composers from across the world.

"Hugo Von Monfort" prize in Bregenz (Austria) for his work "Prólogo para Orquesta" (1961)

"Ferdinando Ballo Napolitano" prize in the International Contest celebrated in Siena, (Italy) for the work "Trio para órgano" (1962).Upon returning to Spain, he received an award from the Information Ministry with his tone poem "Cuevas de Nerja" (1963); and the composition prize from the Fine Arts Circle of Madrid for "Cantata Elogios" (1972–73).Between 1964 and 1984 he composed music for over 90 films. These included the crime film The Crimes of Petiot (1973), the Doug McClure comedy What Changed Charley Farthing? (1974), and several thrillers and horror movies, such as The Mark of the Wolfman (1968), El vampiro de la autopista (The Horrible Sexy Vampire) (1970), The Glass Ceiling (1971), The Fury of the Wolfman (1972), and La cruz del diablo (1975).

In 1997 he was posthumously awarded the title "Favorite Son of Campo de Criptana," together with fellow musician and composer Manuel Angulo Sepúlveda. In January 2006, a selection of his most representative works were published on CD, partially performed by the City Orchestra of Granada under the direction of José Luis Temes.