[1][2] Halffter was born in Madrid, but in 1936 the family moved to Velbert, Germany, to escape the Spanish Civil War.
[1] He continued his studies, outside of his university education, with Alexandre Tansman and André Jolivet in Paris.
He forged a successful career as composer and conductor, writing music which combined a traditional Spanish element with avant-garde techniques.
[3] Among his notable pupils are Jean-Luc Darbellay,[4] David Philip Hefti,[5] and Javier Jacinto [es].
[11] A third opera, Schachnovelle, with a libretto by Wolfgang Haendeler after the eponymous novel by Stefan Zweig, was scheduled to premiere at the same house in May 2013.