Luis de Pablo was born on January, 28, 1930, in Bilbao (Spain, Basque country). He started his musical studies at the age of seven, in Fuenterrabía. He continued studying privately in Madrid, then in Paris, under the supervision of Max Deutsch, and in Darmstadt. He founded in Madrid the groups Tiempo y Música and Alea (1959-1972), which brought contemporary music and diverse non-Western musical cultures to the Spanish audience. He also created the first electronic music laboratory in Spain. He taught at the Madrid Conservatoire, at the University of Buffalo, Ottawa and Montreal, among others; moreover he held courses in France, Italy, Belgium, USA, Japan, Argentina and Mexico. He has been artistic director of various music festivals, like Encuentros (Pamplona), Biennale Musicale (Madrid) and Festival of Lille. He has been awarded the Laurea honoris causa from the Universidad Complutense of Madrid. He has received many honours and prizes, both in Spain and abroad (the Guerrero Prize, the Gold Award of the King of Spain for the Fine Arts, the Gold Award of the Círculo de Bellas Artes of Madrid, the title of Officier des Arts et des Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture, the Fondation Prince Pierre Prize of Monaco, the Honegger Prize, among others).

His musical output consists of more than a hundred works, including four operas, three string quartets, various solo concertos (three piano concertos, as well as concertos for violin, cello, guitar, flute, clarinet and saxophone), as well as chamber, orchestral and vocal music.

In 1968, in the entry for the Dictionary of Contemporary Music (Ed. Larousse), Claude Rostand wrote: «Luis de Pablo is not only the leading figure of the Spanish contemporary school as well as one of the first composers who have carried Spanish music outside the borders of its strict nationalism, giving it a universal intonation, but he also is one of the most prominent figures in the international music panorama, thanks to the impulse that he has given to innovative techniques, and above all, thanks to the original solutions that he has created in order to express an exceptionally inventive and poetic temperament. In this research, indeed, the man always stands behind his music, as a presence which is natural and dear to him».