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Agustin Barrios Mangore and his classical guitar pieces.
Born on November 21, 1852, in Villareal, Spain, Francisco Tarrega was one of the most influential guitarists and composers of all time. While still a boy, he decided to become a guitarist after hearing popular guitarist Manuel Gonzalez play. He began his guitar studies with Gonzalez around the age of eleven, and later took lessons with Felix Ponza.
As a child, he was pushed into a polluted stream by a ruthless nursemaid. He nearly drowned and his eyesight was seriously impaired, resulting in an incurable and painful eye disease known as ophthalmia. In later years he was reluctant to give public concerts and was more content to play for a small groups of friends and pupils. This was directly related to the trauma of the childhood experience.
He completed his formal music studies in harmony, solfeo, piano, and other compositions, at the Madrid Conservatory of Music. In 1875 he was awarded the first prize for harmony and composition at age 23. In March of 1880 when he was 29 years old, he went to France, where his concerts in Paris were euthusiastically received. He later toured many parts of Europe with similare success. Tarrega is responsible for bringing the classical guitar to new heights with his original compositions and transcriptions for guitar. Because of his profound understanding of the instrument, including his romantic style and concept of fingering, virtually every classical guitarist has been influenced by this great artist.
In 1916 a monument was erected to his memory in Villareal. The plaque there bears the following inscription: "In this house was born on November 21, 1852, to the honor and glory of Villareal, the eminent guitarist Francisco Tarrega." Throughout Spain streets have been named after him as a daily reminder and lasting tribute to this great man whose genius was only equaled by his warmth and modest.
The pieces in this collection represent the genius of Francisco Tarrega, the "father" of the modern classical guitar. Each one of these compositions are classical guitar masterpieces, forming one of the greatest artistic and technical cornerstones of classical guitar repertoire. They represent the wide range of style, techniques, musical forms, and timbre that was the mastery of Tarrega. Even the shorter pieces, such as Lagrima, Pavana, and Prelude, although not technically virtuosic works, require a thoughtful approach and keen sense of timing to capture the dramatic shadings of the melodies and accompaniments.
Tarrega's longer pieces, such as Capricho Arabe, have these same musical challenges yet have further virtuosic demands. These compositions, as do most of his works, blend traditional Spanish melodies and rhythms with the Romantic style that was still so popular during Tarrega's time. The Mazurkas, Maria and Adelita, are reminiscent of the works of Chopin. Besides being a virtuoso guitarist, Tarrega was also an excellent pianist. Early in his career he often performed half of a concert on piano and the other half on the guitar. The intimacy with the jewels of the piano repertoire influenced his own work as a composer, and undoubtedly inspired him to transcribe many compositions for the guitar by composers such as Chopin, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Handel, Bach, and others. The Maris (Gavota) and Gran Vals are suggestive of some of those composers, in both spirit and form.
Part of Tarrega's genius was his sophisticated and innovative approach to left hand fingering; blending melody and accompaniment throughout the fingerboard, thus bringing out the full range of tone colors and dynamic possibilities of the larger modern day guitar which became popular in Spain during Tarrega's lifetime.
As with all great composers, the bulk of Tarrega's compositions seem to place musical ideas rather than technical showmanship in the forefront. However, as exhibited in his Estudio Brillante and La Alborada (MusicBox), he shows that virtuosity and musical ideas can be best of freinds. And, in the Gran Jota, he takes am extra leap reminiscent of Paganinni by stringing together a collection of known works, Recuerdoes de la Alhambra, Tarrega defines his magnificant contribution to classical guitar repertoire; although using the glimmering tremolo technique, he never allows the technique itself it to overshadow the absolutely stunning Spanish melody.
Francisco Tarrega-composer, guitarist, pianist, and teacher. He created an artistic legacy that not only profoundly influenced his contemporaries, but one which has left an indelible mark on each succeeding generations of guitarists.
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