Joaquin Rodrigo (1901 – 1999) was a Spanish composer most famous for two pieces for guitar and orchestra: the Concerto de Aranjuez. and today’s selection, the Fantasía para un Gentilhombre, written for Andres Segovia, who played at its premiere in 1958. Both are extraordinarily lovely, with the solo guitar blending with the other instruments every bit as well as the more traditional solo piano or violin.
Once again we can compare this to a different version, in this case a fugue for solo guitar written by Gaspar Sanz (1640-1710). Rodrgio adapted his Fantasia from this and other Sanz pieces.
All the music from the this series can be found and enjoyed here.
I played in the cello section in a performance of Aranjuez at Madison with the guitar professor there, Javier Calderon, who studied with Segovia. Haunting is right. I don’t know this Fantasia as well. Thanks for sharing it.
(Calderon’s website says he is also an accomplished cellist and “studied interpretation” with Janos Starker. I didn’t know that. I don’t know if he studied with Starker on the cello or they worked on guitar literature – knowing Starker’s self-contained nature I’m guessing the former – but it’s an amazing thing to have studied with masters on that level on two different instruments. I played juries with Calderon on the panel; I’m glad I knew none of that then. I was nervous enough.)Report
Fantasía para un Gentilhombre was gorgeous and light and now I can’t remember why guitars are not part of orchestral music all the time.Report