Composer Joaquin Rodrigo Dies at the Age of 97

Spanish composer, Joaquin Rodrigo died on 6 July 1999 at the age of 97. I was in Spain during this time and found an explanation of the Concierto de Aranjuez in a local newspaper. The following is my translation of his explanation:

"Almost everything that there is to write has been written about my blessed Concierto de Aranjuez. I say almost everything because, in reality, the only thing that has not been written or said is precisely what the public has been waiting for and continues to wait for. And that is an explanation from its author concerning the significance of the music and what the author was thinking when he wrote it.

"I have to admit that I did not think about anything else except how this concerto would leave my hands in the best form possible, played often, and appreciated a lot.

"But what does it represent, or better said, what does it mean? When we listen to it what is the author trying to convey to us? In other words, he is evoking in us the memories of times passed, the beautiful gardens of Aranjuez, its fountains, trees, birds…

"Many years have passed since I composed this work in the Latin Quarter of Paris in the spring of 1937. During this time, I was waiting to return to Spain. This work is my favored daughter with the public; a work that was born already able to stand on its own.

"Today, thanks to its music, interpretations, and what it represents (the historic and poetic name of Aranjuez), the concerto has crossed the world enclosed inside the body of the guitar. And, I must say without false modesty, that it has been received with enthusiastic success everywhere it has traveled.

"While this concerto is pure music and not programmatic in nature, I did situate it in Aranjuez. By doing this, I wanted to indicate a specific time, the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, during the courts of Carlos IV and Fernando VII, where the atmosphere was subtlely stylized with bullfighters, noblemen and women, and the sounds of Spain.

"The guitar with its unprecedented audacity finds itself opposed to a formidable orchestra of flutes, oboe, English horn, clarinets, bassoons, trumpets, and quartet. At every point in the work, the guitar is the soloist.

" The first movement, marked Allegro con spirito, moves along with a lively march that is interrupted twice by different themes. In the second movement (Adagio) the guitar enters into a sad dialogue with the solo instruments: English horn, bassoon, oboe, trumpet, etc. A deep and uninterrupted struggle is maintained throughout this movement. The third movement (Allegro gentile) evokes the sound of a courtly dance in which the combinations of tempos (2 & 3) pushes ahead towards the final voice.

"What else can I say about the Concierto de Aranjuez? Its premiere received unprecedented success, and the most reputable critics bestowed upon it glorious reviews. The date of its premiere will be remembered as an historic event in the music of Spain."

El Correo de Andalucia, 7 July 1999 Translated by Dennis Aberle

Pepe Romero will perform Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez and an all Spanish Program with de Falla's The Three Cornered Hat and Palomo's Nocturnes de Andalusia in the Triangle on Nov. 13. See below for Prez Sez for details.

Back to The Triangle Guitar Society main home page | Newsletter September 1999 contents | Prez Sez | Guitar Acts coming to Triangle | CD Review - Koshkin | Rodrigo 1901 - 1999 | From the music editor | Upcoming events | Map to General Meeting | For Sale