Francisco Tarrega Biography
Spanish Composer, Classical Guitarist, Teacher
To this day, Tárrega's tremolo guitar music, Recuerdos de la Alhambra (Memories of Alhambra), remains famous and loved. He was an influential Spanish composer and Classical guitarist of the 19th century, significant in the development of classic guitar music. He is considered the "father of modern Classical guitar playing" and hailed as the "Sarasate of the guitar."
Recuerdos de la Alhambra was inspired by the sight of Alhambra, the Moorish palace in Granada. Another popular and heartwarming music by Tárrega is Lagrima. Aside from composing guitar music, Tárrega gave concerts and taught music. He died in Barcelona, Spain on December 15, 1909, aged 57.
Early Life of Tarrega
Francisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea, was born in Villarreal, Casatellon, Spain on November 21, 1852. He studied in Castellon and Valencia, before enrolling in Madrid Conservatory in 1874 for 3 years in which he completed his formal music studies, having received first prizes in both composition and harmony.
Tárrega Concert Repertoire
His repertoire was expanded with short Hispanic pieces and a whole range of transcriptions based on compositions from JS Bach, WA Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, Chopin, as well as countrymen Granados and Albeniz, and many other composers.
The Guitar Performer: Europe Tours
Recognized as a leader of the modern Spanish guitar movement, he gave recitals in France (in Paris, Perpignan and Nice), Spain (in Cadiz, Mallorca, Valencia and Barcelona), and London (in 1880) among other places. Tárrega captured the hearts of all that heard him.
The Guitar Professor
Tárrega was professor of guitar at Madrid conservatory. He also established teaching methods including the most practical way of holding the guitar, that is, by using a footstool to raise one leg (allowing whether the performer is right or left-handed), and the principles of the left and right hand techniques.
The Composer and His Works
Aside from his numerous transcriptions, his works include many guitar preludes, the popular Capricho arabe (Arabian Caprice) in which he dedicated to the composer and his beloved friend Breton, and Danza mora (Moorish Dance) which he composed while in Algeria and where he also met Saint-Saens, and many more of his Estudios. His last work was the music piece Oremus which he wrote about two weeks before he died.
Today, his best-known work, and one of the best of guitar pieces, Recuerdos de la Alhambra, is still being transcribed and versioned over, even by top pop artists. His output was modest, with about 78 original scores and 120 transcriptions of the great classical compositions, but he was the first great arranger for guitar, transcribing works from composers such as J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Berlioz, Chopin, Grieg, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, and Wagner, as well as pieces from Albéniz and other Spanish contemporaries.
Tárrega's Legacy
Tárrega did not write a guitar primer or tutor, however, his techniques and methods were proliferated by his students, among them, Pascual Roch and Emilio Pujol wrote down his principles of pedagogy in volumes still in use today. Tarrega created a Spanish romantic voice for the guitar which has enchanted people to love guitar music.
Sources:
The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, edited by Stanley Sadie, Macmillan Press, 1994
The Oxford Dictionnary of Music, Revised Edition, edited by Michael Kennedy, OUP, 1994
Francisco Tarrega
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