Joaquin Rodrigo, Life and Works
Spanish Composer, Virtuoso Pianist, Famous for Guitar Music
Brief biography and works of Joaquin Rodrigo, celebrated 20th century Spanish composer of Concierto de Aranjuez.
Joaquin Rodrigo is one of the most significant Spanish composers of the 20th century. He is best known for Concierto de Aranjuez and Fantasia Para Un Gentilhombre.
While he composed significantly in many genres, and a virtuoso pianist, Rodrigo is remembered mainly for his guitar music. His approachable style, with trimmings of the Spanish folk music, almost remained unchanged in his long musical career. Blind from childhood, Rodrigo's prodigious output was composed using Braille.
Early Life, Training and Education
Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999), was born in Sagunto, Spain, on November 22, 1901. He was blind from the age of three from an attack of diphthria. But as a child, he showed great aptitude for music, first, studying in Valencia, Spain and later, following his fellow Spaniards, Granados and Albéniz, in Paris.
Rodrigo took composition lessons in Valencia, and in 1927 entered the Schola Cantonum in Paris, as a pupil and later friend, of Paul Dukas, and with encouragement from Manuel de Falla. He also met and married Victoria Kamhi, a Turkish pianist, and they have a daughter Cecilia.
He lived in Paris and Germany during the Spanish Civil War, only returning to Madrid in 1939. Five years later, in Madrid, he was appointed professor of music at Madrid University.
Rodrigo's Music and Influences
Rodrigo's music is a conglomerate of varied influences, the appealing and romantic Spanish-inflected melody and with subtlety learned from his studies with Dukas in Paris, and at times a certain Stravinskian coolness, as epitomized in his celebrated spirited concentration in Concierto de Aranjuez, named after the historic old town of Madrid.
Affected deeply by the death of Dukas, Rodrigo composed Sonada de Adios, a homage to his teacher and friend.
Not a guitarist himself, it is worth noting that his large output contains many guitar works, and played a significant role in establishing the guitar in the Classical mainstream.
Rodrigo travelled widely, and was awarded his country's highest honors.
List of Rodrigo's Works
- Concierto de Aranjuez, for guitar and orchestra, 1939
- Concierto heroico, for piano and orchestra, 1943
- Concierto en modo galante (Concerto in the Galant Style), for cello and orchestra, 1949
- Concierto serenata, (Concert-Serenade), for harp and orchestra, 1954
- Fantasia para un gentilhombre (Fantasia for a Gentleman), for guitar and orchestra, 1955
- Concierto andaluz, for four guitars and orchestra, 1967
- Concierto madrigal, for two guitars and orchestra, 1969
- Sonata de Espagnola, for guitar, 1969
- Concierto pastoral, for flute and orchestra, 1978
- Concierto como un divertimento (Concerto like a Divertimento), for cello and orchestra, 1981
Rodrigo also composed Sones en la Giralda (Fantasia Savillana), for harp and orchestra
Sources:
Classical Music, edited by John Burrows, DK (2005)
Dictionary of Composers and their Music, by Eric Gilder, Sphere Reference (1987)
The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, edited by Stanley Sadie, Macmillan (1994)
The Oxford Companion to Music, edited by Alison Latham, OUP (2002)
