The world’s most popular classical guitar concerto, the Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo, had its first performance on today’s date in 1940, in Barcelona.
Rodrigo was born in Spain in 1901 and lost his sight at the age of three. He wrote all his music on a Braille music typewriter. The Concierto de Aranjuez, inspired by a small town of that name thirty miles south of Madrid, remains his signature piece, though he wrote a number of other successful works. He died on July 6, 1999, at 97.
In 1959, a friend had played a recording of Rodrigo’s concerto for American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, who said, “After listening to it for a couple of weeks, I couldn’t get it out of my mind.” So, he played it for his friend, jazz composer and arranger Gil Evans, and in short order the two collaborated on their own 16-minute version of the score. Their collaboration was included on their classic 1960 Columbia LP, Sketches of Spain.
At the recording session, Miles paid Rodrigo this compliment: “That melody is so strong that the softer you play it, the stronger it gets…”
Joaquin Rodrigo (1902-1999): Concierto de Aranjuez; Manuel Barrueco, guitar; Philharmonic Orchestra; Placido Domingo, conductor; EMI 56175
