Concerto Of Aranjuez

[Nell Barreto]

TheConcierto de Aranjuez ([konˈθjeɾ.to e a.ɾaŋˈxweθ], "Aranjuez Concerto") is a concerto for classical guitar by the Spanish composer Joaqun Rodrigo. Written in 1939, it is by far Rodrigo's best-known work, and its success established his reputation as one of the most significant Spanish composers of the 20th century.

The Concierto de Aranjuez was inspired by the gardens at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, the spring resort palace and gardens built by Philip II in the last half of the 16th century and rebuilt in the middle of the 18th century by Ferdinand VI. The work attempts to transport the listener to another place and time through the evocation of the sounds of nature.

According to the composer, the first movement is "animated by a rhythmic spirit and vigour without either of the two themes... interrupting its relentless pace"; the second movement "represents a dialogue between classical guitar and solo instruments (cor anglais, bassoon, oboe, horn etc.)"; and the last movement "recalls a courtly dance in which the combination of double and triple time maintains a taut tempo right to the closing bar." He described the concerto itself as capturing "the fragrance of magnolias, the singing of birds, and the gushing of fountains" in the gardens of Aranjuez.

Rodrigo and his wife Victoria stayed silent for many years about the inspiration for the second movement, and thus the popular belief grew that it was inspired by the bombing of Guernica in 1937. In her autobiography, Victoria eventually declared that it was both an evocation of the happy days of their honeymoon and a response to Rodrigo's devastation at the miscarriage of their first pregnancy.[1] It was composed in 1939 in Paris.

Composed in early 1939, in Paris, amid the tensions of the impending war, it was the first work Rodrigo wrote for guitar and orchestra. The instrumentation is unusual: rarely does the guitar face the forces of a full orchestra. Thus, the guitar is never overwhelmed.

The premiere of the Concierto de Aranjuez was held on 9 November 1940 at the Palau de la Msica Catalana, in Barcelona. It was performed by guitarist Regino Sainz de la Maza with the Orquesta Filarmnica de Barcelona conducted by Csar Mendoza Lasalle.

On 11 December 1940, the concerto received its first performance in Madrid, at the Teatro Espaol de Madrid conducted by Jess Armbarri, with the same soloist. The United States premiere was given by Rey de la Torre on 19 November 1959, with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Robert Shaw.

The first movement's 40-measure introduction begins with the solo guitar strumming a three-measure theme in 6/8. The theme is made of tonic, supertonic, and dominant chords and features a flamenco-like hemiola rhythm. As it repeats several times, the tonic chord's uppermost note gets higher, starting with the third, then using the fifth, the tonic, and the fifth again.

The second movement in B minor, the best-known of the three, is marked by its slow pace and quiet melody, introduced by the cor anglais, with a soft accompaniment by the guitar and strings. A feeling of quiet regret permeates the piece. Ornamentation is added gradually to the melody in the beginning. An off-tonic trill in the guitar creates the first seeds of tension in the piece; they grow and take hold, but relax back to the melody periodically. Eventually, a climactic build-up starts. This breaks back into the main melody, molto appassionato, voiced by the strings with accompaniment from the woodwinds. The piece finally resolves to a calm arpeggio from the guitar, though it is the strings in the background rather than the guitar's final note that resolve the piece.

The third movement is in mixed metre, alternating between 2/4 and 3/4. At the beginning of the movement, four-measure phrases containing 9 beats in total are formed from one 3/4 measure followed by three 2/4 measures. As the movement progresses, the metre becomes more irregular. It begins with the guitar starting the theme in the "wrong" key of B major, but the orchestra restates it in the home key of D major.

Until asked to perform and interpret Concierto de Aranjuez in 1991, the Spanish flamenco guitarist Paco de Luca was not proficient at reading musical notation, and Jos Mara Gallardo Del Rey advised and directed him musically. De Luca claimed in Paco de Luca-Light and Shade: A Portrait that he gave greater emphasis to rhythmical accuracy in his interpretation of the Concierto at the expense of the perfect tone preferred by classical guitarists.[13] Composer Joaqun Rodrigo later declared that no one had ever played his composition in such a brilliant manner[citation needed].

Jazz musician Miles Davis reinterpreted the second movement of the work on his album Sketches of Spain (1960), in the company of arranger Gil Evans. Davis stated: "That melody is so strong that the softer you play it, the stronger it gets, and the stronger you play it, the weaker it gets."[15] Columbia, the label that released Sketches of Spain, had not asked the composer for permission to record or adapt his music, and Rodrigo did not learn of the recording until after its release in 1960, when the blind jazz pianist Tete Montoliu, who claimed to have been the first person in Spain to own a copy of the album, played it for the maestro and his family. Rodrigo was irate that the American record label had used his music without permission.[16] Aside from the fact that he, as the composer, had not been asked for permission, which he considered a violation of moral rights," Rodrigo also tried to block the jazz and pop recordings from being released, before realizing, "In the end, the composer resigned himself to accept the fact that the pop versions reached a far greater public than that of classical music concertgoers, and led to much wider recognition of the original classical concerto for guitar and orchestra, Concierto de Aranjuez."[17] In fact, "Rodrigo changed his mind and came to accept the subsequent jazz recordings of his music in part because the legal terms of use were resolved (Ediciones Joaqun Rodrigo now owns the Gil Evans arrangement), but also in part because these versions, far from obliterating the original guitar concerto, have helped disseminate it."[18] The composer's wife, Victoria Kamhi, was very harsh in her memoir, however, referring to the Miles Davis recording as "an act of piracy."[19] She described how Rodrigo attempted to sue the SGAE in February 1967 in the Palace of Justice for authorizing the transcription of the Concierto for trumpet and jazz, which Davis recorded, but, "we lost the case, for the judge's opinion was that, since Miles Davis' record had granted authors' rights to Joaqun, he had no redress against the SGAE."[20]

The most-loved of all guitar concertos has at its heart, music of great beauty and haunting emotions; sadness, regret and resignation are at the core of the second movement of the Concierto de Aranjuez of Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo. Surrounded by two shorter, happier, lighter and lively movements, the emotional impact of the Adagio is all the greater in this magnificent work for guitar and orchestra from 1939.

It had been conjectured that Rodrigo may have had the bombing of Guernica in mind, an event during the Spanish Civil War that has been immortalized in the famous mural of the same name by Pablo Picasso. It was only later that Rodrigo's wife Victoria set the record straight by saying that the concerto was both an expression of happiness and joy they felt visiting the gardens of the Palace of Aranjuez on their honeymoon and the later miscarriage of her first pregnancy.

Powerful human emotions are at the heart of much great music, and that's certainly the case in this wonderful concerto for guitar and orchestra. You can hear the Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo on the next Fretworks on Classical 101 Wednesday at 7:00 PM. I'm your host every Saturday and Wednesday evening on Fretworks.

Of course, I would have to include the effortless performance by Paco de Luca. Unlike all the other recordings, Paco de Luca performed the complete concerto (not just the Adagio), and apparently learned the whole piece by ear.

In August of 1938, Joaqun Rodrigo was invited to give classes at the University of Menndez Pelayo in Santander, which had just opened its doors. The title chosen for the three conferences was Instrumental music in the Imperial Courts of Spain.

In September of 1938, I was in San Sebastin on my return to France. (...) It was during a dinner organized by the Marqus de Bolarque with Regino Sainz de la Maza and myself. We ate well and the wine was not bad at all; it was the right moment for audacious fantasizing. (...) All of a sudden, Regino, in that tone between unpredictable and determined which was so characteristic of him, said:

-Listen, you have to come back with a 'Concerto for guitar and orchestra'- and to go straight to my heart, he added in a pathetic voice: -it's the dream of my life- and, resorting to a bit of flattery, he continued: -This is your calling, as if you were 'the chosen one'.

I quickly swallowed two glasses of the best Rioja, and exclaimed in a most convicing tone:

-All right, it's a deal!

The scene has remained engraved in my mind, because that evening constituted a pleasant memory in my life, and a moment of calm in those times that were not at all peaceful for Spain and indeed threatening for Europe.

I also remember -I don't know why but everything related to Concierto de Aranjuez has stayed in my memory-, that one morning several months later, standing in my small studio on Rue Saint Jacques in the heart of the Latin Quarter, vaguely thinking about the concerto, which had become a fond idea given how difficult I judged it to be, when I heard a voice inside me singing the entire theme of the Adagio at one go, without hesitation. And immediatly afterwards, without a break, the theme of the third movement. I realized quickly that the work was done. Our intuition does not deceive us in these things...

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