Joaquin Rodrigo: Music For Guitar 19 Pieces

El Album De Cecilia Para Guitarra is a collection of six pieces for solo Guitar. It was composed in 1948 and is named for the composer’s daughter and only child. St Cecilia is the patron saint of music and fittingly Rodrigo was born on St Cecilia’s day November 22nd. Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999) was born in Valencia and lost his sight to diphtheria at the age of three which is believed to have heightened his hearing and inspired him to pursue a musical career. He began to study music five years later and became one of Spain’s most distinguished composers musicologists and pedagogues.

Para Piano A Cuatro Manos-Composed in 1941 and dedicated to Antonio Tovar and Jesus Rubio Joaquin Rodrigo’s Gran Marcha De Los Subsecretarios for Piano four hands combines classic march elements with modern harmonies creating a unique and fun piece. Duration approximately 4:30 minutes.Joaqu n Rodrigo was a Spanish composer and a virtuoso pianist. Rodrigo's music is among the most popular music of the 20th century in particular his Concierto de Aranjuez is considered one of the pinnacles of Spanish music and of the Guitar concerto repertoire. Although distinguished by having raised the Spanish Guitar to dignity as a universal concert instrument and bestknown for his Guitar music the blind composer never mastered the instrument himself.

2003 Winner of the International GFA Competition-This Mel Bay DVD featuring 2003 GFA winner Jeremy Jouve was recorded live in September 2009 at Eybens a small town not far from the capital of the French Alps Grenoble where Jeremy was born. Over the past few years Jeremy'sconcert program has become oriented towards 20th century European music. With this particular concert Jeremy has endeavored to illustrate his interest in this music by performing works from four European composers of differentnationalities. The first composer Joaquin Rodrigo is famous the world over for his solo guitar works. Seldom performed they are little-known but deserve to be presented to a wider audience. For some time now Jeremy hasincluded in his repertory Rodrigo's music in homage to the rich and diverse Spanish culture. The Sonata Ommaggio a Boccherini fruit of the prolific collaboration that took place at the turn of the 20th century betweenthe Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco and Andrès Segovia is performed here in the recently re-edited version which is much closer to the original manuscript. In the 2nd part of the concert the inspiration changes witha work by Benjamin Britten Nocturnal after John Dowland. The composer was a close friend of Julian Bream and here he offers a truly great musical masterpiece. A true psychodrama he takes us through the various emotionsencountered while sleeping exaltation with a Passacaglia leading to and finishing on John Dowland’s inspirational theme as dawn finally brings the reassuring light of day. Jouve concludes the recital with the Jazz Sonata bythe composer Dusan Bogdanovic who with great spirit explores the musical horizons of Jazz and music from his native Balkans. Finally an allusion to France with one of my Jouve's native country’s greatest popular singers ofthe 20th century Edith Piaf and her L ‘Hymne l’Amour with as a bonus Erik Satie’s first Gnossienne both arranged by Roland Dyens.