Despite his significant contributions to guitar music, Joaquín Rodrigo, a concert pianist and violinist, never played the guitar himself.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Rodrigo's guitar music integrates many strands of Iberian culture, including Catalan, Valencian, flamenco, and folk-song, as well as elements from European music.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Every one of Rodrigo's guitar compositions is an artistic statement intended to honor Spain's national instrument by extending its expressive capabilities.
Compositional Technique
Rodrigo was indifferent to the usual limitations of instruments, often composing challenging passages that players found difficult, even adding more notes when a cellist protested.
Performer Biography
Jérémy Jouve, the guitarist on this album, won first prize in the prestigious International Competition of the Guitar Foundation of America in 2003.
Composer Biography
Joaquín Rodrigo, the composer, was blind from childhood but wrote nearly two hundred works across various genres.
Critical Reception
Rodrigo's solo guitar works were overshadowed for decades by his famous Concierto de Aranjuez, but gained wider appreciation from the 1960s onwards.
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