Tarrega, F.: Guitar Music

Featuring

Mats Bergström
Francisco Tárrega

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Cultural Impact

Measures 13-16 of Francisco Tárrega's Gran Vals are one of the most frequently heard tunes of our time, as it is the ringtone for Nokia mobile phones.

Composer Biography

Francisco Tárrega, the composer, never charged for lessons, which did not help his family's finances, but he was genuinely uninterested in material things.

Instruments

The guitar used in this recording is a replica by Swedish luthier Lars Jönsson of an 1888 instrument by Antonio de Torres, which was Francisco Tárrega's favorite guitar.

Composer Biography

Francisco Tárrega, the composer, suffered a severe eye infection at age three and underwent surgery in 1866, which saved him from blindness but left his vision permanently damaged.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Francisco Tárrega's concert programs often included arrangements of works by great masters like Bach, Mozart, and Chopin, alongside popular opera tunes, demonstrating the guitar's versatility.

Performer Biography

Mats Bergström, the guitarist on this album, is a graduate of the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and the Juilliard School in New York, and has been a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Music since 2006.

Compositional Technique

In 1902, Francisco Tárrega introduced a new guitar technique, using only the flesh of the fingertip instead of the nail, combined with frequent use of apoyando or 'rest stroke'.