It is not difficult for me to say that Segei Rachmaninoff was the greatest composer of the twentieth century. Nor do I have any problem placing George Gershwin as second place (although I think Hoagy Carmichael, Harry Warren, Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter, John Lennon and Paul McCartney all have arguments for second place).
Third place is not easy at all. There are the pop composers listed above along with splendid composing and performing talents of artists such as Ernesto Lecuona (who has already been profiled in this blog). But because of the unique and piercing pathos of his humane music, as well as the haunting melodic excellence, I just have to give #3 to Joaquin Rodrigo, the great blind Spanish composer.
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Rodrigo composed many works for orchestra, and concertos for various instruments and orchestra (flute, piano, violin, and guitar) as well as a sizeable body of piano music. But he is most famous for establishing the guitar as a classical concert instrument - even though he did not play the guitar himself. His 'Concierto de Aranjuez' (1939) was the first concertante work for guitar and orchestra, and has become the most famous and recorded guitar concerto of all times. The haunting slow movement contains one of the most popular and indestructable melodies of all classical music, which has been transcribed for many instruments (Miles Davis' jazz trumpet one of them). Another popular work for the same forces is the 'Fantasia para un Gentilhombre'. His other works include ballets, film scores, operettas, vocal pieces, and over 25 pieces for guitar.
Rodrigo's tonal idiom is mostly neoclassical, harmonically advanced yet shot through with influcences from the great musical past of Spain. Gypsy and moorish influences are also discernible, although less prominent than in the works of his friend Falla. Transparent and bright textures, often favouring high-lying registers, are a hallmark of both his orchestral and instrumental writing.
Because of his blindness, Rodrigo composed in braille (using a special machine), and later dictated the music to a copyist. He received the highest awards from both the Spanish and French governments, as well as six honorary doctorates from universities worldwide. He died in 1999 and was buried in his beloved Aranjuez, next to his wife Victoria who had died two years earlier.
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Here is a Rodrigo album listed on Amazon.com with a thoroughly researched and provocative review.
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Third place is not easy at all. There are the pop composers listed above along with splendid composing and performing talents of artists such as Ernesto Lecuona (who has already been profiled in this blog). But because of the unique and piercing pathos of his humane music, as well as the haunting melodic excellence, I just have to give #3 to Joaquin Rodrigo, the great blind Spanish composer.
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Joaquin Rodrigo
Joaquín Rodrigo was born in 1901, in Sagunto in the province of Valencia, Spain. As a result from diptheria, and an unsuccessful eye surgery, he became blind from the age of three. In his own opinion, this misfortune predisposed him for a career in music. From the age of eight onwards, he studied piano as well as violin at a school for the blind, and was already an accomplished pianist at the age of 20. His first compositions for piano were written in 1923 and premiered a year later. In 1927 Rodrigo moved to Paris where he studied with Paul Dukas and befriended Manual de Falla.
Rodrigo composed many works for orchestra, and concertos for various instruments and orchestra (flute, piano, violin, and guitar) as well as a sizeable body of piano music. But he is most famous for establishing the guitar as a classical concert instrument - even though he did not play the guitar himself. His 'Concierto de Aranjuez' (1939) was the first concertante work for guitar and orchestra, and has become the most famous and recorded guitar concerto of all times. The haunting slow movement contains one of the most popular and indestructable melodies of all classical music, which has been transcribed for many instruments (Miles Davis' jazz trumpet one of them). Another popular work for the same forces is the 'Fantasia para un Gentilhombre'. His other works include ballets, film scores, operettas, vocal pieces, and over 25 pieces for guitar.
Rodrigo's tonal idiom is mostly neoclassical, harmonically advanced yet shot through with influcences from the great musical past of Spain. Gypsy and moorish influences are also discernible, although less prominent than in the works of his friend Falla. Transparent and bright textures, often favouring high-lying registers, are a hallmark of both his orchestral and instrumental writing.
Because of his blindness, Rodrigo composed in braille (using a special machine), and later dictated the music to a copyist. He received the highest awards from both the Spanish and French governments, as well as six honorary doctorates from universities worldwide. He died in 1999 and was buried in his beloved Aranjuez, next to his wife Victoria who had died two years earlier.
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Here is a Rodrigo album listed on Amazon.com with a thoroughly researched and provocative review.
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This review is from: Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez; Fantasy for a Gentleman / Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 (RCA Victor Basic 100, Vol. 26) (Audio CD)
In 1940 Spain was in the middle of its bloody civil war, the stage was being set for the second world war, and no one knew what tomorrow would bring. It was in this uncertain and cataclysmic climate that 39 year old Joaquin Rodrigo composed his Concierto de Aranjuez, which earned him the distinction of being Spain's greatest composer, and later international acclaim.
The Concierto is named after the 18th-century royal palace of Aranjuez, built by Spain's Bourbon kings, which lies on the Tagus River upstream from Toledo. It was once a favorite retreat of the Spanish monarchy and contains unique decorations and grand landscaped gardens.
There are three movements in the Concierto, the less than memorable and rarely played first and third, and the monumental, soaring and cathartic second movement--the Adagio. In fact the popularity of the Adagio is such that rarely a day passes without its being played over the radio. Its indelible themes of tragedy and loss elicit poignant meditations on the uncertainties of life during war, of a country caught up in a senseless struggle which set father against son, of midnight arrests, and families torn apart.
At the same time, while Spain was turned upside down, Rodrigo's pregnant wife fell ill and was not expected to survive. Rodrigo expressed his grief at the piano where he is said to have composed the Adagio. Although she survived the infant didn't.
What makes the Adagio even more remarkable is that Rodrigo had been blind since the age of three. Yet he was able to see and express the feelings of the day, forever memorializing the sounds of a dark time in the history of a proud and noble people.
If you appreciate the Adagio you may be interested in hearing Miles Davis' interpretation in "Sketches of Spain," or a latin-rock version by Carlos Santana on his album Brothers.
The Fantasia was written in 1954 especially for the legendary guitarist Segovia. It is a pleasant piece, with nice moments, but let's not kid ourselves, its no second movement of the Concierto. Julian Bream however does a very fine job with this piece.
Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer whose music career began at the turn of the last century. He studied music formally, and was later made director of music education in Rio de Janeiro. His contributions included fusing Brazilian folk music into his classical compositions.
The Villa-Lobos selections are worth listening to, but not ones that you will be replaying over and over again. My interest in the selections were due to Stokowski and Bream. Anna Moffo was competent, but not memorable. I can't say that I was dissatisfied, but at the same time I was left wanting more from the compositions.
--Ross Saciuk
--Ross Saciuk
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