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Aguado (y Garcia), Dionisio
Spanish guitarist and composer. 'Padre Basilio' of Madrid, possibly Miguel Garcia, gave him his first instruction in the guitar, an instrument for which tablature notation was still commonly used in Spain. In about 1800 Aguado, like Fernando Sor, was influenced by the Italian Federico Moretti and adopted the conventional staff notation for the guitar; thereafter both Spaniards published their music in the improved manner championed by Moretti, distinguishing the musical parts by the direction of note stems, use of rests, etc. Aguado's artistic career unfolded slowly, owing to the Napoleonic invasion of Spain and its aftermath. He retreated to the village of Fuenlabrada in 1803, teaching and perfecting his technique there until 1824, the year his mother died; his Colección de estudios para guitarra appeared in Madrid in 1820. He moved to Paris in 1825 (while Sor was in Russia) and immediately gained an enviable reputation as a virtuoso and teacher; a revised version of his Escuela de guitarra (Madrid, 1825) was translated into French by François de Fossa as Méthode complète pour la guitare and published in Paris (c1826). The last ten years of Aguado's life were apparently spent in Madrid, where he revised his method (as Nuevo metodo para guitarra, 1843) and devoted himself to teaching.
In the years before his final departure from Paris (1838), Aguado was in close collaboration with Sor. They gave many concerts together, and Sor dedicated a duet op.41, Les deux amis, to his younger colleague. They did not agree on right-hand technique in guitar playing; Aguado recommended the use of fingernails in plucking the strings for the sake of clarity, while Sor advocated using the flesh of the fingertips for a mellower and more powerful tone. But despite their differences, they greatly admired one another, Sor gallantly ‘excusing’ Aguado's fingernail technique on account of the latter's superb musicianship and skilled execution. A complete catalogue of Aguado's compositions is not available. According to Prat, he wrote several dozen studies, rondos, dances and fantasias. His guitar method was extremely popular in the 19th century, and was republished frequently, including a facsimile edition by Minkoff (Geneva, 1980). His subsequent Nuevo metodo para guitarra (Madrid, 1843) was issued in English as New Guitar Method (London, 1981). Other facsimile editions include The Selected Works of Dionisio Aguado, ed. S. Wynberg (Monaco, 1981), and Selected Concert Works, ed. B. Jeffery (Heidelberg, 1990). Aguado is also known for the invention of the tripedisono, which supported the guitar away from the performer's body.
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