LTS Guitar Music
    by La Tung-Son
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Francisco Tarrega (1852-1909)

Probably the most important contribution to pedagogy and guitar technique from Spain is embodied in the works of Francisco Tarrega. These included his compositions which rank among the best in the late nineteenth century.
Tarrega received his first guitar instruction at the age of eight. This was followed by studies at the Conservatory of Music in Madrid where he later taught guitar. He also taught in the Conservatory of Barcelona and made over 100 transcriptions of works by Bach, Handel, Mozart and Schubert. In addition, he wrote many compositions of his own: preludes, studies,waltzes, that exhibit the increased complexity of harmony and technique made possible by his new approach to guitar playing. This new approach involved a major change: the holding of the right hand perpendicularly to the strings instead of being hold obliquely to them.
Tarrega's technique made more convenient the use of the so-called "supported stroke" or "hammer stroke". At any rate, Tarrega's accomplishments were definite and significant aids toward the formulation of modern guitar technique. They helped revitalize the popularity of the guitar, which had declined in previous years. Suddenly, there was a new generation of composers who could interpret Spain to the outside world in its own idiom: Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909), Enrique Granados (1967-1916), and Manuel de Falla (1876-1946). All of them admired the guitar as aficionados, but only Albéniz grew up playing the guitar as well as the piano. Albéniz went on to become one of the great pianists of the century but he wrote for the keyboard as thought it were a guitar. Many of his works are eminently well suited to guitar transcriptions.
After Tarrega's death in 1909, his work was carried on by a circle of gifted pupils, including Emilio Pujol, Miguel Llobet, Daniel Fortea, and Alberto Obregón.

Alhambra - Performed by Pepe Romero (RealVideo)
Recuerdos de la Alhambra ("Recollections of the Alhambra"), a musical depiction of the elaborately ornamented architecture of the Moorish hillside palace that overlooks the city of Granada (Spain).


Adelita - Performed by N. Yepes

Lagrima - Performed by N. Yepes (RealPlayer)