For the Klaus Dinger compilation album, see Néondian
The Concierto de Aranjuez is a composition for classical guitar and
orchestra by the Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo. Written in 1939, it is
far and away Rodrigo's best-known work, and its success established his
reputation as one of the most significant Spanish composers of the
twentieth century. Concierto
Inspiration The Concierto de Aranjuez was inspired
by the gardens at Palacio Real de Aranjuez, the spring resort palace and
gardens built by Philip II in the last half of the 16th century and rebuilt in
the middle of the 18th century by Ferdinand VI. The work attempts to
transport the listener to another place and time through the evocation of the
sounds of nature. According to the composer, the first
movement is "animated by a rhythmic spirit and vigour without either of the
two themes... interrupting its relentless pace"; the second movement
"represents a dialogue between guitar and solo instruments"; and the last
movement "recalls a courtly dance in which the combination of double and
triple time maintains a taut tempo right to the closing bar." He described the
concerto itself as capturing "the fragrance of magnolias, the singing of
birds, and the gushing of fountains" in the gardens of Aranjuez.
Rodrigo and his wife Victoria stayed silent for many years about the
inspiration for the second movement, and thus the popular belief grew that it was
inspired by the bombing of Guernica in 1937. In her autobiography, Victoria
eventually declared that it was both an evocation of the happy days of their
honeymoon and a response to Rodrigo's devastation at the miscarriage of their
first pregnancy. It was composed in 1939 in Paris.
Rodrigo dedicated the Concierto de Aranjuez to Regino Sainz de la Maza.
Rodrigo, nearly blind since age three, was a pianist. He did not play the
guitar, yet he still managed to capture and project the role of the guitar in
Spanish music. = Political context=
In 1939, the Spanish Civil War had just ended, beginning the dictatorship of
general Francisco Franco. A work premiered in Spain in this highly
charged environment had to celebrate, or pretend to celebrate, or permit the
interpretation that it was celebrating, the current political situation and
regime. The celebration of a palace and gardens of a sixteenth-century Habsburg
king offered no ideological threat to the regime, and was in harmony with its
emerging policy of celebrating Spanish history, conservatively interpreted.
= Composition= Composed in early 1939, in Paris, amid
the tensions of the impending war, it was the first work Rodrigo wrote for
guitar and orchestra. The instrumentation is unusual: rarely does
the guitar face the forces of a full orchestra. Instead, the guitar is never
overwhelmed, remaining the solo instrument throughout.
= Movements= This concerto is in three movements,
Allegro con spirito, Adagio and Allegro gentile. The first and last movements
are in D major while the famous middle movement is in B minor.
The second movement, the best-known of the three, is marked by its slow pace
and quiet melody, introduced by the Cor Anglais, with a soft accompaniment by
the guitar and strings. A feeling of quiet regret permeates the piece.
Ornamentation is added gradually to the melody in the beginning. An off-tonic
trill in the guitar creates the first seeds of tension in the piece; they grow
and take hold, but relax back to the melody periodically. Eventually, a
climactic build-up starts. This breaks back into the main melody, molto
appassionato, voiced by the strings with accompaniment from the woodwinds. The
piece finally resolves to a calm arpeggio from the guitar, though it is
the strings in the background rather than the guitar’s final note that
resolve the piece. The third movement is in mixed metre, alternating between 2/4
and 3/4. = Premiere=
The premier of the Concierto de Aranjuez was held on 9 November 1940 at the Palau
de la Música Catalana, in Barcelona. It was performed by guitarist Regino Sainz
de la Maza with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Barcelona conducted by César Mendoza
Lasalle. On 11 December 1940 the concerto
received its first performance in Madrid, at the Teatro Español de Madrid
conducted by Jesús Arámbarri, with the same soloist. The United States premiere
was given by Rey de la Torre on 19 November 1959, with the Cleveland
Orchestra conducted by Robert Shaw. Interpretations
The concerto was recorded for the first time in either 1947 or 1948 by guitarist
Regino Sainz de la Maza with the Orquesta Nacional de España, conducted
by Ataúlfo Argenta, on 78 rpm records. This recording was inducted into the
Latin Grammy Hall of Fame. Narciso Yepes then made two early recordings of the
Aranjuez, both also with Argenta - one in mono with the Madrid Chamber
Orchestra, and the second in stereo with the Orquesta Nacional de España.
Although Ida Presti gave the French premiere of the Concierto de Aranjuez in
1948, the first female guitarist to record the concerto was Renata Tarragó -
who played with fingertips rather than fingernails - accompanied by the
Orquesta de Conciertos de Madrid, conducted by Odón Alonso. William Yeoman
provides an interesting discographical survey of recordings of the concerto in
Gramophone magazine. Until asked to perform and interpret
Concierto de Aranjuez in 1991, the Spanish flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía
was not proficient at reading musical notation. De Lucía claimed in Paco de
Lucía-Light and Shade: A Portrait that he gave greater emphasis to rhythmical
accuracy in his interpretation of the Concierto at the expense of the perfect
tone preferred by classical guitarists. Composer Joaquín Rodrigo later declared
that no one had ever played his composition in such a brilliant manner.
At the request of Nicanor Zabaleta, Rodrigo transcribed the Concierto for
harp and orchestra in 1974. A number of musicians have since
reinterpreted the work, usually the second movement, perhaps most famously
jazz musician Miles Davis in the company of arranger Gil Evans. On the album
Sketches of Spain, Davis says: "That melody is so strong that the softer you
play it, the stronger it gets, and the stronger you play it, the weaker it
gets." Deep Purple played "The orange juice
song" on the sessions of the 1975 "Come taste the band" album, which is based
around the famous second movement. It appears on the collection "Days may
come..." Pre-eminent classical guitarist John
Williams has recorded the Concierto numerous times, including on his cd and
video THE SEVILLE CONCERT. Violinist Ikuko Kawai's version,
"Aranjuez", is an upbeat, faster update to the work.
Clarinettist Jean-Christian Michel's transcription of "Aranjuez" has sold
some 1,500,000 copies. Guitarist Buckethead covered "Sketches
of Spain" on his album Electric Tears as a tribute to Miles Davis.
Guitarist Uli Jon Roth's version "Air De Aranjuez" can be found on his album
Transcendental Sky Guitar. Bassist Buster Williams performs a solo
bass transcription of the second movement of Concierto de Aranjuez on his
album Griot Liberté. The jazz pianist Chick Corea used the
beginning of the second movement as an introduction to his composition "Spain".
Al Jarreau used the same intro in his arrangement of "Spain" as a vocalese.
A version of the Concierto, influenced by Davis's rendition, was performed by
Jim Hall on his 1975 album, Concierto. Hall performs the piece in full.
Jazz saxophonist Tom Scott performed the second movement on his 1985 release One
night – One Day. This is the 2nd movement in entirety
The piece also featured in the film Brassed Off, with Ewan McGregor, and was
played by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. In that film, it is sometimes referred
to as the 'Concierto d'Orangejuice.' This is a familiar name in the brass
band community; the arrangement they refer to was created by Kevin Bolton.
The Modern Jazz Quartet has several recordings of the Concierto, one with
Laurindo Almeida, another on the Last Concert CD and In Memoriam CD. Jim
Roberts of Orlando, FL, has two recordings, one with his trio and
another with his Saxtet, both very listenable arrangements.
A version entitled "Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto de Aranjuez" was released by
The Shadows in 1979. A version of the Adagio was released as
a single entitled "Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto" by Geoff Love, in 1976. This
reached No. 3 in the British singles chart.
Lebanese female singer Fairuz has also used the music of the second movement on
one of her songs "Le Bairut". Also the Egyptian born Greek singer Demis Roussos
used the same music for his song "Follow Me". In 1967, the French singer Richard
Anthony brought out a single named "Aranjuez mon amour", with lyrics by Guy
Bontempelli. The Israeli singer Rita also sang a song
on her second album that contained the melody of the second movement. The song
was titled "Concierto de Aranjuez" or "The Rainbow Song", and appeared on her
1988 album Yamey Ha-Tom. Led Zeppelin's keyboardist/bassist John
Paul Jones incorporated parts of the music during an improvisation section of
their song "No Quarter" on their 1977 tour.
Electronic musician and composer Isao Tomita performed a version on his 1978
album Kosmos. André Rieu performed the piece
accompanied by the church bells of Maastricht in a performance available on
the DVD Songs From My Heart. Egyptian-Italian singer Dalida had a
song entitled "Aranjuez La Tua Voce" which employed parts of the melody from
the second movement. An arrangement of this piece is played
by Takanori Arisawa a few times in a popular children's Japanese animation
series, Digimon Adventure. Singer Summer Watson included a version
called "Aranjuez, ma pensée" on her self-titled 2002 debut album Summer.
Japanese Jazz-Fusion drummer Akira Jimbo recorded an arrangement of this tune on
the album Jimbo de Cover, which, as implied, is an album containing only his
covers of other people's songs. American figure skater Michelle Kwan
used an arrangement of the music for her Free Skate Program to win the last of
her five World Championship titles at the 2003 World Figure Skating
Championships. The Limited Edition Drum and Bugle Corps
used the opening portion of the Adagio movement, dubbed "Spain," as a warm-up
piece. Herb Alpert's 1979 album Rise contains a
track, "Aranjuez" on Side 2. The Cuban classic guitar player Leo
Brouwer made a jazz style interpretation of the Concierto with the group Irakere.
Rodrigo's title of nobility On 30 December 1991, Rodrigo was raised
to the Spanish nobility by King Juan Carlos I with the title of Marqués de
los Jardines de Aranjuez. References
= Other sources= Preface to the Ernst Eulenburg edition
of the work, EE6785 Duarte, John W.,. Liner notes. Rodrigo
Concierto de Aranjuez, etc. CD. EMI Classics 7243 5 56175 2 1.
Haldeman, Philip. "Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez; Fantasia para un
Gentilhombre". American Record Guide. March–April 1998: pp. 182–183.
Wade, Graham. Joaquín Rodrigo and the Concierto de Aranjuez. New York:
Mayflower. ISBN 0-946896-15-1 External links
Joaquin Rodrigo website Barbara Heninger's program notes
Press release of SGAE about the preference of the Japanese to the
Concierto de Aranjuez Commentary on the Third Movement and an
Examination of the Meaning of the Concerto – by Robert Antecki
Angelo Gilardino of the Andrés Segovia Foundation of Spain explains about
Rodrigo and Segovia Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez for
Guitar, BBC Radio 4 Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez: which
recording is best? at gramophone.co.uk El concierto de Aranjuez' de Joaquín
Rodrigo at rtve.es = Audio=
Video of Adagio by Xuefei Yang Concierto de Aranjuez Synthesizer remake
by Phonic Hearing