History Classical Guitar Composer

Tarega, Francisco
Francisco Tárrega (Francisto Tarrega y Eixea) (November 21, 1852 - December 15, 1909) was a Spanish composer and guitarist.
Born in Villarreal, Spain, he fell into an irrigation channel when he was young, which rendered him nearly blind. Partially due to this accident, the family moved to Castellon and enrolled him in music classes. Both his first music teachers, Eugeni Ruiz and Manuel Gonzalez, were blind. In 1862, guitarist Julián Arcas heard the young prodigy and encouraged him to journey to Barcelona, a hub for musicians. However, Tarrega was soon brought back by his father. [1],

He entered the Madrid Conservatory in 1874, under the sponsorship of a wealthy merchant named Antonio Canesa, where he studied composition under Emilio Arrieta. By the end of the 1870s, he was teaching the guitar (Emilio Pujol and Miguel Llobet were pupils of his) and giving regular concerts. A virtuoso on his instrument, he was known as the 'Sarasate of the guitar'. He later settled in Barcelona, and died there in 1909.

As well as his original works for the guitar, which include Recuerdos de la Alhambra, Capricho Árabe and Danza Mora, he arranged pieces by others for the instrument, including works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin and Felix Mendelssohn. As with several of his Spanish contemporaries, such as his friend Isaac Albéniz, he had an interest in combining the prevailing Romantic trend in classical music with Spanish folk elements, and transcribed several of Albeniz's piano pieces (notably the fiery Asturias (Leyenda)) for guitar. The noted contemporary guitarist and composer Angelo Gilardino has written that Tárrega's 9 Preludios are '... the deepest musical thought of Tárrega in the most concentrated form.'

Tárrega is considered to have laid the foundations for 20th-century classical guitar and for increased interest in the guitar as a recital instrument. The great Andrés Segovia used much of Tarrega's work on technique and many of his compositions to take the classical guitar into concert halls of Europe. He is also the composer of what has been claimed to be 'probably the world's most heard tune': the Nokia ringtone Nokia tune or simply Nokia, also used in their advertising spots, is based on Tárrega's Gran Vals. His music also inspired Mike Oldfield, whose Etude (The Killing Fields) is based on Tárrega's piece for solo classical guitar Recuerdos de la Alhambra (Memories of the Alhambra).
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Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach (pronounced [joˈhan/ˈjoːhan seˈbastjan ˈbax]) (31 March 1685 [O.S. 21 March] – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity.[1] Although he introduced no new forms, he enriched the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal technique, an unrivalled control of harmonic and motivic organisation in composition for diverse instrumentation, and the adaptation of rhythms and textures from abroad, particularly Italy and France.

Revered for their intellectual depth, technical command and artistic beauty, Bach's works include the Brandenburg concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Partitas, the Well-Tempered Clavier, the Mass in B Minor, the St. Matthew Passion, the St. John Passion, the Magnificat, The Musical Offering, The Art of Fugue, the English Suites, the French Suites, the Sonatas and Partitas for violin solo, the Cello Suites, more than 200 surviving cantatas, and a similar number of organ works, including the celebrated Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.

While Bach's abilities as an organist were recognized and highly respected throughout Europe during his lifetime, he was not particularly well-known as a composer. His adherence to Baroque forms and contrapuntal style was considered 'old-fashioned' by his contemporaries, especially late in his career when the musical fashion tended towards Rococo and later Classical styles. A revival of interest and performances of his music began early in the 19th century, and he is now widely considered to be one of the greatest composers in the Western tradition.
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Fernando Sor

Fernando Sor was born in Barcelona and was destined to play a pivotal role in overturning the perception that the guitar was not a serious instrument. His education was designed to prepare him to follow the family tradition into a military career, but it also gave him some scope to further his obvious passion for music. His father introduced the young Fernando to opera which he loved, and also helped to indulge his fascination for the guitar. He studied for a period at a monastery in Montserrat, where he took courses in music, sang in the choir and first started to compose. However when his father died he had to leave his studies and return home. In his brief military career there were further opportunities to compose and when Napoleon invaded Spain, Sor composed a number of nationalistic songs and instrumental music in support of his native country. When the French took over the running of the country his patriotism took a questionable turn when he accepted an administrative post with the occupying forces. So when the French were finally driven out of Spain, Sor felt compelled to flee and he settled in Paris.



In Paris Sor was able to concentrate on his music career and he soon built up a reputation which spread throughout Europe. That career had a number of facets as a composer, a performer and a teacher of the guitar. He toured a number of countries, spending a number of years in London before returning to Paris where he died in 1839 not long after the death of his daughter. His legacy is as a prolific composer and proponent of music for the guitar, and though the popularity of the instrument may have waned a little during the 19th century, its position today owes much to the life and work of Fernando Sor. As a guitar teacher Sor had many willing students, and he wrote a tutor for the instrument covering all aspects of playing styles and techniques which became a standard for future guitar players.
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etude Op. 31 no. 6 in Em Etude Op.35 No. 1 in C, Etude Op.35 No.2 in C,