Francisco Tárrega
Francisco Tárrega was an important Spanish composer whose music and style of guitar playing became strongly influential in the twentieth century. He was central to reviving the guitar as a solo instrument in recital and concerts. Among his most popular compositions are Recuerdos de la Alhambra and Danza mora. He wrote nearly 80 original works for the guitar and over 100 transcriptions, mostly of piano pieces by Chopin, Beethoven, and others.
Francisco Tárrega was born on November 21, 1852, in Villareal, Castellon, Spain. In his early childhood, Tárrega fell into an irrigation canal and injured his eyes. He was taught his first lessons on guitar by Eugeni Ruiz, a blind musician. In 1862, concert guitarist Julian Arcas, on tour in Castellon, heard young Francisco play and advised Tárrega's father to allow Francisco to come to Barcelona for study with him. Tárrega's father agreed, but insisted that he take piano lessons as well. His father was well aware that the guitar, as a solo vehicle, was in decline, coming increasingly to be viewed as an instrument to accompany singers, while the piano was all the rage throughout Europe.
By his early teens, Tárrega had become proficient on both instruments. For a time, he played with other musicians at local engagements to earn money, but eventually he returned home. In 1874 he enrolled at the Madrid Conservatory where he would study composition under Arrieta. He had brought along with him a recently purchased guitar, made in Seville by Antonio Torres. Its superior sonic qualities inspired him both in his playing and in his view of the instrument's compositional potential. When Arrieta heard his student Tárrega in a guitar concert, he convinced him to focus on guitar and abandon ideas of a career involving the piano.
In about 1876, Tárrega began teaching and giving regular guitar concerts. He typically received much acclaim for his playing and began traveling to other areas of Spain to perform. By this time he was composing his first works for guitar. In 1880, he met his future wife, Maria Rizo, when he was giving a concert in Novelda. That same year he went on tour to Lyon, Paris, and London, now playing his own works in addition to those of other composers.
In 1881, he and Maria were married in Novelda. He soon began transcribing piano works of Beethoven, Chopin, Mendelssohn, and others to enlarge his guitar repertory, and, no doubt, to make use of his considerable knowledge of keyboard music. Tárrega and his wife moved to Madrid, but after the death of an infant daughter, Maria Josefa, they settled permanently in Barcelona in 1885.
On a concert tour in Valencia shortly afterward, Tárrega met a wealthy widow, Conxa Martinez, who became a valuable patron to him. She allowed him and his family use of a house in Barcelona, where he would write the bulk of his most popular works, including Recuerdos de la Alhambra. From the latter 1880s up to 1903, Tárrega continued composing, but limited his concerts to Spain. In about 1902, he cut his fingernails and created a sound that would become typical of those guitarists associated with his school. The following year he launched a tour of Italy, giving highly successful concerts in Rome, Naples, and Milan.
In January 1906, he was afflicted with paralysis on his right side, and though he would eventually return to the concert stage, he never completely recovered. He finished his last work, Oremus, on December 2, 1909. He died 13 days later.
© Robert Cummings /TiVo
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Discography
12 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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20 Spanish Guitar Classic: Greatest Hits
Classical - Released by Producciones AR on Jun 9, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Música Clásica Española: Guitarra
Classical - Released by Piros Comercial Digital on Jul 30, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Etude in E Minor
Benedict Larsen, Francisco Tárrega
Classical - Released by Benedict Larsen on May 8, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Recuerdos de la Alhambra
Classical - Released by Mattias Schulstad on Oct 16, 2020
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Lágrima
Benedict Larsen, Francisco Tárrega
Classical - Released by Benedict Larsen & Francisco Tárrega on Oct 6, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Whispers of Love
Chamber Music - Released by Moston Records on Jun 1, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Adelita
Mats Bergstrom, Francisco Tárrega
Classical - Released by Carpe Diem (Sweden) on Dec 1, 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Recuerdos de la Alhambra
Raynaud Hernández, Francisco Tárrega
Pop - Released by Raynaud Hernández on Aug 10, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Obras Unicas de Música Clásica Vol. Extra
Classical - Released by Piros Comercial Digital on Apr 13, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo