Andrés Segovia 1893 - 1987
Segovia has been give the name, ‘Father of the Classical Guitar,’ not only because he played beautifully, but because he did so much to further its name and reputation as a concert instrument. Andrés Segovia did compose a few selected pieces for the guitar and they are very interesting and very beautiful. I am putting him into this blog, Great Composers and their Lives, not because he was a composer who composed a ton of pieces, but also because he contributed so much not only to music itself with his performances, but he went through a great deal for my favourite instrument. The guitar had always been a known instrument, but it was an instrument for the lower classes, for dances, and taverns, and had never been really recognised as a concert instrument, except in its own circles of course. Although, this is no longer the case due to Segovia, there are even some musicians today that criticize the instrument’s ability on stage. You can probably guess that during his time, Segovia had to go up against a ton of opposition to achieve his goal, yet succeeded.
When Segovia was five years of age, his uncle with whom he was living had tried to entice him to play a musical instrument. Attending the Grenada Musical Institute, he was encouraged to play the piano and the violin, yet with no avail. Segovia fell in love with the guitar on account of its unique sound. It had surely been flamenco that he had first heard. After a little bit of persuasion, taking a period of years, he was actually able to have his own guitar. By doing this, he was going against not only his family but also his teachers at the Grenada music school. It can be seen that during this period, the guitar had not been taken very seriously. Nevertheless, he became enthralled with the instrument and spent every moment he had practicing, being forced to basically teach himself. Yet, one has to take into account that he had a great deal of musical knowledge deriving from the music school in Grenada. He was in no way ignorant to music. This knowledge had to be applied to the guitar, whereby he developed his own technique of playing. He ended up moving to Córdoba to live with his brother and mother. It was here that he made a lot of friends with other musicians, among them the two pianists: Luis Serrano and Rafael de Montis.
Montis had encouraged him greatly, for he was very taken back by Segovia’s guitar transcriptions. Having given his first public recital at the age of 16 at the Granada Art Centre,
he decided to quit school to make the guitar his life. You can only imagine what his family thought about that! Well, that did not stop him. He moved to Seville where, along with playing recitals, he met a great deal of influential people who were to be the patrons of his near future. Additionally, he also played concerts in many other Spanish cities, receiving a large amount of criticism as well as praise.
During the course of his career, he also met up with Miguel Llobet, a former student of Tárrega, a guitarist for whom Segovia always had fascination. During this time, both of their techniques were similar in one respect. Contrary to a great deal of other guitarists, who used the fleshy part of their fingers OR their nails, these two players used both the fleshy part and the nail, giving a larger variety of sounds to their pieces. Nowadays generally, although sometimes still a debate, both are still used when playing.
By 1919, Segovia had earned a great deal of respect in Spain and got the opportunity to go on international tours by means of a concert promoter who was very impressed with his playing. The first tour of South America had gone wonderfully and did a great deal for his reputation. He furthered his concerts to the rest of Europe, then to the rest of the world. His playing aroused a great deal of interest for the instrument for the first time. He also encouraged other great composers to write music for the guitar. Among them were: Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Federico Moreno Torroba, Manuel Ponce, and many more. They did not just composer for solo guitar, but also for guitar and orchestra. Segovia did not stop there. He also encouraged universities and musical institutes around the world to include guitar into their curriculum. It is because of him that the classical guitar is played by concert musicians today in just about every one of the great concert halls around the globe. It is for this reason that he is sometimes known as the ‘father of the guitar’ and at times called ‘the greatest guitarist in the world.
To listen to music by this great composer click here
