Aguado | op. 16, Variations on the Fandango for solo guitar

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Dionisio Aguado was one of the classic composers for the guitar in the nineteenth century. Born in Spain, he later lived for many years in Paris. He is best known today for his Method for the guitar, but also composed many other pieces, for example his Fandango, op. 16, which could be stunning in an enthusiastic performance.

"Dionisio Aguado's Variations on the Fandango are among the most exciting works for the guitar from the nineteenth century. In them, plainly to be heard, the rhythms and harmonies of Spanish popular music, closely related to what we today call flamenco, sweep dramatically and compellingly along. In the fandango, wrote Casanova, "is found the expression of love from its beginning to its end, from the sigh of desire to the ecstasy of possession". This piece can hold any concert audience spellbound.

The piece also has a particular significance, by its date in the history of Spanish music. It, and the one other piece which Aguado composed on the Fandango (Le Menuet Affandangado, op. 15), have no parallel in his output, or indeed, in that of any other composer of the time. No other surviving piece of music from the early nineteenth century, as far as I know, brings so vividly to life, and at such length, the rhythms of the fandango and the whole tradition of popular music that it represents. How did this happen? To answer this, we must go back and look at the life and circumstances of the composer."

partial preface by Brian Jeffery (1982)

16 pp.

***Books show some aging around the staples. Printed over 31 years ago, the staples are showing rust.***

• Model: 5556 / TECLA 0025
• Manufactured by: Tecla
• Condition: New