Concerto of Aranjuez is a popular work by Spanish music master Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999). It was written in 1939. It has three movements and is a classic in classical guitar music. As a classical music instrument, the guitar was rarely used as a solo instrument in concertos due to its small volume. It was not until Rodrigo's Concerto of Aranjuez appeared that this situation changed. However, the guitar is not a popular instrument of classical music, so music lovers do not often have the opportunity to enjoy live performances of this music.
What is more interesting is that the Concerto is well-known mainly because of its touching second movement. This movement begins with a beautiful and melancholic theme melody, which is individually adapted into solos, ensembles, and variations of various instrumental music. It has been performed more often than the entire concerto. Some even say it is Spain's second national anthem. Rodrigo noted that the Concerto's second movement is "an elegiac dialogue between the guitar and the orchestral instruments." Perhaps it is because this piece has a stronger sense of dialogue between instruments, which is more suitable for the interaction of various instruments. Also, because the melody is full of melancholic and urgent emotions, it is easier for the performer and singer to express it and for the audience to resonate with it. At the same time, it has been filled with lyrics in many different languages and has been widely circulated. It has been sung by singers in many different fields using different music styles, including bel canto, jazz, folk, rock, reggae, crossover, etc.. Many famous superstars, such as Nana, Domingo, Carreras, Sarah Brightman, Boccelli, etc., have all sung and included them in their records. Among the cases where classical music has been adapted into songs, the Adagio movement of the concerto of Aranjuez should be among the best—even compared with the Latin love songs Besame Mucho, O sole Mio, Despacito, or the American What a Wonderful World, which are familiar to people worldwide and have a high cover rate, Aranjuez are not far behind. As far as I know, there are hundreds of adaptations. I have collected many versions of this music since I was young. For more than 40 years, I have moved every time I listen to it. Whether it is vocal or instrumental music, I deeply love it.
Aranjuez is the name of a little town located on the banks of the Tagus (Tajo in Spanish),50 kilometers south of the Spanish capital, Madrid. The Spanish Bourbon dynasty's summer palace, Palacio Real de Aranjuez, was built here in the 16th century. In 1933, Rodrigo and his wife, the Turkish pianist Victoria Kamhi, spent their honeymoon in Aranjuez. Rodrigo, who has been blind since the age of three, with the help of his wife, captured the beauty of the gardens and palaces, nature and culture of Aranjuez. This great wife almost gave up her music career and fully assisted her husband in his work and life. In 1991, the couple revisited Aranjuez. There was a video in the documentary "Shadows And Light" to celebrate Rodrigo's 90th birthday. You can see their deep love and how the wife helped her husband feel the world "in front of him." It is such a touching picture.
Victoria is not only a pianist but also a poet. Many of the song lyrics in Rodrigo's works were written by her. Perhaps the poet and the musician have a more keen sense of the feelings of all things. In 1937, at a gathering of friends, Regino Sainz de la Maza (1896-1981), a Spanish guitarist and professor at the Royal Conservatoire of Madrid, suddenly asked Rodrigo to write a guitar concerto for him. And Rodrigo, unfamiliar with the guitar, agreed and made an unprecedented creation. This work was written in Paris in 1939. Not long ago, his wife Victoria had a miscarriage and was hospitalized. Their life and mood were in a very sad atmosphere, including financial difficulties, displacement due to war, and uncertainty about the future. In Victoria's autobiography, she mentioned the source of inspiration for Rodrigo's work: "It was both a reminder of the happy days of their honeymoon and a response to the frustration they suffered when they suffered a miscarriage during their first pregnancy." Rodrigo didn't just lay out his sadness. In this work, he also hopes to capture the "fragrance of magnolias, the singing of birds, and the running fountain" of the Aranjuez garden. The composer named this work Concerto of Aranjuez himself, written for guitar and orchestra. Someone commented: "Aranjuez is a concerto dedicated to love, pain, and destiny. The title Aranjuez is a contradiction - it is the author's pursuit of the happiest and most painful time. Catch and yearning. "
The work premiered on November 9, 1940, at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona. The guitar soloist is of cause Professor Regino Sainz de la Maza, and the performance is performed by the Barcelona Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by César Mendoza Lasalle. On December 11 of the same year, it was performed at the Teatro Español de Madrid in the capital Madrid, conducted by Jesús Arámbarri. The work's success made Rodrigo famous and established his position in the Spanish and international music circles. In 1991, Rodrigo was awarded the title "Marques de los Jardines de Aranjuez" by King Carlos of Spain.
The three videos above are the first recordings of premiere soloist Regino Sainz de la Maza, recorded in 1948-49. This is an early recording version; perhaps the acoustics are not as good. You can listen to many different performance versions on YouTube. I have compiled a playlist for those who are interested.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCMz7tUFVhRnLB4lwmpbPqC_QGNYMbnpK
