Rodrigo was born in
Sagunto (
Valencia). At the age of three, he lost his sight completely after contracting
diphtheria.[1] At the age of eight he began to study
solfège, piano, and violin and from the age of 16 he studied harmony and composition. Although distinguished by having raised the Spanish guitar to dignity as a universal concert instrument and that he is best known for his guitar music, he never mastered playing the instrument. He wrote his compositions in
Braille and they were
transcribed for publication.
Rodrigo studied music under Francisco Antich in
Valencia and under
Paul Dukas at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. After briefly returning to Spain, he returned to Paris to study
musicology, first under
Maurice Emmanuel, and then under
André Pirro. His first published compositions[2] date from 1923. From 1947, Rodrigo was a professor of
music history, holding the
Manuel de Falla Chair of Music in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, at
Complutense University of Madrid. Notable students include
Yüksel Koptagel, Turkish composer and pianist.
His most famous work, Concierto de Aranjuez, was composed in 1939 in Paris for the guitarist
Regino Sainz de la Maza. In later life, he and his wife, Victoria, declared that the work was written as a response to the miscarriage of their first child.[3] The composition is a concerto for guitar and orchestra. The central
adagio movement is one of the most recognizable in twentieth-century classical music, featuring the interplay of guitar with
cor anglais.[4] This movement was later adapted by the jazz arranger
Gil Evans for the 1960 album "
Sketches of Spain" by
Miles Davis.
At the request of
Nicanor Zabaleta, Rodrigo adapted the concerto for the 1974 Harp and Orchestra Concerto and he dedicated the adaptation to Zabaleta.
The success of this concerto led to commissions from a number of prominent soloists, including Nicanor Zabaleta, for whom Rodrigo dedicated his Concierto serenata for Harp and Orchestra. For
Julian Lloyd Webber, Rodrigo composed his Concierto como un divertimento for cello and orchestra. For flutist
James Galway, Rodrigo composed his Concierto pastoral for flute and orchestra.
Of Rodrigo's works, those that have achieved the greatest popular and critical success are his Concierto de Aranjuez and Fantasia para un gentilhombre. These two works are very often paired in recordings.
He married
Victoria Kamhi in 1933. She was a Turkish-born pianist whom he had met in Paris. They shared professional interests and she documented their life together in Hand in Hand With Joaquín Rodrigo: My Life at the Maestro's Side (1992). Their marriage lasted until her death in 1997.[1] Their daughter, Cecilia, was born on 27 January 1941.
Rodrigo died at his home in
Madrid on 6 July 1999, aged 97.[1] His daughter succeeded him as Marquesa de los Jardines de Aranjuez. Joaquín Rodrigo and his wife Victoria are buried at the cemetery at
Aranjuez.
Works
Orchestral
Orchestra
Juglares (1923); first public performance: 1924, Valencia
Cinco Piezas Infantiles (1928)
Tres viejos aires de danza (1929; first performance on 20 January 1930 by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Valencia conducted by
José Manuel Izquierdo)
Dos miniaturas andaluzas (1929; first performance on 22 November 1999 at the Palau de la Música de Valencia, Spain, by the Orquesta de Cámara Joaquín Rodrigo)
Zarabanda lejana y Villancico (1930; first performance on 9 March 1931 at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris, by the Orquesta Femenina de París, conducted by
Jane Evrard)
Per la flor del Lliri Blau, symphonic poem (1934; First Prize, Círculo de Bellas Artes)
Soleriana (first performance by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by
Hans von Benda, on 22 August 1953 in Berlin)
Pavana Real (1955)
Música para un jardín (1957) [Orchestration of his two piano Berceuses]
Dos piezas caballerescas for four-piece cello orchestra (1945; first performance on 27 May 1945 in Madrid by cello ensemble students of
Juan Ruiz Casaux) – later transcribed for four guitars by Peter Jermer
Concierto en modo galante (1949; first performance on 4 November 1949 in Madrid by
Gaspar Cassadó, with the Orquesta Nacional de España, conducted by
Ataulfo Argenta)
Concierto para una fiesta (1982; first performance on 5 March 1983 at the Ridglea Country Club in Fort Worth, TX, by Pepe Romero, with the Texas Little Symphony conducted by John Giordano)
Rincones de España (1990; first performance by Angel Romero on 7 March 1991 at New York's
Lincoln Center)
Sones en la Giralda (1963; written as a wedding present for the harpist
Marisa Robles) – later transcribed for guitar and orchestra by Pepe Romero
Piano
Concierto heroico (1943) (revised by the composer as Piano Concerto (1995) and first performed in 1999)
Violin
Dos esbozos for violin and piano (1923; Rodrigo's "Opus 1")
Cançoneta for violin and string orchestra (1923; first performance in 1923 in Valencia, Spain, by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Valencia, conducted by
José Manuel Izquierdo)
Concierto de estío (1944; first performance on 16 April 1944 by
Enrique Iniesta, at the Teatro San Carlos in Lisbon, Portugal, with the Orquesta Nacional de España, conducted by
Bartolomé Pérez Casas)
Set Cançons Valencianes for violin and piano (1982)
Instrumental
Bandoneón
Motu perpetuo (1960)
Cello
Como una fantasía (1979; first performance on 17 March 1981 by
Carlos Prieto, in Mexico City)
Tres pequeñas piezas (Ya se van los pastores, Por caminos de Santiago, Pequeña Sevillana) (1963)
Elogio de la guitarra (1971; written for the guitarist
Angelo Gilardino, who gave the first performance)
Pajaros de primavera (1972; commissioned by Dr. Isao Takahashi, a promoter of classical guitar in Japan, for his wife Take Takahashi; first performed in 1972 at the hospital bedside of Take Takahashi in Japan, "interpreted by a guitarist friend," as she was dying of cancer[7]—
Christopher Parkening gave the first public performance, also in Japan)
Dos preludios (1976; first performance in 1989 by
Celedonio Romero in Los Angeles, CA, and first recording by
Wolfgang Lendle)
Tríptico (1978; first performance in 1978 by
Alexandre Lagoya at the Château de Rougerie in France)
Un tiempo fue Itálica famosa (1981; first performance in 1989 by
Randy Pile in San Diego, CA)
Ecos de Sefarad (1987; first performance in 1989 by
Sherri Rottersman at the Círculo Medina in
Madrid)
¡Qué buen caminito! (1987; first performance in 1987 by
María Esther Guzmán at the Conservatorio de Música de Sevilla)
Aranjuez, ma pensée (1988) (arranged by the composer from his 'Concierto de Aranjuez')
Cuatro Piezas (Caleseras, Fandango del ventorrillo, Prayer of the Princess of Castile, Danza Valenciana) (1936–1938)
Tres Danzas de España (Rústica, Danza de los tres doncellas, Serrana) (1941)
A l'ombre de Torre Bermeja (1945)
Cuatro Estampas Andaluzas (1946–1952)
El Album de Cecilia (María de los Reyes, Jota de las Palomas, Canción del Hada rubia, Canción del Hada morena, El negrito Pepo, Borriquillos a Belén) (1948)
Cinco Sonatas de Castilla, con Toccata a modo de Pregón (1950–1951)
Aranjuez, ma pensée (1968) (arranged by the composer from his 'Concierto de Aranjuez')
Danza de la Amapola (1972)
Preludio y Ritornello (1979) (for HARPSICHORD)
Tres Evocaciones (Tarde en el parque, Noche en el Guadalquivir, Triana) (1980–1981)
Preludio de Añoranza (1987)
Piano (duet and two pianos)
Juglares (1923) (PIANO DUET) (arranged by the composer from his first work for orchestra)
Cinco Piezas Infantiles (Son chicos que pasan, Después de un cuento, Mazurka, Plegaria, Gritería) (1924) (TWO PIANOS) (arranged by the composer from his second work for orchestra)
Gran Marcha de los Subsecretarios (1941) (PIANO DUET)
Atardecer (1975) (PIANO DUET)
Sonatina para dos Muñecas (1977) (PIANO DUET)
Violin
Capriccio (1944; first performance on 8 January 1946 by
Enrique Iniesta in Madrid)
Vocal and choral
Ave Maria for unaccompanied choir (1923)
Ausencias de Dulcinea (1948); First prize, Cervantes Competition
Cuatro Madrigales Amatorios (1948)
De las doce canciones españolas (Textos populares adaptados por Victoria Kamhi) (1951)
Villancicos y canciones de navidad (1952); Ateneo de Madrid Prize
Música para un códice salamantino (1953), lyrics by
Miguel de Unamuno
^A suite for piano, and "Dos esbozos", suite for piano and violín and Siciliana, for cello
^The Sound of Magnolias, BBC Radio 4, 20 October 2009.
Irma Kurtz investigates Spanish composer Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez. (Downloadable audio documentary)
^Victoria Kamhi de Rodrigo, Hand in Hand With Joaquin Rodrigo: My Life at the Maestro's Side, trans. Ellen Wilkerson (Pittsburgh: Latin American Literary Review Press, 1992), 231.
^Graham Wade, Joaquín Rodrigo: A Life in Music: Travelling to Aranjuez, 2006, p. 156: " ... He has also completed for voice, Tres canciones, with classical texts".
Kamhi de Rodrigo, Victoria; translated by Ellen Wilkerson (1992). Hand in Hand With Joaquín Rodrigo: My Life at the Maestro's Side. Pittsburgh: Latin American Literary Review Press.
ISBN0-935480-51-X.