| B i o g r a p h y |
Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre
(22 November 1901 – 6 July 1999) was a Spanish composer of
classical music and a virtuoso pianist. Despite being blind from an
early age, he achieved great success. Rodrigo is considered to be among
the composers most responsible for popularizing classical guitar music,
and his Concierto de Aranjuez is one of the pinnacles of the Spanish
and guitar concerto repertoire.
He was born in Sagunto, Valencia, and lost his sight almost completely at the age of three after contracting diphtheria. He began to study piano and violin at the age of eight, but despite being best known for his guitar music, he never mastered the instrument himself.
Rodrigo studied music under Francisco Antich in Valencia and under Paul Dukas in Paris. After briefly returning to Spain, he went to Paris again to study musicology, first under Maurice Emmanuel and then under André Pirro. In 1925 he received Spain's National Prize for Orchestra for Cinco piezas infantiles [Five Children's Pieces]. 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.
His most famous work, Concierto de Aranjuez, was composed in 1939 in Paris. It is a concerto for solo classical guitar and orchestra. The central adagio movement is one of the most recognizable in 20th century classical music, featuring the interplay of guitar with English horn. Miles Davis adapted this movement for his 1960 album Sketches of Spain.
The success of this concerto led to commissions from a number of prominent soloists, including the flautist James Galway and the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber with his Cello Concerto. In 1954 Rodrigo composed Fantasía para un gentilhombre at the request of Andrés Segovia. His Concierto Andaluz, for four guitars and orchestra, was commissioned by Celedonio Romero for himself and his three sons.
In 1991, Rodrigo was raised to the nobility by King Juan Carlos; he was given the title Marqués de los Jardines de Aranjuez [Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez]. He received the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award—Spain's highest civilian honor—in 1996. He was named Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government in 1998.
He married Victoria Kamhi, a Turkish-born pianist, on 19 January 1933, in Valencia. Their daughter, Cecilia, was born 27 January 1941. Rodrigo died in 1999 in Madrid at the age of 97. Joaquín Rodrigo and his wife Victoria are buried at the cemetery at Aranjuez.