Flamenco Guitar Techniques in the Music of Joaquin Rodrigo Silviu Octavian Ciulei

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2013 Flamenco Guitar Techniques in the Music of Joaquin Rodrigo Silviu Octavian Ciulei

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COLLEGE OF MUSIC

FLAMENCO GUITAR TECHNIQUES IN THE MUSIC

OF JOAQUIN RODRIGO

SILVIU OCTAVIAN CIULEI

A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music

Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2013

Silviu Octavian Ciulei defended this treatise on March 27, 2013.

The members of the supervisory committee were:

Bruce Holzman Professor Directing Treatise

Leo Welch University Representative

Eliot Chapo Committee Member

Gregory Sauer Committee Member

The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee, and certifies that the treatise has been approved in accordance with university requirements.

I dedicate this treatise to my parents and brother, which have always been there for me and unconditionally supported me, and to my guitar professors which have never let me put down

this instrument.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge and greatly thank Professor Bruce Holzman for his invaluable guidance and direction not only for the preparation of this treatise, but also for my overall preparation as a classical guitarist and musician in general. I will always be in debt to you. I would also like to thank Dr. Leo Welch for his continued help and advice. Many thanks go to Professor Elliot Chapo and Professor Greg Sauer for their help and support with this treatise, recitals, comprehensive exams, forms et cetera. I also would like to thank Dr. William Yelverton for his teachings and for taking me under his wing and being like a second father for me. I know

I am leaving many out but you all know who you are and how much you mean for me.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Musical Examples vi

List of Figures vii

Abstract viii

1. Introduction to the Guitar Music of Joaquin Rodrigo 1

2. Biography: Rodrigo and the Classical Guitar 3

3. Antonio Torres and The Modern Guitar 8

4. Flamenco Guitar versus Classical Guitar 11

5. The Art of Flamenco in Joaquin Rodrigo’s Guitar Works 26

6. Authentic Flamenco Guitar Techniques on the Classical Guitar 56

7. Conclusion: Powers Combine, a New Approach on the Classical Guitar 61

Appendix A 64

Bibliography 66

Biographical Sketch 68

LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES

5.1 Pequeña Sevillana 29

5.2 Un Tiempo fue Italica Famosa 30

5.3 Fandango from Tres Piezas Españolas 31

5.4 Passacaglia from Tres Piezas Españolas 33

5.5 Zapateado from Tres Piezas Españolas 35

5.6 Canario from Fantasia para un Gentilhombre 38

5.7 First movement from Concierto de Aranjuez 40

5.8 First movement from Concierto de Aranjuez bar 1-2 41

5.9 Bulerias 42

5.10 Bulerias starting with beat 12 42

5.11 Bulerias 6/8+3/4 43

5.12 First movement from Concierto de Aranjuez bar 1-2 bulerias count 43

5.13 Third movement from Sonata Giocosa 44

5.14 Third movement from Sonata Giocosa, rasgueados in A 45

5.15 Third movement from Sonata Giocosa, rasgueados in E 46

5.16 En los Trigales from Por los Campos de España 48

5.17 Entre Olivares from Por los Campos de España 49

5.18 Bajando de la Meseta from Por los Campos de España 50

5.19 En Tierras de Jerez from Por los Campos de España 51

5.20 Junto al Generalife from Por los Campos de España 53

5.21 Junto al Generalife from Por los Campos de España – tremolo section 54

5.22 Junto al Generalife from Por los Campos de España – coda 55

LIST OF FIGURES

3.1 Antonio Torres (1817-1892) 10

3.2 Antonio Torres - Label on a 1890 flamenco guitar 10

4.1 Blanca flamenco guitar with Spanish cypress back and sides and spruce top 12

4.2 Negra flamenco guitar with Brazilian rosewood and spruce top 12

4.3 Traditional cejilla (capo) 13

4.4 White golpeador (tapping plate) 15

4.5 Tuning pegs 16

4.6 Tuning machines 16

4.7 Flamenco guitar bridge (low) 17

4.8 Classical guitar bridge (high) 17

4.9 Flamenco guitar position and posture 18

4.10 Classical guitar position and posture 18

4.11 Rasgueado with all four fingers one at a time (inside view) 21

4.12 Rasgueado with all four fingers one at a time (outside view) 22

4.13 Picado technique 23

4.14 Alzapua thumb technique 24

4.15 Recuerdos de la Alhambra - Tremolo technique study by Francisco Tarrega 25

vii

ABSTRACT

This treatise is intended to examine some of Joaquin Rodrigo’s most well-known compositions for guitar from the perspective of the classical guitarist performer and pedagogue with flamenco guitar experience. This is a rare case as often a classical guitarist does not play flamenco guitar and vice versa. It is from this angle that the material is investigated. The paper looks at the classical and flamenco guitars also from a physical perspective to reveal differences between the two instruments. The final goal is to show that Rodrigo’s music for the classical guitar employs various techniques that are borrowed from the flamenco guitar tradition and to describe these techniques to the classical guitarist while looking at how these techniques would be performed by a flamenco guitarist; some of these techniques are sometimes overlooked by classical guitarists. Ultimately, this analysis sheds some light on this subject, and on the flamenco guitar tradition, its practices, and its music which inspired Rodrigo. The paper also discusses fundamentals of style found in the composer’s works, and other similar aspects that make his approach to composition, particularly for the guitar, unique.

viii

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO THE GUITAR MUSIC OF JOAQUIN RODRIGO

Joaquín Rodrigo’s compositions include many instrumental works, eleven concertos, over sixty songs, choral music, and theater and film music. These works total over two hundred compositions. Andrés Segovia, Gaspar Cassadó, , Nicanor Zabaleta, James Galway, Julian

Lloyd Webber and the Los Romeros guitar quartet are just some of the artists that have commissioned works by him. Rodrigo once said that his Concierto de Aranjuez was about

''looking for the roots, the most traditional and authentic Spanish things. I like to be an ambassador for Spain.'' 1 Rodrigo's life, which has almost spanned the entire twentieth century, was devoted to carrying forward the contrasting forms of Spanish music, both popular and classical. An instrument always in demand in the music of Spain is the guitar. Rodrigo’s love for the guitar as Spain’s national instrument encouraged him to write extensively for it. The sensational international success of the Concierto de Aranjuez is a testimony to Rodrigo’s music and its place in twentieth century musical heritage.

When performing Rodrigo’s guitar works the modern classical guitarist has to be prepared to combine a high level of technical difficulty and endurance with very complex musical aspects. This makes Rodrigo’s compositions for the guitar some of the most difficult works in the instrument’s entire repertoire. An important element in performing Rodrigo’s music is the proper study of the flamenco guitar techniques employed in the music. The

1 Joaquin Rodrigo, foreword to Music for Guitar: 19 Pieces for Guitar by Joaquin Rodrigo, by Joaquin Rodrigo. (New York, NY: Schott Music Corporation, 1995), 5.

thorough study of such techniques is necessary in order to convey the composer’s musical thoughts properly and stylistically accurately.

Aside from Rodrigo’s two most famous works, his two concerti Concierto de Aranjuez and Fantasia Para un Gentilhombre, there are a many compositions written for solo guitar by the composer. They are all jewels of Spanish guitar music and play a major part in the modern classical guitar repertoire. Due to their strong Spanish influence, great examples of flamenco guitar techniques in Rodrigo’s music are in the works Sonata Giocosa, Junto al Generalife, Tres

Piezas Espanolas,UnTiempo fue Italica Famosa and En los Trigales. Often, these are required pieces for major international guitar competitions. All of these pieces share one very important common element; they were all inspired by Rodrigo’s main source, Spanish music.

CHAPTER 2

BIOGRAPHY: JOAQUIN RODRIGO AND THE CLASSICAL GUITAR

Joaquin Rodrigo was a Spanish nationalist composer, pedagogue and virtuoso pianist. He was born on November 22, 1901 in Sagunto, Valencia. As a child, he was blinded by diphtheria.

Rodrigo himself mentioned that his blindness was what ultimately led him to his music.2 He started to study music at a very early age. By age eight he was studying under some of Spain's most well-known musicians. He studied privately as a teenager with teachers from the

Conservatory in Valencia. By his early twenties Joaquin Rodrigo was an accomplished pianist and promising composer. He wrote all his works in braille, thereafter dictating them to a copyist.

His first serious compositions date back to 1923 when he wrote Suite for Piano, Dos Esbozos for violin and piano, and Siciliana for cello. His first orchestral work, Juglares, had its premiere one year later in Valencia. The piece was received very well by the audience and this event helped launch the young composer into the Spanish concert halls. Also in 1924, he was awarded a prize in a national competition for his orchestral work Cinco piezas infantiles.

In 1927, the young Joaquin Rodrigo, like other great Spanish nationalist composers such as Manuel de Falla, Isaac Albeniz, and Joaquin Turina, moved to Paris. He studied composition there with Paul Dukas at the École Normale de Musique. Dukas had a particular affection for the young Spanish composer. Rodrigo, who appreciated his mentor very much, wrote his Sonata de adiós for piano in his esteemed teacher's memory in 1935. Joaquin Rodrigo soon became a well-

2 Joaquin Rodrigo official webpage. “Articles. Short biography.” Accessed January 19, 2013. http://www.joaquin-rodrigo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13: biografia-corta&catid=10&lang=en 3

known pianist and composer, and was friends with some other important musical personalities like Honegger, Milhaud, Ravel and de Falla. In 1933 Joaquin Rodrigo married the Turkish pianist Victoria Kamhi, who until her death in 1997 was his devoted companion and a vital collaborator in his writing. Rodrigo studied musicology in France at the Paris Conservatoire and at the Sorbonne. He also worked in Germany, Austria and Switzerland before returning to Spain in 1939 where he settled permanently in Madrid.

In 1939, at the suggestion of guitarist Regino Sainz de la Maza, Joaquin Rodrigo composed Concierto de Aranjuez for guitar and orchestra. This is one of the most important pieces of Spanish music and one of the most important works written for the classical guitar. Two other popular guitar concertos were written around the same time as the Concierto de Aranjuez, the Concerto in D op. 99 written for Andrés Segovia belonging to the Italian composer Mario

Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and the Concierto del Sur by the Mexican composer Manuel Maria Ponce, who was a fellow pupil of Rodrigo in Paul Dukas's class at the École Normale.3 Rodrigo's guitar concerto is the most well-known.

Largely written in Paris, the Concierto de Aranjuez had its premiere on November 9,

1940 in Barcelona with the Barcelona Philharmonic Orchestra and Regino Sainz de la Maza, for whom the concerto was written, as the soloist. The concerto features a beautiful Adagio that is considered to be probably one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written. It is a truly lyrical piece that emphasizes both the tonal qualities of the guitar, as well as the highly rhythmic strumming in a pure flamenco fashion. The composer shows a great degree of Spanish folkloric

3 Joaquin Rodrigo official webpage. “Articles. Complete biography.” Accessed January 22, 2013. http://www.joaquin-rodrigo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16: biografia-larga-obra&catid=10&lang=en

inspiration in the work. The Concierto de Aranjuez is a great example of Rodrigo's musical personality and it is with this work that the composer would reach world-wide fame. Soon after his great success with this piece, Rodrigo was featured in many artistic activities as a composer and in the world of music academia. He was Professor of Music History at the Complutense

University in Madrid, Head of the Music Broadcasting for the Spanish Radio, Music Critic for several newspapers, and Head of the Artistic Area of the Spanish National Organization for the

Blind4. Rodrigo was also invited to tour as pianist and was a highly regarded lecturer throughout

Spain and Europe, the Americas, lsrael and Japan. Always accompanied by his wife, Rodrigo frequently attended festivals and competitions throughout the world, promoting his music and sharing his knowledge.

Soon after the triumph of the Concierto de Aranjuez, Rodrigo was inspired to write two more concertos, this time, for the two most well-known instruments for the genre. He wrote the

Concierto Heroico for piano in 1942, and the Concierto de Estío for violin in 1943. Both of them are quite contrasting and very different from the overall impression of the Concierto de Aranjuez.

The piano concerto is the largest of the composer's orchestral works. It pays homage to the great

European tradition of the romantic concerto but at the same time maintains an original Spanish atmosphere overall.

The success of the Concierto de Aranjuez also led to many commissions from some of the most outstanding soloists of the time. In 1949, Rodrigo wrote the Concerto in Modo Galante for the famous cellist Gaspar Cassadó. This concerto is full of memorable themes, many of them of popular inspiration. Another concerto for cello was written in 1982 for English virtuoso Julian

4 Joaquin Rodrigo official webpage. “Articles. Complete biography.” Accessed January 22, 2013. http://www.joaquin- rodrigo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16:biografia-larga- obra&catid=10&lang=en

Lloyd Webber, the Concierto como un Divertimento. It is a work notable above all for its second movement of exceptional beauty. In 1952, for the famous harpist Nicanor Zabaleta, Rodrigo wrote the Concierto Serenata. It is a work which truly expresses the heart and soul of this gorgeous instrument with an abundance of unforgettable themes. This concerto takes the audience back to the time of the great compositions of the classical period with moments that remind one of Haydn, Mozart and early Beethoven. In 1977 Rodrigo wrote the Concierto

Pastoral for James Galway, the virtuoso Irish flautist. Galway premiered the work in London to great public acclaim. It is a riveting work, slightly related to the Concierto de Estío for violin written in 1943 with really ambitious figuration in the first movement which drove the Spanish critic Federico Sopeña to declare it in 1946 to be the finest work composed by Rodrigo up to that point.5

Rodrigo’s Concierto Andaluz, for four guitars and orchestra, was commissioned by

Celedonio Romero for himself and his sons, the famous guitar quartet Los Romeros. In 1954

Rodrigo composed Fantasía Para un Gentilhombre for world renowned classical guitarist maestro Andrés Segovia, who was the gentilhombre (gentleman) referenced in the title. The work is based on a series of dances by the Renaissance Spanish composer Gaspar Sanz, taken from his book Instrucción de Música sobre la Guitarra Española (music instruction on the Spanish guitar). Segovia premiered it on March 5, 1958, at the War Memorial Opera House in San

Francisco with the San Francisco Symphony.

Although nationalism in music started in the early nineteenth century, nationalist music was even more central in the twentieth century. There are many composers that followed this

5 Joaquin Rodrigo official webpage. “Articles. Complete biography.” Accessed January 22, 2013. http://www.joaquin-rodrigo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16: biografia-larga-obra&catid=10&lang=en 6

trend. Like Joaquin Rodrigo, Bartok, Enescu, Ponce, Copeland, Ives and many others sought to express the uniqueness of their country’s art and traditions through their music. For Spanish musical nationalism, Rodrigo is one of the most significant composers. Andrés Segovia was also an important figure for Spanish nationalism in music, and also in the classical guitar world through his transcriptions and for expanding the repertoire of the instrument. Segovia commissioned many works by emerging composers. Not all, but certainly many of these composers wrote in the nationalist style like Ponce, Rodrigo, Turina, and others. Some of them wrote various pieces in different styles for the great maestro, showing their abilities as up and coming composers writing for an instrument growing in popularity at that time.

CHAPTER 3

ANTONIO TORRES AND THE MODERN GUITAR

To completely understand the guitar one would have to start with Antonio Torres, the father of the modern guitar. Torres (1817-1892) was born in Almeria, Spain. He is one of the most important figures in the development of the guitar. Torres transformed the guitar by realizing that for a guitar’s sound to fill the larger venues he would need to increase its volume and resonance. He accomplished this by increasing the overall body size of the instrument, altering the string length and developing an innovative fan-bracing system. “This ‘guitarrero’, from Almeria, was the creator of the modern style of Spanish guitar. He was not happy with the small, muddy sound of the traditional ‘guitarras de tablao’, and began experimenting. As the

‘guitarras de tablao’ were terribly shallow – at only around two inches deep, some even less – he considerably increased their depth of box.”6

Torres built both flamenco and classical guitars and experimented with the their design.

Some of his famous guitars were flamenco guitars. Actually, most of Antonio Torres' guitars were the more inexpensive kind, the flamenco guitars, the ones made from cypress wood instead of the more costly woods from South America or the Orient. At that time locals and gypsies could only afford these guitars to play their flamenco music. When Torres was building guitars there were just two options for someone that was looking to purchase a guitar; there were the less expensive guitars or the more expensive ones. In time the more economical guitars were

6 Donn E. Pohren, The Art of Flamenco (Westport CT: The Bold Strummer Ltd., 2005), 328.

eventually identified as flamenco guitars, while the more luxurious ones became the concert classical guitars. The use of Spanish cypress and Brazilian or Indian rosewood for his guitars indicates that Torres built both classical and flamenco guitars. He also helped transform and categorize the two kinds of guitar. Nowadays, the standard for a traditional flamenco guitar is cypress back and sides, a tradition started by Torres himself. “Because of the far superior tone and volume produced by Torres' guitars, he attracted the small demand for classical guitars that then existed, and eventually a good deal of his production was directed towards the classical field. He then had the opportunity for further experimentation, and developed concepts concerning differences that ideally should exist between flamenco and classical guitars. He recognized that one art is earthy and the other one is ethereal, and he experimented in the use of materials and building techniques that emphasized this difference. Thus Torres not only was the creator of the modern Spanish guitar, but was also the first constructor to begin successfully differentiating between flamenco and classical guitar construction techniques.”7

Torres for the guitar is like Stradivarius for the violin. He established both the visual features and the traditional sound of what today is known as the modern classical guitar. After many ideas and trial and error, Torres came up with a guitar that was copied by so many others that it became the standard. Even the most skilled guitar builders of the time started building

Torres model guitars. With the help of classical guitarists Julian Arcas, Francisco Tarrega, and then later Miguel Llobet, followed by many after, a Torres style guitar was what the concert guitarist preferred. That still is the case even nowadays. Even if some of today’s designs can be quite different physically and tonally, they still embody and respect most of the basic principles that Torres put together in creating his guitars. “There exist today enough fine examples of

7 Donn E. Pohren, The Art of Flamenco (Westport CT: The Bold Strummer Ltd., 2005), 328-329.

Torres guitar to offer a window into the world of his sound, sound that distinguishes Torres guitars from any others, including his best imitators. There is a genius in that sound that is more than the sum of the parts. Although he was a gifted craftsman, with work impeccable and exquisitely balanced, there is a sound to a fine Torres that transcends the design, materials and craftsmanship. And that is the genius.”8

Figure 3.1 Figure 3.2

Antonio Torres (1817-1892) Antonio Torres – Label on a 1890 flamenco guitar

8. Kenny Hill Guitar Company. “Antonio de Torres, A Modern Guitar Maker.” Accessed October 9, 2012. http://www.hillguitar.com/scripts/frameit.cgi?/website/news/articles/torres.html

CHAPTER 4

FLAMENCO GUITAR VERSUS CLASSICAL GUITAR

The traditional flamenco guitar, also called a guitarra flamenca blanca (white flamenco guitar), is made of Spanish cypress for the back and sides, and spruce for the top. It has a uniquely bright and percussive sound. “The flamenco guitar weighs far less than the classical.

Not only is the cypress lighter than rosewood, it is shaved much thinner, the supports are considerably finer, and the box is smaller; classics are up to one inch deeper than flamencos, and are generally wider and longer as well”9. The classical guitar has a “larger guitar box, heavier and thicker wood bracing.”10 The name blanca comes from the light color of the body of the instrument, nearly a true white with a slight gold tint, achieved only when the cypress and spruce combination is used. The shade of varnish that the builder will add at the end of the construction process will also have an effect on the guitar's color.

A guitarra flamenca negra (black flamenco guitar) is a more modern development in the flamenco guitar scene, mainly due to the success of some great new classical guitar building techniques. The negra is usually made of Brazilian or Indian rosewood, or some other closely related dark wood with similar properties. The harder, darker woods used for the back and sides, not only increase volume but they also prolong the length of time the sound will resonate,

9 Donn E. Pohren, The Art of Flamenco (Westport CT: The Bold Strummer Ltd., 2005), 320. 10 Ibid, 320.

habitually in the guitar world now called the sustain. A typical cypress back and sides flamenco guitar produces more brightness and high frequencies, and more immediate punch while the negra is clearer and darker sounding and sings more. Negras imitate the sustain achieved by concert classical guitars while retaining the sound, responsiveness, and overall feel of the more traditional blanca flamenco guitar. These guitars are generally made of Spruce. Sometimes cedar is used, which is another common wood for the top of flamenco guitars and even more common currently for classical guitars. The negra is basically a hybrid between a classical guitar and a flamenco guitar. A slightly more tamed version of the traditional flamenco guitar, the negra, is built more for the beauty and clarity of sound the concertizing flamenco guitarist would need in a soloist setting.

Figure 4.1 Figure 4.2

Blanca flamenco guitar with Spanish Negra flamenco guitar with Brazilian cypress back and sides and spruce top rosewood and spruce top

In flamenco music, guitarists often use a cejilla (capo). The main purpose in using the capo is to change the key on the guitar to help the singer and adjust to his or her singing range.

Another reason is for the vocalist to be heard by his fellow musicians on stage and by his audience, over the footwork of one or more flamenco dancers. Classical guitarists use capos as well, rarely though, and mostly for the performance of Renaissance period lute music transcribed for guitar. The sound of the guitar when using a capo resembles more the original lute sound.

Altering the pitch of the guitar can sometimes make it more audible over the rest of the ensemble. Like the classical concert guitarists prefer a loud instrument with a clear and direct projection for their sometimes unamplified concerts in larger concert halls, volume is of the utmost importance to the flamenco guitarists, as they must be heard over the dancers’ shoes, the singers' loud and throaty passionate singing, the reciting and clapping of the hands that goes on continuously in a flamenco show. The traditional flamenco guitar is built with this in mind. It requires the percussiveness, the brightness and the punch to be able to be heard in such an ensemble setting.

Figure 4.3

Traditional cejilla (capo)

Flamenco guitars have a golpeador or taping plate glued on the top, commonly made of clear plastic nowadays, but rarely black or white plastic tapping plates can be seen on some guitars, although mostly vintage guitars. The flamenco guitar's “white or transparent tapping plates are placed over the vulnerable areas of the flamenco guitar as protective coverings.”11 The golpeador is similar to a pick guard on a steel string acoustic guitar, whose function is to protect the top of the guitar from the various right hand plectrum strokes. In the case of the flamenco guitar which is not played with a plectrum or pick, but with the fingers and fingernails respectively, the golpeador is used to protect from the rhythmic accents produced by the finger taps. The plastic plate also makes the finger taps sound better than if they were done right onto the clear top.

Golpe is the tapping of the finger, usually the ring finger of the right hand, on the soundboard below the strings. Sometimes the thumb might be required to play a golpe. The term has been adopted by classical guitarists and classical guitar composers. However, it is not quite the same as in flamenco where a usual golpe is played with the right hand ring finger on the golpeador. In classical guitar a golpe is usually a thumb tap or a hit of some sort, somewhere on the body of the guitar, usually carefully indicated in the score for the work which the guitarist is following. Sometimes it can be on the neck, or with the left hand, sometimes on the fretboard, on the bridge, or on the strings next to the bridge. This latter kind is also identified as tamburo or tambora in some scores.

11 Donn E. Pohren, The Art of Flamenco (Westport CT: The Bold Strummer Ltd., 2005), 321.

Figure 4.4

White golpeador (tapping plate)

Just like on a violin, viola, cello or even an oud, the flamenco guitar's “tuning is traditionally done by wooden pegs (rosewood or ebony), although in modern times mechanical tuning has become more popular”12. The modern classical guitar uses geared tuning machines.

Traditional tuning pegs nevertheless remain fairly popular among flamenco guitarists and flamenco guitar builders who want to maintain that traditional look.

12 Donn E. Pohren, The Art of Flamenco (Westport CT: The Bold Strummer Ltd., 2005), 320.

Figure 4.5 Figure 4.6

Tuning pegs Tuning machines

The flamenco guitar has a “low bridge, which does not normally exceed one fourth of an inch in height. The bridge bone should also be low to the bridge. This causes the strings to lie much closer to the neck and to the guitar proper, without causing undue vibration, and produces an easier action. This is one of the more difficult techniques in flamenco guitar construction.”13

The classical guitar has “a much higher bridge than the flamenco guitar, with a high bridge bone, causing the strings to pass well over the neck and the guitar proper. This alleviates the necessity of cutting down the top of the neck, and leaves the guitar with a harder action, suitable for the classical guitarist, but unwieldy in the hands of a flamenco guitarist.”14

13 Donn E. Pohren, The Art of Flamenco (Westport CT: The Bold Strummer Ltd., 2005), 320. 14 Ibid., 321. 16

Figure 4.7 Figure 4.8

Flamenco guitar bridge (low) Classical guitar bridge (high)

The flamenco guitar and the classical guitar are very different particularly in the way the two are held and played. Flamenco guitarists have a different sitting position or posture than that of the classical guitarist. Flamenco guitarists usually cross their legs, right leg over the left, and place the guitar on the right leg keeping the guitar in place with the right hand forearm. Another way, more traditional, is just to place the guitar on the right leg and hold it in place with the left hand while playing, with no leg crossing involved. Classical guitarists hold the guitar positioned on the left leg. The left leg is placed on an adjustable foot stool. The classical guitar is also held slightly at an angle, resting the upper side of the instrument on their chest while the lower side is held in place by resting it on the right leg.

Figure 4.9 Figure 4.10

Flamenco guitar position and posture Classical guitar position and posture

Flamenco guitarists have a unique repertoire. Their music is different from classical guitar music. The classical guitar repertoire consists of Western art music by accomplished composers, some guitarists themselves others not, or transcriptions drawn from other classical music instruments' repertoire both in solo and ensemble settings. It is all however Western art music. Flamenco is folk music from the south of Spain. It is more Eastern sounding rather than

Western due to all the Arab influences coming from the Iberian Moors who ruled that part of

Spain until the middle of the fifteenth century. Flamenco is ethnic music that has reached a great level of popularity worldwide. On November 16, 2010 the United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared flamenco a “Masterpiece of the Oral

and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”15

The music features distinctive singing, guitar playing and dancing. Flamenco music is not written down like classical music. It is passed down orally from mentor to student, much like

Indian, Arab or Jewish music. The music played on the flamenco guitar is also very improvisatory and features falsetas, musical phrases with a certain flow or atmosphere that can be measured or free. The falsetas are composed for guitar by flamenco guitarists only. A flamenco guitarist is called a tocaor (player) and all flamenco guitar playing is called toque

(playing). Usually, a concertizing flamenco guitarist is also his own composer, which is not common in the classical guitar tradition. However, a vast majority of the classical guitar music that we have today that was written specifically for guitar, so excluding transcriptions or arrangements, has been written by guitarist composers. These were and still are successful, sometimes concertizing classical guitarists that have written works or even made transcriptions of more famous works for the guitar due to the lack of repertoire for the instrument.

Flamenco guitarists have different playing techniques than classical guitarists. Flamenco guitar employs a vast array of percussive and rhythmic techniques that give the music its characteristic feel. The flamenco guitar has been tweaked continuously in order to facilitate these techniques and has evolved with them in mind. The great builders of the instrument have made changes and created improvements in their guitars by thinking of ways in which construction could help with performing flamenco guitar techniques. Some of these techniques will be looked at in the next chapters, in order to determine more differences between the classical and flamenco guitar techniques. On top of the fingerstyle guitar techniques that both the classical guitarist and the flamenco guitarist use, the flamencos have their distinctive techniques which

15 Tutorial Online website. “Article: Information about Flamenco.” Accessed March 11, 2013. http://articles.tutorialonline.info/portal/language-es/Flamenco 19

help make flamenco music more impressive and definitely unique.

Rasgueado is a flamenco guitar strumming technique. The guitarist flicks his right hand fingers outward over all or just some of the strings. There are many ways to play this technique and many kinds of different rhythms, patterns and finger combinations. The possibilities are endless. Some passages include long rolls that are very articulate and also feature unexpected accents on usually unaccented beats. This is usually achieved by some of the most experienced players which try to bring some novelty to their performances by the use of this rhythmically challenging technique.

In classical guitar music the use of rasgueado is present but not nearly as dense as in flamenco guitar music. However, since there is a multitude of Spanish nationalist music for the classical guitar, the use of rasgueados keeps becoming more common in the classical guitar scene. A good, proper rasgueado is very hard to articulate, therefore the classical guitarist should get accustomed to rasgueados and practice just as the flamenco guitarists do.

“Practicing rasgueados develops the extensor muscles, which are the muscles that move the fingers outward, away from the palm. Many players believe that playing scales with considerable speed and accuracy is dependent upon how quickly we can move our fingers outward, not in. This would certainly explain why most flamenco guitarists have the ability to play blazingly fast scales.” 16

16 Scott Tennant, Pumping Nylon, (New York, NY: Alfred Music Publishing Co., 1995), 44. 20

Figure 4.11

Rasgueado with all four fingers one at a time (inside view)

“This is another flamenco technique which is sadly neglected by many classical guitarists. A rasgueado is really more of a percussive effect than a strum. It is done by hitting the strings with the backs of the nails.”17

17 Scott Tennant, Pumping Nylon, (New York, NY: Alfred Music Publishing Co., 1995), 44. 21

Figure 4.12

Rasgueado with all four fingers one at a time (outside view)

Picado is a flamenco guitar technique where a scalar passage is played rest-stroke (finger rests on previous string after plucking) alternating between the index and middle fingers of the right hand, while holding the thumb on one of the bass strings (D, A or E) close above, serving as a resting point while the other fingers are plucking the strings. Some classical guitarists use this technique to play scales although rarely.

Figure 4.13

Picado technique

Alzapua is a flamenco technique that employs the plucking of the right hand thumb both up and down across one or more strings. It is an example of true virtuosity and some of the greatest flamenco guitarists can really improvise and expand on this difficult technique.

“Alzapua is a technique which utilizes the back of the nail, as well. It comes from the Spanish word alzar, meaning to lift. It is a powerful technique, and does wonders for strengthening the thumb.”18

18 Scott Tennant, Pumping Nylon, (New York, NY: Alfred Music Publishing Co., 1995), 43. 23

Figure 4.14

Alzapua thumb technique

Tremolo is the modern guitar technique that is executed through the repetition of a single note produced by the alternation of the right hand fingers. It is meant to sound like a continuous note and therefore is played very fast. The technique was developed to give the guitar more resonance or sustain in single line melodies. This search for more resonance comes from the need to imitate the sound of bowed string instruments or the human voice, which can produce very long lasting sounds. For guitar, the tremolo is a very successful and unique alternative to the bowed long notes of the orchestra strings section or the human voice.

The flamenco tremolo is slightly different from the classical guitar tremolo. It adds one extra note to the usual classical guitar tremolo pattern consisting of four notes. The classical tremolo is played by starting with the thumb usually on a bass note, followed then by the ring, middle and index fingers on the treble strings. Usually, the treble strings carry the melody,

played by the right hand fingers (ring, middle and index) while the thumb provides accompaniment. The flamenco tremolo starts with the thumb as well, but right after the strike of the thumb the index finger follows before the ring, middle, and then index again, creating a five note pattern instead of the four note classical pattern earlier described. Classical guitarists very rarely employ this kind of flamenco tremolo. When they do it is mostly for practice, as an exercise. It is even rarer that a classical guitarist would play a piece that would require the flamenco tremolo.

Figure 4.15

Recuerdos de la Alhambra - Tremolo technique study by Francisco Tarrega

CHAPTER 5

THE ART OF FLAMENCO IN JOAQUIN RODRIGO’S WORKS FOR GUITAR

As described above, flamenco is the art form of the people from the southern region of

Spain called Andalusia. It is a folkloric art that combines singing, guitar playing, clapping, reciting, and dance. The result is a theatrical show which takes the audience through many emotional states, from exuberant happiness to melancholy and sorrow. Flamenco music is a synergy of music from cultures and traditions from around the world that met and settled in

Andalusia, all working together in perfect harmony. “Contrary to a wide spread belief, the

Spanish gypsies were not the sole creators of the mysterious art called flamenco. Rather, it is generally agreed that flamenco is a mixture of the music of the many cultures that have played important roles, directly or indirectly, throughout the centuries in Andalusia, the most important of these being the Muslim, Jewish, Indo-Pakistani and Byzantine.”19

“Flamenco is not just a music from southern Spain, as it is generally believed. More than that, it is a way of life that influences the daily activities of many southern Spaniards. One does not have to be a performer of flamenco to be ‘a flamenco’. A flamenco is anyone who is emotionally and actively involved in this unique philosophy. For this reason, no book is complete in dealing with the art of flamenco alone, for the art of flamenco is merely the outward expression of the flamenco way of life. The reader must also be made to understand something of its creators and perpetuators, and their philosophies, attitudes, customs, beliefs, likes and

19 Donn E. Pohren, The Art of Flamenco (Westport CT: The Bold Strummer Ltd., 2005), 49. 26

dislikes. It is necessary to understand not only what flamenco is, but why it is what it is."20

Flamenco music has been a great influence in the classical guitar world. Many composers that wrote for this instrument have tried to incorporate the Spanish tradition of flamenco in their music. The nationalist composer Joaquin Rodrigo is probably one of the most successful Spanish composers of the second half of the twentieth century. Flamenco has been a great source of inspiration in his music. Rodrigo’s works for the classical guitar represent some of the most difficult repertoire for the instrument. This high level of difficulty is mainly due to the fact that

Rodrigo was not a guitarist himself. He wrote down what he had envisioned and worked out while composing, and after that it is up to the performer or the editor to figure out how to play it.

Since Joaquin Rodrigo’s music for the classical guitar is so deeply rooted in the flamenco tradition, a thorough study of the flamenco guitar techniques employed by the composer is an important step in the process of learning the pieces, particularly if the desired outcome is the closest possible rendition to the composer’s original thoughts and emotions. This aspect adds another level of difficulty to the task.

Musicians want the music of Johann Sebastian Bach to sound like his music and not like anything else. In order to properly play the music of Bach on the guitar, one has to know about the performance practices of Bach’s time, and stylistically how the music was played. Why would it be different in the case of Rodrigo, or any other composer? The music has to be authentic of the period. The process should be the same, as the desired outcome is the same for both Bach and Rodrigo’s music - a true performance. Sometimes, classical guitarists tend to forget this and usually deal with this by trying to make compromises and play something that resembles the original technique, rather than taking the time and practicing and learning that

20 Donn E. Pohren, Introduction to The Art of Flamenco (Westport CT: The Bold Strummer Ltd., 2005). 27

particular technique separately.

The average audience member cannot see or hear a great difference between the original and the other However, what does make a difference to the audience is the rendition of the music as a whole, the atmosphere presented, and the final result. Flamenco techniques like picados, rasgueados, golpes, and many others in the right context and if properly executed can make for a more meaningful performance. They can enrich the performance by making it more exciting, earthier, more Spanish.

Both in classical guitar playing and in flamenco guitar playing there are many similarities. There are also many differences and it is ultimately up to the performer to decide what is feasible in certain instances. Being aware of something of importance and choosing not to put it to use at times, although difficult, is always more meaningful than not knowing at all.

Usually, it is the more difficult way that presents the most challenges. If pursued, these challenges will only improve one’s overall performance.

“Rodrigo combines native folk idioms with his own compositional mastery to produce works that are a timeless part of the classical guitar repertoire.” 21 In the case of Rodrigo, a good thing to keep in mind is that besides the motives and melodies chosen by the composer himself, there is nothing that makes Rodrigo’s music more Spanish than the flamenco strumming and plucking techniques that the composer requires of the performer.

Rodrigo uses flamenco as an inspiration for his pieces. One very obvious example of this is his Pequeña Sevillana from Tres Pequeñas Piezas. This piece “is based on the traditional rhythm of the Sevillanas in lively triple meter. The dance surrounds a lyric middle section which

21Christopher Parkening, foreword to Music for Guitar: 19 Pieces for Guitar by Joaquin Rodrigo, by Joaquin Rodrigo. (New York, NY: Schott Music Corporation, 1995), 4. 28

is influenced by Moorish harmonies. The rasgueado chords and the many running lines make the piece exciting and challenging to play.” 22

Musical Example 5.1

Pequeña Sevillana

Another work for the classical guitar, in which Rodrigo uses the same technique of borrowing from flamenco themes and rhythms, is Un Tiempo fue Italica Famosa. This particular piece features mostly fast picados (scales), harmonies emphasizing at times different flamenco compases (rhythms), and a few rasgueados. It is believed among guitarists that this wonderful,

22 Christopher Parkening, foreword to Music for Guitar: 19 Pieces for Guitar by Joaquin Rodrigo, by Joaquin Rodrigo. (New York, NY: Schott Music Corporation, 1995), 4. 29

showy piece was written for the great flamenco virtuoso Paco de Lucia from Algeciras, in the south of Spain.

Musical Example 5.2

Un Tiempo fue Italica Famosa

Tres piezas Españolas is a true example of what Rodrigo likes to combine the most, and that is traditional popular music with Western art music. In this cycle of three pieces, not only does he combine flamenco influenced rhythms and themes in the Fandango and the Zapateado,

but he also adds a piece in the middle, the Passacaglia, which structurally is probably one of the most rudimentary examples of art music in all of music history. The passacaglia is based on a bass line on top of which the composer adds many variations, which gradually get more complex.

The first piece of the Tres Piezas Españolas (three Spanish pieces) cycle is truly a great example of flamenco influence in Rodrigo’s music.

Musical Example 5.3

Fandango from Tres Piezas Españolas

This piece is a fandango as the title clearly states, but composed in a twentieth-century western art music approach. The rhythm is based on a traditional fandango which is a traditional

Spanish dance form in a moderate triple meter. Rodrigo adds dissonance to the piece through the use of the interval of the minor second. This is how the composer adds to the traditional fandango. The adding of minor seconds to perfectly consonant chords is a feature that is very often found in Rodrigo’s Spanish nationalist works, amongst which the three Spanish pieces are considered principal members.

“This favorite piece of many guitarists forms part of a Suite of three pieces for the guitar

(called ‘Passacaglia,’ ‘Fandango,’ and ‘Zapateado’) composed in 1954, the same year as

Fantasia para un Gentilhombre for guitar and orchestra. The ‘Fandango’ is a dance that was once enjoyed by all Spanish social classes and should not be confused with the ‘fandanguillo,’ which is totally different. My fandango for guitar is a little solemn, but maintains a popular touch, for example in the central section, which contains various echoes of the ‘seguidilla’ which recounts the heroic feats of brave smugglers”.23

23 Victoria Kamhi de Rodrigo, Hand in Hand with the Composer: My Life at the maestro’s Side, trans. Ellen Wilkerson (Pittsburgh, PA: Latin American Literary Review Press, 1992), 334.

The Passacaglia can be considered an example of early music influence in Rodrigo’s music.

Musical Example 5.4

Passacaglia from Tres Piezas Españolas

The interesting aspect about this middle piece is that even though it represents art music at its finest, it is still a very Spanish folk-oriented piece, combining various elements that would normally not even make sense in a traditional passacaglia. Such elements are the use of the minor seconds, and the extensive and unexpected focus on dissonance rather than consonance, which in a traditional passacaglia would be considered sacrilege by the theorists and composers of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Rodrigo makes this work become an example of neoclassicism, a combination between the old and the new, a fusion of two very different ages.

The final product belongs to both eras, and is not a total and final product of any of the two, but of the joining of both. It becomes something old and new at the same time, another synergy in the music of the great Rodrigo, a product of evolution.

The other two pieces in the cycle, the Fandango and the Zapateado, are not only made up of flamenco-like motives and rhythms, but also carry the names of two of the most important flamenco dance forms. They are both in triple meter. The zapateado is faster than the fandango.

The name zapateado, comes from the Spanish word zapatear which means to stomp the feet.

The piece is very fast paced and is supposed to imitate the flamenco dancers’ stomping of the feet.

Musical Example 5.5

Zapateado from Tres Piezas Españolas

By extracting elements from the currents of traditional and popular Spanish music,

Rodrigo has created his own personal style. It seems obvious that it has always been his intention to be faithful to formal and tonal tradition, and when he took a popular melody, he elaborated and stylized it, giving it a cultivated and refined character. Rodrigo admits that both in music and in poetry, his favorite period is the Renaissance. Starting with the vihuelistas (vihuela players) in the sixteenth century, forerunners of the guitarists, and in particular Luis de Milan, to whose

memory he dedicated his first piece for guitar, written in 1923, Zarabanda Lejana. 24 “I have maintained a cult to the Renaissance Cancionero (song book) and have followed the footsteps throughout the Siglo de Oro of composers such as Gaspar Sanz, whose themes I used for my

Fantasia Para un Gentilhombre. After Gaspar Sanz, I continued in the line of Scarlatti and finally Padre Soler of the eighteenth century, to create my own musical language, called neocasticismo (neocasticism), of which the clearest example would be the Concierto de

Aranjuez.” 25 Rodrigo also talks about how as he wrote Concierto de Aranjuez, he began to discover the immense variety of sonorities and technical possibilities that the guitar has to offer.

He declares that the guitar is an instrument that he was less familiar with than the piano, and that he enjoyed the challenge of overcoming the difficulties of the guitar. 26

No other work by Rodrigo reached the level of popularity and worldwide acclaim that the

Concierto de Aranjuez achieved. His Fantasia Para un Gentilhombre, however, did acquire a very similar degree of recognition and is often played with the Concierto de Aranjuez in recordings and performances. Fantasia Para un Gentilhombre is based on a series of dances by the Baroque Spanish composer Gaspar Sanz (1640–1710), taken from his book Instrucción de

Música Sobre la Guitarra Espanola (Music Instruction on the Spanish Guitar). Most of the movements retain the names that Sanz originally gave them. The composer kept some of the elements specific to Sanz’s music and era, and added his own mastered twentieth century compositional techniques to it, transforming the piece into something completely new and in many ways quite avant-garde.

24 Joaquin Rodrigo, foreword to Music for Guitar: 19 Pieces for Guitar by Joaquin Rodrigo, by Joaquin Rodrigo. (New York, NY: Schott Music Corporation, 1995), 5. 25 Ibid. 26 Ibid. 36

The Villano is paired with the skillfully imitative passages of the Ricercare, and the very communicative melodic lines of an Españoleta enrich the haunting Fanfare of the Neopolitan

Cavalry. After the moving Danza de Las Hachas comes the climactic Canario, a dynamic zapateado (stomping of the heels), with a gorgeous cadenza. Andrés Segovia, who was the gentilhombre (gentleman) referenced in the title premiered the piece on March 5, 1958, in San

Francisco. By this time Rodrigo's compositions had been starting to develop from his blending of Renaissance music and to some extent even Baroque compositions for the vihuela (ancestor of the modern guitar), with the folk traditions of flamenco music and the addition of twentieth century compositional techniques.

The following example is the Canario in Joaquin Rodrigo’s Fantasia para un

Gentilhombre. It is the last movement of the concerto. A common Baroque musical genre, the canario is not as well-known as a villano or a ricercare. Rodrigo’s Canario, originally Gaspar

Sanz’s Canario, is a well-known Baroque piece for guitar today. In the beginning a canario such as this one would traditionally be heard on keyboard or vihuela.

Musical Example 5.6

Canario from Fantasia para un Gentilhombre

After the success of his Concierto de Aranjuez, Rodrigo was continually asked by guitarists and other outstanding figures from the world of the classical guitar to compose further works for the instrument. Many of those works were dedicated to these figures and some were even premiered by them; for example Sonata a la Española is dedicated to Ernesto Bitteti, Dos

Preludios to Celedonio Romero. Ya se Van los Pastores, one of the Tres Pequeñas Piezas , is dedicated to the great Brazilian composer and guitarist Heitor Villa-Lobos. The Pequeña

Sevillana, of the same cycle, is dedicated to America Martinez. Ecos de Sefarad was dedicated to

Sherri Rottersman, and Triptico to Alexandre Lagoya.

Through all these works the composer reveals that he combines both classical and flamenco traditions, that the guitar, with its sweet sound, is deeply rooted in the universal soul of

Spanish music, but also, that flamenco music’s great contribution to the overall popularity of the modern classical guitar, should not be underrated since it is what has taken the voice of Spain to all the corners of the world.27

In the Concierto de Aranjuez the composer employs a great amount of flamenco guitar techniques. The work is inundated with rasgueados and picado style scales. The first movement is the richest regarding the use of these techniques. In the beginning of the first movement, rasgueados are a dominating force, starting the piece with vigor. The composer declares, “it is true that the chords of the guitar are deeply imbedded in the soul of Spanish music, and that the guitar merges the classical tradition with the flamenco touch”.28

27 Joaquin Rodrigo, foreword to Music for Guitar: 19 Pieces for Guitar by Joaquin Rodrigo, by Joaquin Rodrigo. (New York, NY: Schott Music Corporation, 1995), 5. 28 Victoria Kamhi de Rodrigo, Hand in Hand with the Composer: My Life at the maestro’s Side, trans. Ellen Wilkerson (Pittsburgh, PA: Latin American Literary Review Press, 1992), 325. . 39

Musical Example 5.7

First movement from Concierto de Aranjuez

The piece starts out with a rhythmic pattern that is reminiscent of a traditional flamenco dance called bulerias, one of the most intricate flamenco forms. Here is that motive in its entirety:

Musical Example 5.8

First movement from Concierto de Aranjuez bar 1-2

Bulerias is in 12/4 time. The name bulerias derives from the Spanish word burla. It means joke or mockery. Since this flamenco form is very fast, witty and quite impressive, it came into existence as more of a good-humored, more playful version of the slow, more serious and somber form of the soleá, also in 12/4 time. Soleá comes from soledad, the word for loneliness in Spanish, hence the slower flow. Soledad is also a common name for women in

Spain. A play on words between the two meanings of the word is sometimes developed in performances by flamenco singers in their lyrics to express showmanship, humor, or deep emotion.

Since bulerias is in 12/4 it can be considered in duple or triple meter or both. It can be thought of in 3/4 or 6/8 separately or combined, or other groupings. It is made up of two sets of three beats followed by three sets of two beats per each bar. Traditionally, accents fall on every first beat of each of the sets. With the growing level of virtuosity in flamenco, accents have been altered to produce more rhythmic syncopation and boost showmanship. An experienced flamenco guitarist will sometimes use many variations of the rhythm by accenting otherwise unaccented beats, so much so that it becomes very difficult to keep up with the count. At that level it really is the general feel of the piece, the groove, which keeps it all together. This is difficult to achieve in solo settings and even more so in an ensemble setting. The 12/4 count 41

starts with the first accented beat, beat number twelve, and ends with the last accented beat, beat ten. The eleventh beat is thought of as a preparatory beat for the next set of twelve, like musicians think of an anacrusis in western art music. Here is the bulerias compas (bulerias rhythm or count) as it is commonly seen written out.

Musical Example 5.9

Bulerias

Since the first accent falls on the twelfth beat and the count starts with that, here is the bulerias compas as it is thought of while performed.

Musical Example 5.10

Bulerias starting with beat 12

Another way to diagram the bulerias rhythm, one that is closer to the way the Concierto de Aranjuez was written out, and one probably more easily perceivable by the classical guitarist is referred to in classical music as hemiola or by its Latin name, more appropriate in the case of

Rodrigo’s music, sesquialtera. The word hemiola comes from the Greek adjective hemiolios, meaning to have one and a half or half more. Hemiola and sesquialtera both refer to the 3:2 ratio first used in music to designate pitch relations. In Ancient Greece, the philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras divided the string in this ratio and realized the interval of a perfect fifth. Since around the fifteenth century, hemiola and sesquialtera were used to describe rhythmic relationships. Rhythmically, sesquialtera refers to three beats of equal value in the time normally occupied by two beats. The following musical excerpt has been placed alongside the count to better show the rhythmic similarities between the two, visually.

12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Musical Example 5.11 Musical Example 5.12

Bulerias 6/8 + 3/4 First movement from Concierto de Aranjuez bar 1-2 bulerias count

“The Concierto de Aranjuez is named for the famous royal site on the shore of the River

Targus, not far from Madrid, along the road to Andalucia, and some perceive Goya’s shadow in the notes of its music, full of melancholy emotion. Its music seems to bring to life the essence of an eighteenth century court, where aristocratic distinction blends with popular culture. In its melody the perfume of magnolias lingers, the song of birds and the whisper of fountains, although specific descriptions are not found there”.29

The third movement of the solo guitar piece Sonata Giocosa features some of the same elements. Although the piece is a zapateado, the bulerias rhythm is felt throughout the piece. The zapateado is a fast and impressive flamenco dance that usually features one dancer. Just like the

Concierto de Aranjuez, there are many scales in picado style and rasgueados in this movement of the Sonata Giocosa representing that Andalusian, fiery flamenco spirit. This is particularly good in this case, as the third movement is the last one of the Sonata Giocosa and thus Rodrigo finishes the whole piece with a strong flamenco texture.

29 Victoria Kamhi de Rodrigo, Hand in Hand with the Composer: My Life at the maestro’s Side, trans. Ellen Wilkerson (Pittsburgh, PA: Latin American Literary Review Press, 1992), 325. 44

Musical Example 5.13

Third movement from Sonata Giocosa

Here is the small motive in the piece that is in bulerias rhythm:

12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

In the key of A

Musical Example 5.14

Third movement from Sonata Giocosa, rasgueados in A

In the key of E

Musical Example 5.15

Third movement from Sonata Giocosa, rasgueados in E

Very important is the fact that both the piece as a whole and this bulerias part as well, are in the key of A, a key and chord shape on the guitar, considering the use of the capo, which is most commonly used in flamenco music precisely for bulerias. The composer takes us on a continuous journey through modulating sections of the same materials, slightly altered every time. The music correlates with the dance. Even though all this changing is taking place, what is remarkable is that when this little bulerias motive is presented it is almost always in the key of

A. When it is not in the key of A, it is in the second most common key for bulerias, the key of E, and never any other key. This is not by chance but by choice, a choice to point out the pure flamenco personality of this piece.

Sonata Giocosa (playful sonata), was Rodrigo’s first sonata for the guitar. It was composed in 1958 and dedicated to Renata Tarragó, an earlier editor of the composer’s Concierto de Aranjuez. The composer originally intended to write the piece for violin. The work is certainly good-humored and presents itself like a less serious sonata, more like a sonatina. The opening movement is Allegro moderato. It contains a number of ideas that seem very similar to some of

Rodrigo’s themes and concepts from some of his other works. A couple of things that could be considered are the use of the minor second, almost always present in Rodrigo’s works, and the dissonant chords such as in his Fandango from Tres Piezas Españolas. Furthermore, the rapid scale passages in flamenco style are reminiscent of the Concierto de Aranjuez.

The second movement of the sonata, a gorgeous Andante moderato, features a strong dotted rhythm, slightly suggestive of Rodrigo’s French music influence. Even more, the dotted feel of the piece is complemented with steady chords. The key chosen for this movement is the key of E minor, contrasting with the A major of the first and third movements. The second movement has a lot of character and complexity. The thematic ideas in the opening bars of the piece are fully explored later. Then, as the end approaches, the composer begins calming the piece and brings back some of the more simpler concepts encountered in the beginning, indicating that the end is near.

Going back to the final movement of the piece, the Allegro, this particular one is a very vigorous zapateado. In triple meter as to be expected from a zapateado, this one is really intricate and virtuosic, very fast and flashy, and with many strummed chords in rasgueado style and a very strong flamenco flavor overall. The piece has the principal purpose of highlighting the mood of humor and cheerfulness. It is like a reminder for the audience after the slow second movement, that this is still the same playful sonata as the title reveals. Finally, both the flamenco and the playfulness in the piece are very easy to detect by the average concert goer, especially towards the end of the work with the ascending rasgueado sections leading to the recapitulation of the main theme of the movement, followed by the peculiar and funny, carefully placed wrong notes in the ending passage of the piece.

Por los Campos de España (in the Spanish countryside) is a group of impressionistic pieces that Joaquin Rodrigo wrote over several years. The first of these, En los Trigales (in the wheat fields) was composed during a short summer visit to northern Spain in 1938 after Rodrigo had spent several years abroad. It can be regarded both as an inspiring description of the Spanish countryside and as the cheerful song of his return after a long absence. The piece clearly

expresses the simplicity and difficulty at the same time of day by day country life, with all the workers on the fields and animals on the pastures. The composition goes through different moods portraying the agitation of that kind of life and at the same time the calmness and simplicity of it.

“This piece forms part of a kind of imaginary Suite that I call ‘Through the Spanish

Countryside.’ It is one of my most popular works for the guitar. En los trigales is set in Old

Castile; the Castile region extends to the ends of the earth, as its inhabitants like to remark, and loves strong music. In contrast to the virile dance of the first part, a kind of recitation follows, with the faraway sound of bells, similar to a rest or respite during the difficult work of the harvest.”30

Musical Example 5.16

En los Trigales from Por los Campos de España

30 Victoria Kamhi de Rodrigo, Hand in Hand with the Composer: My Life at the maestro’s Side, trans. Ellen Wilkerson (Pittsburgh, PA: Latin American Literary Review Press, 1992), 333.

Flamenco techniques are employed here as well by the composer who chooses to start strongly with a repeated note pattern which he then takes through a multitude changes, reworking it many times in many different ways before choosing to come back to the initial statement. Fast and punchy ascending and descending picados and fiery rasgueados throughout the piece also underline the flamenco influence in the work

Entre Olivares (through olive orchards), dedicated to Manuel López Ramos, was first published by Ediciones Musicales Madrid (1958) in company with En los Trigales. The latter one was edited by the great Spanish guitarist Narciso Yepes.

Musical Example 5.17

Entre Olivares from Por los Campos de España

Bajando de la Meseta (coming down from the plateau) was completed in 1954, and dedicated to Nicolás Alfonso, Professor of Guitar at the Brussels Conservatoire.

Musical Example 5.18

Bajando de la Meseta from Por los Campos de España

Rodrigo explained the background to the work. “The plateau (meseta) referred to is the one that forms the region of Castilla la Nueva; coming down from this plateau we reach

Andalusia and in this imaginary and musical journey we are suddenly confronted by loud singing that echoes out to the wide horizon and then changes into a quick, trembling dance. It is the real,

bewitching Andalusia, with its pulsing rhythms, which rewards the traveler after the long journey.”31

En tierras de Jerez (in lands of Jerez), written for the Austrian guitarist, Luise Walker, was published originally by Ricordi in Antologia per Chitarra in the year 1973. That same anthology of guitar works book also contained compositions such as Poulenc’s Sarabande, which was the only work for guitar that Poulenc ever wrote, and Petrassi’s Suoni notturni.

Musical Example 5.19

En Tierras de Jerez from Por los Campos de Espana

31 Joaquin Rodrigo, foreword to Music for Guitar: 19 Pieces for Guitar by Joaquin Rodrigo, by Joaquin Rodrigo. (New York, NY: Schott Music Corporation, 1995), 5.

Junto al Generalife (close to the Generalife or next to the Generalife) is dedicated to

Siegfried Behrend, the eminent German classical guitarist who also edited the piece. The piece was published in 1957 by Bote & Bock, Berlin. The Generalife was the garden of the palace of the former kings of Granada. It derives from the Arabic name Gennat-Alarif (the garden of the architect). Located on the hills of the Cerro del Sol, the garden of Generalife overlooks the city of Granada, in the South of Spain. Rodrigo offered the following comment. “Everyone knows of the magical gardens of the Generalife connected to the Alhambra; there, can be found the gentle rustle of perfumed breezes, a distant tinkle of bells, and flowers which shelter behind the myrtle bushes. And there, also, the guitar reposes and dreams.”32

The Generalife has powerful aural and visual associations with sounds of water and bird song, impressions evoked within the music. Junto al Generalife is in two sections. The introduction is a gentle lento e cantabile, with scalar passages very much in flamenco quasi- improvisatory style combined with full chords.

32 Joaquin Rodrigo, foreword to Music for Guitar: 19 Pieces for Guitar by Joaquin Rodrigo, by Joaquin Rodrigo. (New York, NY: Schott Music Corporation, 1995), 5.

Musical Example 5.20

Junto al Generalife from Por los Campos de Espana

An Allegro follows, reminiscent of pieces like Isaac Albeniz’s Rumores de la Caleta and

Malaguena. The middle section of the Allegro consists of tremolo, an effect very rarely used by

Rodrigo, here recalling the themes of the granadinas, the flamenco form originating among the gypsies of Granada, easily distinguishable from other flamenco forms by the use of long tremolo passages and the free form.

Musical Example 5.21

Junto al Generalife from Por los Campos de Espana - tremolo section

The final pages present the recapitulation and a coda which has a passage of fiery descending triplets similar to those in the first movement of the Concierto de Aranjuez. Rodrigo thus, again chooses to utilize techniques and elements of flamenco in his music, conveying a true

Spanish nationalist feeling.

Musical Example 5.22

Junto al Generalife from Por los Campos de Espana – coda

A strong sense of originality is also born from the careful placing of these flamenco passages within his works, which sometimes constitute problematic spots for the performer, who has to be prepared to change the mood, and along with it the technique, in order to successfully portray the composer’s musical intentions.

CHAPTER 6

AUTHENTIC FLAMENCO GUITAR TECHNIQUES ON THE CLASSICAL GUITAR

As explained above, the flamenco guitar distinguishes itself from the classical guitar in various ways. From the types of woods used for its construction, overall size, thickness of materials and construction methods, to the playing techniques involved in the musical style the instrument belongs to. Techniques such as rasgueados, picados and tremolo are different in their execution on the two different types of guitar. The differences between how these techniques are performed by the flamenco and by the classical guitarist are significant. Also, it is important how the techniques should be practiced by the classical guitarist in order to achieve an authentic flamenco sound and execution for the performance of Spanish music.

An important technique on the classical guitar when playing Spanish music is the rasgueado technique. This technique is present in many Spanish classical guitar works and it is believed to have been borrowed from the flamenco guitar tradition. The classical guitarist usually is satisfied with imitating a flamenco rasgueado. Usually that means a loud but not clear and imprecise rasgueado. In order to achieve an authentic rasgueado sound on the classical guitar, the performer needs to focus during his rasgueado practice on evenness and ease of execution.

This only results from the meticulous practice of rasgueado with every finger, one at a time to achieve equality in tone and power for every finger. This does not happen overnight, so an in depth practice routine should be created. The flamenco guitarists practice many different kinds of rasgueados such as single finger and multiple finger rasgueados and different finger combinations rasgueados, at times not necessarily adjacent fingers.

There are two ways of playing rasgueados coming from the two different schools, the old one and the new one. The first one is the original way where the guitarist will just make a fist with the right hand and place the thumb on one of the bass strings preferably fifth or sixth string for stability. Then, the guitarist strums downward with the backs of the nails flicking the fingers outward, away from the body. It is usually begins with the little finger notated most times as “c”.

Sometimes “i” is used in the beginning of a rasgueado for more power, after which “c” is employed. After “c” the “a” or ring finger follows, then the middle finger, then ending with the index finger. The strumming is always downwards, “c”, “a”, “m” and “i” with only the backs of the nails, so the outer side of the fingers.

After the rasgueado is started, when it is the index finger’s turn to strum across the strings, right as it strums the guitarist has to make a fist with the other fingers in order to get the little finger and the others following into position in order to be able to produce the rasgueado continuously. When “c” strums again the index finger goes in and joins the others in a fist. There is this sort of continuous exchange between “i” and “c”. When “i” plucks “c” goes in and when

“c” plucks “i” goes in. It is very important that the hand stays relaxed and only uses tension for the initial impulse that triggers each finger. After that, the tension in the finger is relieved so that the next finger’s stroke will not add to the tension from the initial impulse which would lead to a very tense hand overall and a creating a lack of resistance and unevenness when playing the continuous rasgueado.

Another way to play rasgueados like the flamenco players is to flick a finger from the adjacent finger. That is to say all the fingers are tucked slightly under one another from the little finger to the index (“c” under “a”, “a” under “m”, “m” under “i”) and the flicking does not come from a fist position but from a more relaxed hand position. This technique is more modern and

has been developed more recently by the flamenco guitarist and innovator Paco de Lucia. Both rasgueado techniques are accepted and should be studied individually to achieve a great level of clarity and evenness in rasgueado. They can both be used at different times depending on the piece and the amount of time needed for the execution.

A common misbelief when it comes to rasgueados is that they are strummed both up and down with all the fingers. It is actually just down. If any of the fingers have to come back up it would be only the index finger in order to finish the phrase or as a bridge between the beginning and ending strokes of continuous rasgueados. However, there are similar techniques that require the classical guitarist to strum both up and down with the fingers, such as for example the one found in Stepan Rak’s Sonata Mongoliana. Those are not authentic flamenco rasgueados, they are modern classical guitar extended techniques that new composers employ for novelty and originality in their compositions. Those should be executed like the score suggests.

The picado technique is utilized on the flamenco guitar in fast scalar runs up and down the strings. The performer is required to pluck with one finger (“i” or “m”) and then rest on the adjacent string with that finger, at the same time preparing the next finger to do the same. On the classical guitar rest stroke or apoyando technique is used similarly. However, it also uses other fingers, not just the index and middle fingers like picados. Also, picados is mostly used in scales or repeated note patterns on the same string whereas apoyando can be used almost anywhere in classical guitar playing where the performer chooses, usually in order to bring out a certain phrase or melody.

The modern classical guitarist mostly uses tirando or free stroke technique where after plucking the string the finger does not rest on an adjacent string. The rest stroke technique has almost been abandoned by the majority of classical guitarists today. Therefore, a thorough study

of the picados for the classical guitar would be a great addition to the performer’s expression and style on the guitar. Through the use of the picados technique flamenco guitarists are able to play scales and repeated note passages extremely fast and with a lot of punch and volume.

Through their thorough study and precise practice of rasgueados in combination with picados, the flamenco guitarists are practicing a hand training routine for both the flexors and extensors groups of muscles, believed to be the reason behind their ability to play extremely fast, loud and clear sounding scales. In the case of Spanish music performed on the classical guitar, the use of proper picados and rasgueados would constitute a more stylistically authentic approach than the preferred free stroke.

The flamenco tremolo and the alzapua are two other very important flamenco guitar techniques that classical guitarists could benefit from. As mentioned in chapter four, tremolo is the modern classical guitar technique executed through the continuous repetition of a pattern of alternating right hand fingers, usually “p”, “a”, “m”, “i”. The flamenco tremolo adds an extra note to the pattern. That note is played by the index finger plucking between the stroke of the thumb and the ring finger resulting a new pattern “p”, “i”, “a”, “m”, “i”. The five note flamenco tremolo technique can be used for the practice of fluidity and precision, and is also very helpful in the development of evenness of the four note traditional classical guitar tremolo.

Alzapua, the flamenco guitar technique that employs the plucking of the right hand thumb both up and down across one or more strings. The alzapua technique is very helpful with thumb power and accuracy. Flamenco guitarists have developed a very fast thumb from the thorough practice of the up and down strokes of alzapua.

Through the practice of alzapua, the classical guitarist would not only gain a fast thumb, but also an extended ability to stop bass notes from ringing after initial plucking of the string.

This would be a great addition to a piece of classical music’s harmonic clarity and also to the guitarist’s overall attack on the instrument.

CHAPTER 7

CONCLUSION: POWERS COMBINE, A NEW APPROACH ON THE CLASSICAL

GUITAR

The guitar music of Joaquin Rodrigo is some of the most important in the classical guitar repertoire. Rodrigo’s name is one of those few that always are encountered in conversations about guitar music and Spanish music in general. He was a nationalist composer that took the

Spanish national instrument, the guitar, and combined aspects of traditional flamenco with

Western art music. His music is inspired by the flamenco tradition, a pure Spanish phenomenon that brings out the true spirit of this culturally rich nation. The soulful traditional flamenco guitar and its use in flamenco music have served as great inspiration for the composer. This inspiration has driven the composer to write music for its western art music counterpart, the classical guitar, a more suitable medium for Rodrigo’s compositional style. The classical guitar, although a slightly different instrument when compared to the flamenco guitar, has to go by some of the rules and traditions of the flamenco guitar in the context of Joaquin Rodrigo’s music and Spanish music in general, in order to keep alive a true Spanish flavor.

It seems, to the untrained eye, that the classical and the flamenco guitar look no different from one another, but actually there are very many slight differences between the two. Most of these differences are in the materials used and the construction of the instrument. There are slight differences also in the overall size that are easily noticed when comparing the two side by side.

However, that is not the case when the instruments are just seen separately in pictures or performances. It would be very difficult to differentiate between the two in such instances. There

is also a difference in the way they are played and the way they sound. Although close in sound and tone, the classical guitar sounds clearer and darker than the flamenco guitar and has more resonance. The flamenco guitar is more percussive and bright sounding, with more power and punch, and less resonance.

“The classical guitar ideally results clear and ethereal in tone, the traditional flamenco raspier and more earthy, and the hybrid (rosewood) flamenco in between the two in both tone and weight, although still considerably more flamenco than classical. It should be stated that these differences are applicable only in quality guitars. Cheaper guitars, with few exceptions, come in all sizes and are neither classical nor flamenco.”33

After dissecting a number of Joaquin Rodrigo’s compositions for guitar and looking at them from the viewpoint of the classical guitarist with flamenco guitar understanding, there is one important conclusion that one needs to reach. That Rodrigo’s guitar music requires the knowledge and use of various techniques from the flamenco guitar tradition. Looking at how these techniques would be approached by the flamenco guitarist reveals inconsistencies in the general approach of the classical guitarist, who does not always take these into consideration.

The result is a less convincing, not quite Spanish spirited performance, a weaker, altered version of the truth.

For classical concert guitarists, having this kind of knowledge of flamenco techniques can drastically improve the performance and improve their overall technique in the process. It is usually a rare case that a classical guitarist plays flamenco guitar as well. Nonetheless, both the classical and the flamenco guitarist could greatly benefit from blending the two instruments and their techniques. This true example of evolution has already taken place especially in the guitar

33 Donn E. Pohren, The Art of Flamenco ( Westport CT: The Bold Strummer Ltd., 2005), 321. 62

building industry where now some of the most well-known flamenco virtuosos use a more modern hybrid guitar that is constructed using woods and building techniques from both the classical and flamenco guitar tradition. The result is a flamenco feel and playability and a classical sound with more depth and less brightness. It is a wonderful concept that seems to be gaining more and more interest from the modern performers.

This blending of concepts needs to happen also at the music performance level and the results would be breath taking. Like having flamenco guitarists playing with a cleaner, more focused sound, having more to say than just amazing chops on their instrument. Or like a classical guitarist with beautiful tone and also a lot of ability and facility on the instrument. Such players already exist and have been upraised by a vast appreciative audience and are now seen as pioneers and revolutionaries of the instrument. These players come either from the flamenco tradition with a desire for a better sound and more musicianship, or from the classical tradition with a desire for flawless technique and virtuosity. Some of these are the Romero family of guitarists lead by Pepe and his brother Angel and their great accomplishments, Scott Tennant, a student of that same flamenco tradition, Adam del Monte, a flamenco/jazz guitarist with a very musical touch, Vicente Amigo, a flamenco virtuoso with a classical guitarist’s tone, Grisha

Goryachev, a traditional flamenco guitarist without the dirtiness of the style, and a few others.

This is one of the potential futures of the classical guitar. There are other futures possible as well, but when it comes to Spanish music on the classical guitar, a considerable part in the classical guitar repertoire, this seems to be a positive direction.

APPENDIX A

Dear Mr. Ciulei,

We are most pleased to know that you are writing about Joaquín Rodrigo’s guitar works and thank you for your interest. At the same time, we are very interested in receiving a copy of your dissertation as soon as possible since we hold a copy of all academic works on Rodrigo in our Archives.

We have passed your request on to the publisher of part of the works that you wish to include in order that both publishers be in accordance in our reply to your petition.

With best wishes.

Sincerely,

Cecilia Rodrigo (daugher of Joaquín Rodrigo)

Ediciones Joaquín Rodrigo General Yagüe, 11-4º J 28020 Madrid Spain Tel.: 34 91 555 27 28 Fax: 34 91 556 43 35 www.joaquin-rodrigo.com

De: "Ciulei, Silviu" Fecha: Mon, 1 Apr 2013 19:07:01 +0000 Para: "[email protected]" , "[email protected]" Conversación: permission request for reprinting of short excerpts (non-profit/non-commercial, educational use only) Asunto: permission request for reprinting of short excerpts (non-profit/non-commercial, educational use only)

From: Ciulei, Silviu Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 8:01 PM

To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: permission request for reprinting of short excerpts (non-profit/non-commercial, educational use only)

2341 Garland Court, #1 Tallahassee, FL32303

March 27, 2013

Dear Ediciones Joaquin Rodrigo,

I am completing a doctoral dissertation at Florida State University entitled: FLAMENCO GUITAR TECHNIQUES IN THE MUSIC OF JOAQUIN RODRIGO. I would like to request your permission to reprint in my dissertation short excerpts from the following:

Pequeña Sevillana, Un tiempo fue Italica famosa, Tres piezas españolas (Fandango, Passacaglia, Zapateado), Canario (from Fantasia para un gentilhombre), Concierto de Aranjuez (1st movement only), Sonata giocosa (3rd movement only), En los trigales, Entre Olivares, Bajando de la meseta, En tierras de Jerez, Junto al Generalife

My dissertation will be produced electronically and made available through the Florida State University Library and its publication partners, including online academic databases for complete theses, such as ProQuest. I am requesting permission to include the short excerpts in current and future revisions and non-commercial editions of my dissertation, and to grant others the right to reproduce my entire dissertation, including the excerpts described above, for educational, non-profit, and non-commercial purposes only. These rights will in no way limit republication of the material(s) in any other form by you or others authorized by you. Your signing will verify that you own the copyright to the above material(s). Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Silviu Octavian Ciulei

Bibliography

Sloane, Irving, Classic Guitar Construction, Westport CT: The Bold Strummer Ltd., 1989.

Turnbull, Harvey. “The Guitar From the Renaissance to the Present Day”. Westport: The Bold Strummer Ltd., 1991.

Romanillos, Jose L. “Antonio De Torres”. Introduction by Julian Bream. Element books Ltd, 1987.

Hill Guitar Company Website: http://www.hillguitar.com/scripts/frameit.cgi?/website/news/articles/torres.html

Pohren, Donn E., The Art of Flamenco, Westport CT: The Bold Strummer Ltd., 2005.

Pena, Paco, Toques Flamencos: Music from the Student Repertoire, Music Sales America Ltd., 2003.

Tennant, Scott, Pumping Nylon: The Classical Guitarist’s Technique Handbook, edited by Nathaniel Gunod, Van Nuys, Ca: Alfred Publishing Co. Inc., 1995. Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 8th ed. Edited by Nicolas Slominsky. New York: Schirmer, 1992. s.v. “Rodrigo, Joaquin.”

Calcraft, Raymond, “Rodrigo (Vidre), Joaquin,” The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed. Edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan, 2001. Vol. 21, 499-500.

Donis, Jose Antonio, “The Musicologist Behind The Composer: The Impact Of Historical Studies Upon The Creative Life In Joaquin Rodrigo's Guitar Compositions,” M.M. Thesis, Florida State University, 2005.

Jones, Dena Kay. The Piano Works of Joaquin Rodrigo: An Evaluation of Social Influences and Compositional Style. D.M.A. Dissertation, University of Arizona, 2002.

Krusenstjerna, Mary. “Music Reviews,” June 1987, Notes, Second Series, Vol. 43, No. 4, p. 929.

Marco, Tomas, “Rodrigo, Joaquin,” The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan, 1980. Vol. 16, 92-93.

Newcomb, Lawrence B. The Six Works for Guitar (or Guitars) and Orchestra by Joaquin Rodrigo. Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Florida, 1998.

Parkening, Christopher. Introduction to Music for Guitar. 19 Pieces for guitar by Joaquin

Rodrigo. Edited by Christopher Parkening. New York: Schott, 1995.

Rodrigo, Joaquin. “My Music for Guitar.” Preface to 19 Pieces for Guitar by Joaquin Rodrigo. New York: Schott, 1995.

Rodrigo, Joaquin. "Tres Piezas Espanolas." In My Music for Guitar: 19 Pieces for Guitar by Joaquin Rodrigo, edited by Corey Field, 22-36. New York, NY: Schott Music Corporation, 1995.

Rodrigo, Joaquin. Fantasia Para un Gentihombre, edited by Andres Segovia, 8- 11.London: Schott & Co. Ltd., 1964.

Rodrigo, Joaquin, Concierto de Aranjuez, edited by Angel Romero, 1- 8. Mainz: Schott Muzik International, 1984.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Classical and flamenco guitarist Silviu Octavian Ciulei was born in Constanta, Romania.

He began his musical studies at the age of six and attended the High School of Arts in

Constanta. By age thirteen, he had won his first performance prize in the Romanian National

Music Olympics. While in Romania, Silviu won many prizes including First Prizes in the

National Music Olympics, and was First Prize winner and Gold Medalist three times consecutively in the George Georgescu International Music Performance Competition. He graduated at the top of his class from the High School of Arts in Constanta and was selected to perform the Giuliani opus 30 Concerto in A major with the Black Sea Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 2004, Silviu was awarded a Full International Scholarship to study Guitar Performance with Dr. William Yelverton at Middle Tennessee State University. Silviu is the MTSU School of

Music's first Full International Scholar and first four-time Undergraduate Research and

Creativity Scholar and Grant recipient. Upon his graduation from MTSU he was awarded the

Outstanding Achievement in Guitar Performance award.

Since coming to the United States, Silviu has won an impressive collection of prizes.

First Prize in the Indiana International Guitar Competition, First Prize in the Columbus Guitar

Symposium, First Prize in the Appalachian Guitar Festival, First Prize in the Beethoven Club

Competition, Second Prize in the Texas International Guitar Competition, Second Prize in the

Mississippi Concerto Competition, Third Prize in the Guitar Foundation of America International

Concert Artist Competition, Third Prize in the Schadt String Concerto Competition, Fifth Prize at the prestigious Parkening International Guitar Competition. While competing in the Parkening

Competition, Soundboard Magazine, a Guitar Foundation of America publication, said Silviu

“gave a solid performance.”

Silviu has performed in master classes for many renowned artists such as Pavel Steidl,

Denis Azabagic, Odair Assad, William Kannengeiser, Scott Tennant, Jason Vieaux, Carlos Perez,

Ernesto Tamayo, Steven Robinson, Marcin Dylla, Adam Holzman, Carlo Marchione, Elliot Fisk and others.

Silviu performed the Giuliani Concerto with the Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra at the

Parthenon in Centennial Park in Nashville, TN. He is also an accomplished flamenco guitarist.

He has traveled to study flamenco in the south of Spain, in places like Cadiz, Madrid and Seville.

Some of his flamenco masters include Adam del Monte, Ricardo Nunez, Oscar Guzman. He has performed with his flamenco ensemble Tequila Flamenco Group at the Guitar Foundation of

America International Festival and Competition at Oberlin Conservatory, Eastfield College

Guitar Festival in Dallas, TX, and with his new flamenco project Maharajah Flamenco Trio at the Southern Guitar Festival and Competition in Columbia, SC after a long United States East

Coast Tour from Florida to New York.

Silviu is currently a Doctor of Music in Guitar Performance student and Graduate

Teaching Assistant to Professor Bruce Holzman at Florida State University’s College of Music.

He also received his Master of Music degree in Guitar Performance from FSU, where he was

Graduate Teaching Assistant and Graduate Dean’s Fellow, one of the largest awards ever to be given to a graduate student for guitar at FSU. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Guitar

Performance from Middle Tennessee State University. In addition to being a classical guitarist,

Silviu speaks five languages fluently and is also a fine flamenco singer.