Of all Western instruments, the guitar is probably the one most associated with popular music and least with classical music. It has never been a member of the standard orchestra, yet a significant body of classical music for solo guitar as well as magnificent concertos do exist.
For a while, guitarists had to scrounge around for works to play: some of the first “guitar music” is actually Baroque music for lute (in transcription) by the likes of Bach and Vivaldi. For all that, these transcriptions are perfectly idiomatic and authentic, as well as interesting to hear.
The two best known composers for the classical guitar are Mauro Giuliani, the 19th century Italian composer and Joaquin Rodrigo, the 20th century Spanish composer, though many others have written “new” music for the guitar in the last 2 centuries (including Villa-Lobos, Ponce and Castelnuovo-Tedesco).In both cases, they were able to write what they did because they had an outstanding performer to write for: in the case of Giuliani, himself and in the case of Rodrigo, the great Andres Segovia.
Giuliani wrote copiously for his instrument, including 3 fine concertos, graceful and lyrical with just a touch of melancholy, as well as many dazzlingly difficult solo works. Rodrigo, the miraculous blind composer, is rememberd for the immortal Concierto Aranjuez (about the gardens of Madrid),the Fantasia para una Gentilhombre (reworkings of medieval Spanish courtly dances) and many many others.
Considering that the number of outstanding classical performers on the guitar has risen exponentially in the last century: Segovia, the Romeros, John Williams, Julian Bream,etc, it is ironic that when we think of the guitar, we think not of them but of some average Joe strumming along hopelessly to folk and country music. Of course this does a grave disservice not just to these great classical guitarists but also to the great “pop & rock” guitarists, Jimi Hendrix , Dave Gilmour and Mark Knopfler, etc.
It is time to reclaim the guitar from John Mayer!
My guitar favourite is the Asturias played by John Williams. It was used by Jim Morrison and the Doors in their number "Spanish Caravan"--Robby Kreiger played the Guitar for the Doors. This time in RIFF 2011 we heard The Band of Brothers from Australia which had 2 Russian brothers playing the classical guitar and 2 Egyptian brothers playing the Oud and the Raq. Missed you.
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