I had another restoration in last month. This was a guitar which had already had some work done on it perhaps on two different occasions. Someone had modified the guitar to conform to what were then modern standards. Neither myself nor the owner thought that undoing all of the changes was a good idea. I fixed a crack or two, installed geared tuning pegs and did some work on the bridge, nut and frets to make it playable.

Josef Pagés was the son of Juan Pagés who was also a guitar-maker. Very influential in the late 18th and early 19th centuries not only in their native Cádiz but all over Spain. Another of the four guitar-making sons, Francisco, who emigrated to Cuba and worked there expanded the fame of the Pagés family.

Those of us who are driven to write about guitar organology and guitar construction owe so much to José Luis Romanillos. His book on Torres set the bar for that sort of research and turned Torres into a household name among guitar aficionados. I think I have never written an article without referencing that book. Torres’ guitars and research in general have become an important part of my work and whithout his trail-blazing I doubt I would have got here. 

I met José Luis and Marian on a number of occasions: here in Granada during their research for the Diccionario and in Córdoba for the Antonio de Torres exhibition. He served on the jury at the guitar-making competition in Gelves in 1999 where I presented a guitar. When I started building copies of Antonio de Lorca he encouraged me and when I uncovered a guitar by Etienne Laprevotte he guided me in my investigations.

I include a quote from the 1987 version of the book which honours the master:

“To say that this book owes a great deal to my wife is an understatement: her encouragement and total support made it possible for me to write this book. Not only did she type the draft several times but also helped give the book its final shape. My indebtedness to her is immeasurable and only her modesty and unselfishness in refusing to share the authorship of this book prevented me from including her name alongside my own. Marian, I thank you.”

Javier Riba kindly allowed me to publish what he wrote here. Translation below.

Preludio al atardecer (1926) de Joaquín Rodrigo Javier Riba (guitarra)
En el año 2019 el musicólogo Javier Suárez-Pajares encontró una pieza inédita de Joaquín Rodrigo en el archivo del compositor titulada “Preludio al atardecer”. Hasta ese momento desconocíamos la existencia de esta composición que, si nos atenemos a la fecha del manuscrito (1926), podría tratarse de la primera obra para guitarra del autor del Concierto de Aranjuez. El “Preludio al atardecer” no es una tentativa de un joven compositor pianista que se acerca a la difícil empresa de escribir para la guitarra; todo lo contrario, es, en mi opinión, una pieza madura, sorprendentemente bien resuelta en el plano instrumental (aunque con una demanda técnica que se adelanta a los parámetros de su época) y muy audaz en el planteamiento tonal. Escrita en el modo flamenco de Do, con armadura de Fa menor (4 bemoles), presenta un episodio central con rasgueados en Mi mayor cuya luminosidad contrasta abruptamente con la oscuridad de las secciones que la preceden y la siguen. El guitarrista Juan Manuel Cañizares ha sido el primero en comunicar la pieza tanto en concierto como en grabación, desde una óptica flamenca, a través de su proyecto “Rodrigo por Cañizares”. Aquí les presento mi lectura “clásica” desde un prisma más académico.

In 2019 musicologist Javier Suárez-Pajares discovered an unpublished score by Joaquín Rodrigo in the composer’s archives titled “Prelude at sunset”. Until that moment we were completely unaware of the existence of this composition which, according to the date (1926), might well be the first piece the author of Concierto de Aranjuez ever wrote for the guitar. But this prelude is hardly a “first try” by a pianistic composer who wishes to take on the difficult task of writing for the guitar; rather it isa mature piece which is surprisingly well resolved on the fretboard of the guitar. It must be said that the technical difficulty is ahead of its time as is the audacious tonal approach. Written in flamenco mode in C with a key signature of F minor (4 flats) it includes a central episode with “rasgueados” in E major the luminosity of which contrasts abruptly with the darker sections which precede and follow it. Guitarist Juan Manuel Cañizares was the first to both record and play this piece in concert of course from a flamenco point of view in his project “Rodrigo by Cañizares”. Here is my classical vision using a more academic approach.

Mi agradecimiento a Cecilia Rodrigo y a la Fundación Victoria y Joaquín Rodrigo.
Grabación de estudio (noviembre de 2021)
guitarra John Ray (2005) copia de Torres (1892)
Estudio Hanare (sonido e imagen de Lauren Serrano)

This is the fourth book about the guitar in a series started by Françoise and Daniel Sinier de Ridder. This time Jérôme Casanova has added his authorship to the book. I can’t tell you much more because I have yet to read it but just as all of Camino Verde’s books it is beautifully illustrated.

The Sociedad Española de la Guitarra organized a concert in Madrid on December 11. I have it on good authority that Javier played wonderfully and the public was appropriately enthusiastic. The Brouwer played there was a world premiere. I don’t know of any recordings from the concert but here is a studio recording. Motivos Son No. 2   Leo Brouwer