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Andrés Torres Segovia, 1st Marquess of Salobreña (21 February 1893–3 June 1987)
was a Spanish classical guitarist born in Linares, Spain who is considered to be
the father of the modern classical guitar movement by most modern music
scholars.
In recognition of his contributions to music and the arts, Segovia was ennobled on
24 June 1981 by King Juan Carlos I, who elevated Segovia into the first hereditary
Marquess of Salobreña, formally styled as "El señor don Andrés Torres Segovia,
marqués de Salobreña" (the Most Illustrious Lord The Marquess of Salobreña). He was
granted the following coat of arms: "en campo de azur sobre ondas de azur y plata,
unas rocas de su color, sumadas de una torre donjonada de oro, aclarada de azur" (a
field of azur on waves of azur and silver, rocks of the same color, plus a gold
dungeon tower, with azur highlights).
Segovia said that he began playing the guitar at the age of six. Angelo Gilardino,
who has worked at the Fundación Andrés Segovia in Spain, noted: "Though it is not
yet completely documented, it seems clear that, since his tender childhood, he
learnt playing as a flamenco guitarist. In fact, the first guitar he owned had
formerly been played by Paco de Lucena, the greatest flamenco guitarist of the
epoque, who died when Segovia was five years old. Since then, Segovia was given
some instruction by Agustinillo, an amateur flamenco player who was a fan of Paco
de Lucena."
As a teenager, Segovia moved to the town of Granada, where he studied the guitar
and soaked up the other-worldly atmosphere of the Palace at Alhambra, a Moorish
relic overlooking the town which he regarded as his spiritual awakening.
Segovia's first public performance was in Spain at the age of sixteen, and a few
years later he held his first professional concert in Madrid, playing guitar
transcriptions by Francisco Tárrega and some works by J.S. Bach, which he had
transcribed and arranged himself. Although he was always discouraged by his family,
and looked down on by many of Tárrega's pupils, he always continued to diligently
pursue his studies of the guitar. Segovia's technique differed from that of Tárrega
and his followers, such as Emilio Pujol. Both Segovia and Miguel Llobet (who taught
Segovia several of his transcriptions of Granados' piano works) plucked the strings
with a combination of his fingernails and fingertips, producing a sharper sound
than many of his contemporaries. With this technique, it was possible to create a
wider range of timbres, or tones, than when using the fingertips or nails alone.
Historically, classical guitarists have debated which of these techniques is the
best approach. While the majority now play with a combination of the
fingernails/tips, some still prefer the convenience and mellower sound of flesh
alone.
Segovia's status as a student of the guitar is a matter of debate among guitarists.
The Segovia autobiography, written for mass consumption at the height of his
career, depicts him as being self-taught. There are admissions of his seeking out
Llobet's advice only for a short time when in his early twenties, but Segovia is
quite clear about the lack of any real influence on his playing. Although at that
age Segovia may well have been much more than a neophyte, he was still youthful
enough to have received valuable instruction, and to have been significantly
influenced by it. Indeed, Ronald Purcell points out that "Segovia, whose
performance style and technique reveals the principles of Tárrega, was basically
influenced by Llobet....This stylistic influence can be heard when comparing
Llobet's Parlophone Electric recordings (Chanterelle Historical Recordings CHR 001)
with Segovia's Angel recordings, ZB 3896" (Llobet 1989, 1: ii).
Purcell later states, "At the age of twenty-two he (Segovia) pursued what he
considered the only direct contact to Tárrega, Llobet, for refinement of his
technique and especially for the music that both he and Tárrega had written and
transcribed for the guitar..."(ibid). The accuracy of this date (Segovia would have
been twenty-two in 1915) seems to be somewhat questionable. A photograph taken at
the exhumation of Tárrega in 1915, clearly shows Segovia at the foot of the coffin,
but Llobet does not appear in the photo, and would likely have been present had he,
in fact, been in Spain at the time. It may well have been another two years before
Segovia began to work with Llobet and there seems to be nothing that would
contradict this 1917 date.
The status of the classical guitar at the beginning of the twentieth century had
declined, and only in Barcelona and in the Rio de la Plata region of South America
could it have been said to be of any significance. When Segovia arrived on the
scene, this situation was just beginning to change, largely through the efforts of
Llobet. It was in this changing milieu that Segovia, whose strength of personality
and artistry coupled with new technological advances such as recording, radio, and
air travel, succeeded in moving the guitar forward to its present day level of
acceptance.
In 1924, Segovia visited the German luthier (guitar builder) Hermann Hauser Sr.
after hearing some of his instruments played in a concert in Munich. Segovia had
been impressed with the quality of Hauser's work and he encouraged Hauser to copy
his 1912 Manuel Ramirez guitar (an instrument generally believed to have been built
by Santos Hernandez while he was foreman of the Ramirez shop). He examined and made
measurements of this instrument. As Llobet, who also visited the luthier in the
same year, owned an 1859 Antonio Torres, Hauser also had opportunity to examine it
as well.
After World War Two Segovia became among the first to endorse the use of nylon
strings instead of gut strings. This new advance allowed for greater stability in
intonation, and was the final missing ingredient in the standardization of the
instrument.
After Segovia's debut tour in the United States in 1928, the Brazilian composer
Heitor Villa-Lobos composed his now well known Twelve Études (Douze études) and
later dedicated them to Segovia. This proved to be a lasting relationship as
Villa-Lobos continued to write for Segovia. He also transcribed numerous classical
pieces himself and revived the pieces transcribed by men like Tárrega. Many
guitarists in the Americas, however, had already been playing these same works
before Segovia arrived.
In 1935, he gave a premiere of Bach's Chaconne, a difficult piece for any
instrument. He moved to Montevideo performing many concerts in South America in the
thirties and early forties. After the war, Segovia began to record more frequently
and perform regular tours of Europe and the USA, a schedule he would maintain for
the next thirty years of his life.
In 1954, Joaquin Rodrigo composed Fantasía para un gentilhombre at the request of
Segovia.
Segovia won the 1958 Grammy Award for Best Classical Performance, Instrumentalist
for his recording, Segovia Golden Jubilee.
In recognition of Segovia's cultural contribution, he was elevated to the Spanish
nobility in 1981, with the title Marques de Salobreña.
Andres Segovia continued performing into his old age, living in semi-retirement
during his 70s and 80s on the Costa del Sol. Two films were made of his life and
work—one when he was 75 and the other, 84. They are available on DVD called "Andrés
Segovia - in Portrait".
In 1986, Segovia received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
When Segovia travelled by air internationally, he always purchased the seat next to
him for his guitar, not wanting to trust it to baggage handlers.
Segovia died in Madrid of a heart attack at the age of 94.
 Segovia's
goals
As Segovia's career and acclaim grew he determined "five purposes" as goals for his
legacy. They were outlined by Segovia in Guitar Review No 32:
1. To extract the guitar from the noisy and disreputable folkloric amusements.
2. I requested the living composers not in the field of guitar to write for me.
This was the second of my purposes: to create a wonderful repertoire for my
instrument.
3. My third purpose was to make the guitar known by the philharmonic public of the
world.
4. To provide a unifying medium for those interested in the development of the
guitar. This I did through my support of the now well known international
musicological journal, the Guitar Review
5. I am still working on my fifth and maybe the last purpose, which is to place the
guitar in the most important conservatories of the world for teaching the young
lovers of it, and thus securing its future.
Critical acclaim and
modern perspectives
Segovia was awarded many prizes and honours including Ph.D, honoris causa from ten
universities.
Segovia was credited by his publicity for bringing the guitar (as a solo
instrument) to the concert stage. While this is undoubtedly an exaggerated claim,
the fact that he widened the audience for the guitar and was a vital force in
helping it to gain respectability among other serious musicians, critics, and
academe is beyond dispute.
Controversy
regarding Segovia
Segovia was frequently lauded as the world's greatest classical guitarist with the
result that many reading such hyperbole believed that he set an unassailable
standard of virtuosity.
Today however, this view has been called into question.
John Williams (in 1999) has called him a "limited musician", though he refers to
Segovia's inspiration and the people he met as "essential".
Allan Kozinn noted (in 1986) that "By today's musicological standards, his
rolled chords, quick vibrato and slurred phrases may seem antique; yet they carry
Andres Segovia's unmistakable interpretive thumbprint, and they are classics of
their kind."
Many modern performers endeavour to play music in an authentic style of the
specific period, thus "tread a different stylistic path ". Interpretively Segovia's
performances of works that were written for him, particularly those in which the
composer consulted with him during the process, seem to have fared better.
However, Segovia's main achievement of making the guitar known to a wider audience,
and expanding its repertoire remains.
Editorial
legacy
Segovia left a large body of edited works and transcriptions. His editions of works
originally written for guitar include newly fingered and occasionally revised
versions of works from the standard repertoire (most famously, his edition of
twenty estudios by Fernando Sor), as well as compositions written for him. Many of
the latter were edited by Segovia, working in communication with the composer,
before they were first published. Because of Segovia's predilection for altering
the musical content of his editions to reflect his interpretive preferences, many
of today's guitarists prefer to examine the original manuscripts, or newer
publications based on the original manuscripts in order to compare them with
Segovia's published versions, so as to accept or reject Segovia's editorial
decisions.
Teaching
Segovia viewed teaching as vital to his mission of propagating the guitar, and gave
master classes throughout his career. His most famous master classes took place at
Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. Like everything else in Segovia's career,
his teaching is a source of controversy among some of today's players, who consider
his style to be dogmatically authoritarian.
Source : Some of the information on this page came
from a Wikipedia article and is licensed under the GNU Documentation
License. ©2008 www.geneticmatrix.com.
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Andres
Segovia - Manifesting Generator - Biography
