Rodrigo was born inSagunto,Province of Valencia. At the age of three, he lost his sight completely after contractingdiphtheria.[1] At the age of eight he began to studysolfège, piano, and violin and from the age of 16 he studied harmony and composition. He wrote his compositions inBraille and they weretranscribed for publication. Although distinguished by having raised the Spanish guitar to dignity as a universal concert instrument and being best known for his guitar music, he never mastered playing the instrument.
Rodrigo studied music under Francisco Antich inValencia and underPaul Dukas at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. After briefly returning to Spain, he returned to Paris to studymusicology, first underMaurice Emmanuel, and then underAndré Pirro. His first published compositions[2] date from 1923. From 1947, Rodrigo was a professor ofmusic history, holding theManuel de Falla Chair of Music in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, atComplutense University of Madrid. Notable students includeYüksel Koptagel, Turkish composer and pianist.
His most famous work, theConcierto de Aranjuez, was composed in 1939 in Paris for the guitaristRegino Sainz de la Maza. In later life, he and his wife,Victoria, declared that the work was written as a response to the miscarriage of their first child.[3] The composition is a concerto for guitar and orchestra. The centraladagio movement is one of the most recognizable in twentieth-century classical music, featuring the interplay of guitar withcor anglais.[4]
This movement was later adapted by the jazz arrangerGil Evans for the 1960 albumSketches of Spain byMiles Davis. At the request ofNicanor Zabaleta, Rodrigo adapted the concerto for the 1974Harp and Orchestra Concerto and he dedicated the adaptation to Zabaleta. Jazz guitarist Jim Hall further adapted the second movement on his recording titled "Concierto" (1975, Creed) which featured performances by Paul Desmond (alto sax), Steve Gadd (drums), Chet Baker (trumpet), Ron Carter (bass guitar) and Roland Hanna 8(piano).
Of Rodrigo's works, those that have achieved the greatest popular and critical success are hisConcierto de Aranjuez andFantasia para un gentilhombre. These two works are very often paired in recordings.
He marriedVictoria Kamhi in 1933. She was a Turkish-born pianist whom he had met in Paris. They shared professional interests and she documented their life together inHand in Hand With Joaquín Rodrigo: My Life at the Maestro's Side (1992). Their marriage lasted until her death in 1997.[1] Their daughter, Cecilia, was born on 27 January 1941.
Rodrigo died at his home inMadrid on 6 July 1999, aged 97.[1] His daughter succeeded him as Marquesa de los Jardines de Aranjuez. Joaquín Rodrigo and his wife Victoria are buried at the cemetery atAranjuez.
Juglares (1923); first public performance: 1924, Valencia
Cinco Piezas Infantiles (1928)
Tres viejos aires de danza (1929; first performance on 20 January 1930 by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Valencia conducted by José Manuel Izquierdo)
Dos miniaturas andaluzas (1929; first performance on 22 November 1999 at thePalau de la Música de Valencia, Spain, by the Orquesta de Cámara Joaquín Rodrigo)
Zarabanda lejana y Villancico (1930; first performance on 9 March 1931 at theEcole Normale de Musique in Paris, by the Orquesta Femenina de París, conducted byJane Evrard)
Per la flor del Lliri Blau, symphonic poem (1934; First Prize,Círculo de Bellas Artes)
Soleriana (first performance by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted byHans von Benda, on 22 August 1953 in Berlin)
Pavana Real (1955)
Música para un jardín (1957) [Orchestration of his two piano Berceuses]
Dos piezas caballerescas for four-piece cello orchestra (1945; first performance on 27 May 1945 in Madrid by cello ensemble students ofJuan Ruiz Casaux) – later transcribed for four guitars by Peter Jermer
Concierto en modo galante (1949; first performance on 4 November 1949 in Madrid byGaspar Cassadó, with theOrquesta Nacional de España, conducted byAtaulfo Argenta)
Concierto para una fiesta (1982; first performance on 5 March 1983 at the Ridglea Country Club in Fort Worth, by Pepe Romero, with the Texas Little Symphony conducted by John Giordano)
Rincones de España (1990; first performance by Angel Romero on 7 March 1991 at New York'sLincoln Center)
Sones en la Giralda (1963; written as a wedding present for the harpistMarisa Robles) – later transcribed for guitar and orchestra by Pepe Romero
Piano
Concierto heroico (1943) (revised by the composer asPiano Concerto (1995) and first performed in 1999)
Violin
Dos esbozos for violin and piano (1923; Rodrigo's "Opus 1")
Cançoneta for violin and string orchestra (1923; first performance in 1923 in Valencia, Spain, by theOrquesta Sinfónica de Valencia, conducted by José Manuel Izquierdo)
Concierto de estío (1944; first performance on 16 April 1944 by Enrique Iniesta, at the Teatro San Carlos in Lisbon, with the Orquesta Nacional de España, conducted by Bartolomé Pérez Casas)
Set Cançons Valencianes for violin and piano (1982)
Tres pequeñas piezas (Ya se van los pastores, Por caminos de Santiago, Pequeña Sevillana) (1963)
Elogio de la guitarra (1971; written for the guitaristAngelo Gilardino, who gave the first performance)
Pajaros de primavera (1972; commissioned by Dr. Isao Takahashi, a promoter of classical guitar in Japan, for his wife Take Takahashi; first performed in 1972 at the hospital bedside of Take Takahashi in Japan, "interpreted by a guitarist friend", as she was dying of cancer;[7]Christopher Parkening gave the first public performance, also in Japan).
Dos preludios (1976; first performance in 1989 byCeledonio Romero in Los Angeles, and first recording by Wolfgang Lendle)
Tríptico (1978; first performance in 1978 byAlexandre Lagoya at the Château de Rougerie in France)
Un tiempo fue Itálica famosa (1981; first performance in 1989 by Randy Pile in San Diego)
Ecos de Sefarad (1987; first performance in 1989 by Sherri Rottersman at the Círculo Medina in Madrid)
¡Qué buen caminito! (1987; first performance in 1987 by María Esther Guzmán at the Conservatorio de Música de Sevilla)
Aranjuez, ma pensée (1988) (arranged by the composer from hisConcierto de Aranjuez)
Harp
Impromptu (1959; first performance by Ana María Martini Gil)
Piano (solo), and harpsichord
Suite pour piano (1923)
Berceuse d'automne (1923)
Preludio al Gallo mañanero (1926)
Zarabanda lejana (1926)
Pastorale (1926)
Bagatela (1926)
Berceuse de printemps (1928)
Air de Ballet sur le nom d'une Jeune Fille (1930)
Serenata Española (1931)
Sonada de adiós ('Homenaje a Paul Dukas') (1935)
Cuatro Piezas (Caleseras, Fandango del ventorrillo, Prayer of the Princess of Castile, Danza Valenciana) (1936–1938)
Tres Danzas de España (Rústica, Danza de los tres doncellas, Serrana) (1941)
A l'ombre de Torre Bermeja (1945)
Cuatro Estampas Andaluzas (1946–1952)
El Album de Cecilia (María de los Reyes, Jota de las Palomas, Canción del Hada rubia, Canción del Hada morena, El negrito Pepo, Borriquillos a Belén) (1948)
Cinco Sonatas de Castilla, con Toccata a modo de Pregón (1950–1951)
Aranjuez, ma pensée (1968) (arranged by the composer from hisConcierto de Aranjuez)
Danza de la Amapola (1972)
Preludio y Ritornello (1979) (for HARPSICHORD)
Tres Evocaciones (Tarde en el parque, Noche en el Guadalquivir, Triana) (1980–1981)
Preludio de Añoranza (1987)
Piano (duet and two pianos)
Juglares (1923) (piano duet) (arranged by the composer from his first work for orchestra)
Cinco Piezas Infantiles (Son chicos que pasan, Después de un cuento, Mazurka, Plegaria, Gritería) (1924) (TWO PIANOS) (arranged by the composer from his second work for orchestra)
Gran Marcha de los Subsecretarios (1941) (piano duet)
Atardecer (1975) (piano duet)
Sonatina para dos Muñecas (1977) (piano duet)
Violin
Capriccio (1944; first performance on 8 January 1946 by Enrique Iniesta in Madrid)
^"Marquess of theGardens of Aranjuez"; since 1999, his daughter Cecilia Rodrigo Camhi, has been 2ndMarquesa de los Jardines de Aranjuez.
^"boe.es"(PDF). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 26 June 2011. Retrieved23 April 2010.
^*Kamhi de Rodrigo, Victoria (1992).Hand in Hand With Joaquín Rodrigo: My Life at the Maestro's Side. Translated by Ellen Wilkerson. Pittsburgh: Latin American Literary Review Press. p. 231.ISBN0-935480-51-X.
^Graham Wade,Joaquín Rodrigo: A Life in Music: Travelling to Aranjuez, 2006, p. 156: " ... He has also completed for voice, Tres canciones, with classical texts".
