page_title: Andrés Segovia
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Andrés Segovia / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: Andrés Segovia at a recital in the "Concerts Ysaye" in Brussels, 15 December 1932 pencil on paper 22.8 x 17.2 cm signed l.r: "ASegovia Bruxelles XXXII signed b.r.: HW.
context_page_description: Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña, known as Andrés Segovia, was a virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist from Linares, Spain. Many professional classical guitarists today were students of Segovia, or students of his students. Segovia's contribution to the modern-romantic repertoire not only included commissions but also his own transcriptions of classical or baroque works. He is remembered for his expressive performances: his wide palette of tone, and his distinctive musical personality, phrasing and style.
context_section_description: Segovia's first public performance was in Granada at the age of 16 in 1909. A few years later he played his first professional concert in Madrid, which included works by Francisco Tárrega and his own guitar transcriptions of Johann Sebastian Bach. Despite the discouragement of his family, who wanted him to become a lawyer, and criticism by some of Tárrega's pupils for his idiosyncratic technique, he continued to pursue his studies of the guitar diligently.
  He played again in Madrid in 1912, at the Paris Conservatory in 1915, in Barcelona in 1916, and made a successful tour of South America in 1919. Segovia's arrival on the international stage coincided with a time when the guitar's fortunes as a concert instrument were being revived, largely through the efforts of Miguel Llobet. It was in this changing milieu that Segovia, thanks to his strength of personality and artistry, coupled with developments in recording and broadcasting, succeeded in making the guitar more popular again.
  In 1921 in Paris, Segovia met Alexandre Tansman, who later wrote a number of guitar works for Segovia, among them Cavatina, which won a prize at the Siena International Composition contest in 1952.
  At Granada in 1922 he became associated with the Concurso de Cante Jondo promoted by the Spanish composer Manuel de Falla. The aim of the "classicizing" Concurso was to preserve flamenco in its purity from being distorted by modern popular music. Segovia had already developed as a fine tocador of flamenco guitar, yet his direction was now classical. Invited to open the Concurso held at the Alhambra, he played Homenaje a Debussy by Falla.
  In 1923 Segovia visited Mexico for the first time. There Manuel Ponce was so impressed with the concert that he wrote a review in El Universal. Later Ponce went on to write many works for Segovia, including numerous sonatas.
  In 1924, Segovia visited the German luthier Hermann Hauser Sr. after hearing some of his instruments played in a concert in Munich. In 1928 Hauser provided Segovia with one of the guitars which he used during his tour of the United States and in other concerts up to 1933. Segovia ordered a further guitar from Hauser and after receiving it passed on the 1928 model to his US representative and close friend Sophocles Papas, who in his turn gave it to his student, the famous jazz and classical guitarist Charlie Byrd, who used it on several records.
  Segovia's first American tour was arranged in 1928 when Fritz Kreisler, the Viennese violinist who privately played the guitar, persuaded Francis Charles Coppicus from the Metropolitan Musical Bureau to present the guitarist in New York.
  After Segovia's debut tour in the US in 1928 the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos composed his now well-known Twelve Études (Portuguese: Doze estudos; French: Douze études; German: Zwölf Studien) and later dedicated them to Segovia. Their relationship proved to be lasting and Villa-Lobos continued to write for Segovia. He also transcribed numerous classical pieces himself and revived the pieces transcribed by predecessors like Tárrega.
  In 1932, Segovia met and befriended composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco in Venice. Since Castelnuovo-Tedesco did not play the guitar, Segovia provided him with guitar compositions (Ponce's Folias variations and Sor's Mozart Variations) which he could study. Castelnuovo-Tedesco composed a large number of works for the guitar, many of them dedicated to Segovia. The Concerto Op. 99 of 1939 was the first guitar concerto of the 20th century and Castelnuovo-Tedesco's last work in Italy, before he emigrated to the United States. It was premiered by Segovia in Uruguay in 1939.
  In 1935, he gave his first public performance 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 World War II, Segovia began to record more frequently and performed regular tours of Europe and the US, a schedule he would maintain for the next thirty years. In 1954, Joaquín Rodrigo dedicated Fantasía para un gent
caption: Segovia at a recital in the "Concerts Ysaye" in Brussels, 15 December 1932 (Hilda Wiener, 1877–1940)
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