Illustrated Biographical Encyclopedic Dictionary. Andres Segovia

Andres Torres Segovia is a Spanish guitarist considered the father of modern academic guitar.

SEGOVIA Andres (1893-1987) - an outstanding Spanish guitarist and teacher. As a child, he studied piano, violin and cello, at the same time he independently studied guitar. Helped him hearing folk music, playing flamenco and studying music literature. In 1909, the first concert of Segovia took place, but world fame came to him in 1924, after a concert in Paris. A. Segovia's playing is marked by exceptional virtuoso skill, depth of interpretation; he expanded technical and expressive possibilities guitars, introduced the classical and contemporary music(many works in his own arrangements), raised guitar performance to a high artistic level... For Segovia, the works of J. Turina, J. de Manen, A. Roussel, M. Castelnuovo-Tedesco, S. Scott, E. Vila Lobos, A. Tansman and others were written and dedicated to him.

Segovia is one of the few concertists whose performance critics could not find flaws in. On the contrary, each subsequent performance of the artist revealed new merits of his playing, which is associated with both his outstanding talent and intense daily work to improve their skills.

Andres Segovia four times: in 1926, 1927, 1930 and 1936, came to the USSR and gave concerts in Moscow, Leningrad, Kharkov, Kiev and Odessa with invariable success. Segovia performed not only with concerts, but also met with local guitarists, listened to their play, conducted methodological talks and open lessons... This also affected the development of the guitar art in the Soviet Union: after the tour, many professional musicians began to look at the guitar as an instrument worthy of serious study. The consequence was the opening of guitar classes in music colleges (then technical schools), as well as in individual music universities. An ardent adherent of Segovia was P. S. Agafoshin, who was the first in the USSR to create the "School of six string guitar", based on the methodological guidelines of the outstanding guitarist. Thus, Andres Segovia was not only an artist, but also an active propagandist of his instrument.

In Kharkov, Andres Segovia performed in 1926 and 1927. His concerts, tickets for which were sold out at lightning speed, were held in the hall of the first state Ukrainian opera on the street. Rymarskoy, 21, where the Kharkiv Philharmonic is now located. Already at the beginning of the last century, this hall gained fame as one of the best acoustic structures. Half a century later, Segovia fondly recalled visiting both Kharkov itself and this amazing hall with its enchanting acoustics: Soviet Union and all the friends I left there ... Kharkiv is memorable and unforgettable to me. Its quiet cobbled streets resemble guitar "piano", and with the power of construction, the city is directed into the future, like a swift passage. " excellent review about their hometown, who has heard many unfair words addressed to him. For example, Sergei Prokofiev, who was then in Kharkov (they even "crossed" with Segovia in the carriage of one train and went to neighboring compartments) spoke very badly about the first capital of Ukraine. "In contrast to ugly Kharkov," he wrote in his diary in March 1927, "Kiev is very beautiful."

While in the USSR, A. Segovia also showed interest in young guitarists, conducted open lessons with them. On March 27, 1927, he gave a concert specially for young Leningraders - students of P.I. Isakov. Segovia's communication with young guitarists continued in 1936, during his visit to Leningrad, as evidenced by photographs of the Spanish artist with students of V.I. Yashnev.

A. Segovia with the students of V.I. Yashneva. In the bottom row, Vil Belilnikov, second from the right, on the left in the bottom row, Liliana Sedletskaya. Leningrad, hotel "European", 1936

A. Segovia with V.I. Yashnev and his students. To the right of Segovia - Vil Belilnikov, to the left - Liliana Sedletskaya; behind Segovia is Vasily Ivanovich Yashnev. Leningrad, hotel "European", 1936

Segovia has trained a brilliant galaxy of guitarists - D. Williams, Julian Brim (Great Britain), Alirio Diaz (Venezuela), Jose Tomas (Spain), K. Parkening (USA), M. Gasbarroni (Italy) and others. The activities of Andres Segovia acquired such a scale because already at the very beginning of its musical career he considered the guitar as one of the components of the whole musical culture generally. With his help, the old one was revived and was born new literature for guitar, he got interested in guitar professional musicians and composers, which led to a rise in interest in the art of playing on classical guitar... His musical activity is considered and appreciated as an outstanding event of the twentieth century. In Venice, Segovia was awarded the most honorary prize- "A life devoted to art".

Active activity a concert artist did not prevent Segovia from teaching guitar courses in Santiago de Compostela, at the Quijan Academy of Music in Siena, at the University of Berkeley. At the same time, he enriches the repertoire with guitar transcriptions of works famous composers as well as pieces for lute and vihuela.

A special merit of Segovia in the field of repertoire is the fact that he managed to convince many composers to abandon the well-established negative stereotypes in their views on the guitar and turn them to writing compositions for this instrument.

Formulating the goals of his work, Segovia wrote: “I have dedicated my life to four main tasks:

1.the separation of the guitar from the thoughtless amusements of the folk-lore type;
2.providing her with a repertoire High Quality composed of works of great importance in music and originated from the pen of composers, usually writing for orchestra, piano, violin, etc .;
3. to convey the beauty of the guitar sound to the philharmonic audience all over the world;
4.influence and influence the authorities in conservatories, academies and universities in order to include learning to play the guitar in the programs of these educational institutions on the same rights as violin, violon-cheli, piano, etc. "

“My whole being was seized with indescribable happiness when I started playing the guitar, because the sound in the bass was deep and sweet, and at the top it was quivering and trembling. And her accent, her soul in her voice was expressed firmly and convincingly. I forgot about everything in the world except the guitar. "

Spain seemed to have been gathering strength for centuries to create such a giant as Segovia. Segovia could not have been born outside of Spain, because this is where the guitar was born. When asked, "When did you start playing guitar?" - Segovia replied: "Before I was born."

Andres Segovia was born in Andalusia, in the city of Linares, on February 21, 1893, and a few weeks later the family moved to Jaén. The wonderful art of improvisation by the folk guitarists of Andalusia and the distinctive culture of this ancient land greatly influenced his attitude.

Monument to A. Segovia in Linares.

In his autobiography, Segovia described meeting his first guitar teacher:

“One day a flamenco guitarist came to our house. At the first strong rasgeado, I jumped off my chair and fell. But when he started playing beautiful folk melodies, I was captured.
- Do you want to learn how to play? - he asked. I nodded in agreement. "

In 1910, the first public concert of A. Segovia, organized by his friends, took place in the "Artistic Center" of Granada.

"On the way to the stage (my friend was carrying the guitar), an old flutist came up to me:

- Do you know the guitarist who will play now?
I smiled and said:
- Well known: we are close friends.
- Is he talented?
- Not at all. Now you will hear for yourself.
He was surprised by my unkind characterization close friend and asked:
- Do you envy him? - And with hostility, turning away from me, he entered the hall. But after the concert, the flutist came to hug me and said:
"Indeed, your friend deserves both my congratulations and your envy."

Segovia's first significant success was with Seville. Inspired by success, he began to dream of a concert in the capital, however, the first performance did not bring the desired success.

In 1915, Segovia met guitarist Miguel Llobet, thanks to whom he was able to give a concert in Barcelona in January 1916. However, they did not seek to let the guitar into large halls. She was not a popular instrument, and everyone believed that the power of her sound was insufficient, and she simply would not be heard in a large room.

A turn in the fate of the guitar was a concert at the Palau Palace of Chamber Music in Barcelona, ​​where Andrés Segovia finally received permission to perform. The beauty of sound acoustic guitar literally bewitched the audience.

Further successes of Segovia were facilitated by the atmosphere of Renasimiento, a movement for the revival of folk traditions in the music and culture of Spain. Over the next six years, the guitarist won recognition for his instrument not only in the concert halls of Madrid and Barcelona, ​​but also in other cities of Spain. To this must be added the success of two touring trips to South America in 1919 and 1921.

The main problem that Segovia seeks to solve is the creation of an original professional repertoire. He made creative contacts with other musicians and personally approached many composers with requests. Manuel de Falla, responding to his request, wrote the play "In Memory of Debussy". Federico Moreno Torroba - dances, nocturnes, plays, preludes, "Castilian suite", "Castilian concert". In 1919, Segovia transcribed Albeniz's piano piece "The Legend" for a truly legendary future.

20s were the time of birth new era in the art of guitar and the beginning of the world recognition of Segovia. Each performance of Segovia was perceived as a miracle, as a discovery of something new. He strove to overcome stereotypes and establish the guitar as a solo instrument.

Andres Segovia and guitar conquer Paris, London, Buenos Aires. In 1928, on the day when the seventh concert in Buenos Aires was supposed to take place, at the same hour opposite he gave a concert worldwide famous pianist Arthur Rubinstein, at all previous performances of which, as well as at the concerts of Segovia, the halls were overcrowded. But fears about the "duel" of the guitar with the piano were in vain: the constantly hanging signs near the halls where Rubinstein and Segovia performed, said: "there are no empty seats."

If in the 20s the name of the great guitarist was associated with the birth of a new art, then in the 30s he could rightfully be called the creator of the guitar art of the twentieth century. His noble goal was to elevate the guitar, and only a highly artistic professional repertoire could provide a worthy place for the guitar. Segovia did not stop searching for new compositions, turning to various composers. Moreno Torroba, Pablo Casals, Joaquin Rodrigo, Federico Mompu, Gaspar Cassado, Manuel Ponce, Vila Lobos and many other composers from Europe and America responded to his requests. Many did not compose for guitar before meeting Segovia. Thanks to Segovia, the guitar class has been introduced in most of the conservatories and music schools in the world. Since 1955, he worked with students in the picturesque Italian city Siena, and then taught in Santiago de Compostela, a medieval city in Spain (in Galicia), where, since 1958, two-week festivals called "Music in Compostela" began to be organized for the entertainment of wealthy tourists, the main purpose of which was to promote the Spanish ancient and modern music. The organizers of the festival attracted Segovia to participate in them, which began to conduct classes here for students. The room where they were held - Big hall with stone vaults - reminiscent of a church or a monastery. Silence, the austere architecture of a feudal castle with its courtyards, fragrant roses, walls covered with climbing grapes. In this environment, each instruction of the authoritative musician was perceived with almost religious trepidation, and the lessons were remembered for a lifetime.

Guitar by Hermann Hauser, 1937, Munich, Germany. Concert guitar of Andres Segovia "s from 1937 until 1962. Gift of Emilita Segovia, Marquesa of Salobrena, 1986 (1986.353.1). Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

BIOGRAPHIES OF GUITARISTS - COMPOSERS (classics)

SEGOVIA ANDRES

SEGOVIA Andres (1893-1987) - an outstanding Spanish guitarist and teacher. As a child, he studied piano, violin and cello, at the same time he independently studied guitar. He was helped by listening to folk music, playing flamenco and studying music literature. In 1909, the first concert of Segovia took place, but world fame came to him in 1924, after a concert in Paris. A. Segovia's playing is marked by exceptional virtuoso skill, depth of interpretation; he expanded the technical and expressive capabilities of the guitar, introduced classical and modern music into the repertoire (many works in his own arrangements), raised guitar performance to a high artistic level. For Segovia, the works of J. Turina, J. de Manen, A. Roussel, M. Castelnuovo-Tedesco, S. Scott, E. Vila-Lobos, A. Tansman and others were written and dedicated to him.
Segovia is one of the few concertists whose performance critics could not find flaws in. On the contrary, each subsequent performance of the artist revealed new merits of his playing, which is associated both with his outstanding talent and with the intense daily work to improve his skills.
Three times, in 1926, 1927, 1935-1936, he came to the USSR and gave concerts with invariable success in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev and Odessa. Segovia performed not only with concerts, but also met with local guitarists, listened to their play, conducted methodological talks and open lessons. This also affected the development of the guitar art in the Soviet Union: after the tour, many professional musicians began to look at the guitar as an instrument worthy of serious study. The consequence was the opening of guitar classes in music schools (then technical schools), as well as in some music universities... Segovia has trained a brilliant galaxy of guitarists - D. Williams, D. Brim (Great Britain), A. Diaz (Venezuela), J. Thomas (Spain), K. Parkening (USA), M. Gasbarroni (Italy) and others. Activities of Andres Segovia acquired such a scale because at the very beginning of his musical career, he considered the guitar as one of the components of the entire musical culture as a whole. With his help, the old and new literature for the guitar was revived, he interested professional musicians and composers with the guitar, which led to an increase in interest in the art of playing the classical guitar. His musical activity is considered and appreciated as an outstanding event of the twentieth century. In Venice, Segovia was awarded the most honorable prize - "A life dedicated to art".
The vigorous activity of the concert artist did not prevent Segovia from teaching guitar lessons in Santiago de Compostela, at the Quijan Academy of Music in Siena, at the University of Berkeley. At the same time, he enriches the repertoire with guitar transcriptions of works by famous composers, as well as pieces for lute and vihuela.
A special merit of Segovia in the field of repertoire is the fact that he managed to convince many composers to abandon the well-established negative stereotypes in their views on the guitar and turn them to writing compositions for this instrument.

SEGOVIA Andres (1893-1987) - an outstanding Spanish guitarist and teacher. As a child, he studied piano, violin and cello, at the same time he independently studied guitar. He was helped by listening to folk music, playing flamenco and studying music literature. In 1909, the first concert of Segovia took place, but world fame came to him in 1924, after a concert in Paris. Segovia's playing is marked by exceptional virtuoso skill, depth of interpretation; he expanded the technical and expressive capabilities of the guitar, introduced classical and modern music into his repertoire (many works in his own arrangements), raised guitar performance to a high artistic level. For Segovia, the works of J. Turina, J. de Manet, A. Roussel, M. Castelnuovo-Tedesco, S. Scott, E. Vil Lobos, A. Tansman and others were written and dedicated to him.

Segovia is one of the few concertists whose performance critics could not find flaws in. On the contrary, each subsequent performance of the artist revealed new merits of his playing, which is associated both with his outstanding talent and with the intense daily work to improve his skills.

Andres Segovia toured the Soviet Union with success in 1926, 1927 and 1936, and again - in December 1929 - was passing through the USSR, returning home by train along the Trans-Siberian Railway after touring Japan and China. In the USSR, he gave concerts with invariable success in Moscow, Leningrad, Kharkov, Kiev, Odessa and several other cities of the country. Segovia performed not only with concerts, but also met with local guitarists, listened to their play, conducted methodological talks and open lessons. This also affected the development of the guitar art in the Soviet Union: after the tour, many professional musicians began to look at the guitar as an instrument worthy of serious study. The consequence was the opening of guitar classes in music schools (then technical schools), as well as in individual music universities. An ardent adherent of Segovia was PS Agafoshin, who was the first in the USSR to create the Six-String Guitar School, based on the methodological guidelines of the outstanding guitarist. Thus, Andres Segovia was not only an artist, but also an active promoter of his instrument.

While in the USSR, A. Segovia also showed interest in young guitarists, conducted open lessons with them. On March 27, 1927, he gave a concert especially for young Leningraders - students of P.I. Isakov. Segovia's communication with young guitarists continued in 1936, during his visit to Leningrad, as evidenced by photographs of the Spanish artist with students of V. I. Yashnev.

A. Segovia with V. I. Yashnev's students
In the bottom row, Vil Belilnikov, second from the right, on the left in the bottom row, Liliana Sedletskaya.

A. Segovia with V. I. Yashnev and his students
To the right of Segovia - Vil Belilnikov, to the left - Liliana Sedletskaya; behind Segovia is Vasily Ivanovich Yashnev.
Leningrad, hotel "European", 1936

Segovia has trained a brilliant galaxy of guitarists - D. Williams, Julian Brim (Great Britain), Alirio Diaz (Venezuela), Jose Tomas (Spain), K. Parkening (USA), M. Gasbarroni (Italy) and others. The activity of Andres Segovia acquired such a scale because at the very beginning of his musical career he considered the guitar as one of the components of the entire musical culture as a whole. With his help, the old and new literature for the guitar was revived, he interested professional musicians and composers with the guitar, which led to an increase in interest in the art of playing the classical guitar. His musical activity is considered and appreciated as an outstanding event of the twentieth century. In Venice, Segovia was awarded the most honorable prize - "A life dedicated to art".

The vigorous activity of the concert artist did not prevent Segovia from teaching guitar courses in Santiago de Compostela, at the Quijan Academy of Music in Siena, at the University of Berkeley. At the same time, he enriches the repertoire with guitar transcriptions of works by famous composers, as well as pieces for lute and vihuela.

A special merit of Segovia in the field of repertoire is the fact that he managed to convince many composers to abandon the well-established negative stereotypes in their views on the guitar and turn them to writing compositions for this instrument.

Formulating the goals of his work, Segovia wrote: “I have dedicated my life to four main tasks:

separation of the guitar from the thoughtless amusements of the folk-lore type;

providing her with a high quality repertoire, composed of compositions that have great importance in music and penned composers, usually writing for orchestra, piano, violin, etc .;

bringing the beauty of the guitar sound to the philharmonic audience around the world;

“My whole being was seized with indescribable happiness when I started playing the guitar, because the sound in the bass was deep and sweet, and at the top it was quivering and trembling. And her accent, her soul in her voice was expressed firmly and convincingly. I forgot about everything in the world except the guitar. "

Spain seemed to have been gathering strength for centuries to create such a giant as Segovia. Segovia could not have been born outside of Spain, because this is where the guitar was born. When asked, "When did you start playing guitar?" - Segovia replied: "Before I was born."

Andres Segovia was born in Andalusia, in the city of Linares, on February 21, 1893, and a few weeks later the family moved to Jaén. The wonderful art of improvisation by the folk guitarists of Andalusia and the distinctive culture of this ancient land greatly influenced his attitude to the world.

In his autobiography, Segovia described meeting his first guitar teacher:

“One day a flamenco guitarist came to our house. At the first strong rasgeado, I jumped off my chair and fell. But when he started playing beautiful folk melodies, I was captured.
- Do you want to learn how to play? - he asked. I nodded in agreement. "

In 1910, the first public concert of A. Segovia, organized by his friends, took place in the "Artistic Center" of Granada.

"On the way to the stage (my friend was carrying the guitar), an old flutist came up to me:
- Do you know the guitarist who will play now?
I smiled and said:
- Well known: we are close friends.
- Is he talented?
- Not at all. Now you will hear for yourself.
He was surprised by my unkind characterization of a close friend and asked:
- Do you envy him? - And with hostility, turning away from me, he entered the hall. But after the concert the flutist came to hug me and said:
"Indeed, your friend deserves both my congratulations and your envy."

Segovia's first significant success was with Seville. Inspired by success, he began to dream of a concert in the capital, however, the first performance did not bring the desired success.

In 1915, Segovia met a guitarist Miguel Llobet, thanks to which he managed to give a concert in Barcelona in January 1916. However, they did not seek to let the guitar into large halls. She was not a popular instrument, and everyone believed that the power of her sound was insufficient, and she simply would not be heard in a large room.

A turn in the fate of the guitar was a concert at the Palau Palace of Chamber Music in Barcelona, ​​where Andrés Segovia finally received permission to perform. The beauty of the acoustic guitar sound literally bewitched the listeners.

Further successes of Segovia were facilitated by the atmosphere of Renasimiento, a movement for the revival of folk traditions in the music and culture of Spain. Over the next six years, the guitarist won recognition for his instrument not only in the concert halls of Madrid and Barcelona, ​​but also in other cities of Spain. To this must be added the success of two touring trips to South America in 1919 and 1921.

The main problem that Segovia seeks to solve is the creation of an original professional repertoire. He made creative contacts with other musicians and personally approached many composers with requests. Manuel de Falla, responding to his request, wrote a play "In memory of Debussy". Federico Moreno Torroba - dances, nocturnes, plays, preludes, "Castilian Suite", "Castilian Concert"... In 1919 Segovia transcribed a piano piece Albeniza "Legend" that a truly legendary future awaited.

The 1920s marked the birth of a new era in the art of guitar and the beginning of the world recognition of Segovia. Each performance of Segovia was perceived as a miracle, as a discovery of something new. He strove to overcome stereotypes and establish the guitar as a solo instrument.

Andres Segovia and guitar conquer Paris, London, Buenos Aires. In 1928, on the day when the seventh concert in Buenos Aires was to take place, at the same hour the world famous pianist was giving a concert opposite Arthur Rubinstein, at all previous performances of which, as well as at the concerts of Segovia, the halls were overcrowded. But fears about the "duel" of the guitar with the piano were in vain: the constantly hanging signs near the halls where Rubinstein and Segovia performed, said: "there are no empty seats."

If in the 20s the name of the great guitarist was associated with the birth of a new art, then in the 30s he could rightfully be called the creator of the guitar art of the twentieth century. His noble goal was to elevate the guitar, and only a highly artistic professional repertoire could provide a worthy place for the guitar. Segovia did not stop searching for new compositions, turning to various composers. Moreno Torroba, Pablo Casals, Joaquin Rodrigo, Federico Mompu, Gaspar Cassado, Manuel Ponce, Vila Lobos and many other composers from Europe and America responded to his requests. Many did not compose for guitar before meeting Segovia. Thanks to Segovia, the guitar class has been introduced in most of the conservatories and music schools in the world. Since 1955, he studied with students in the picturesque Italian city of Siena, and then taught in Santiago de Compostela, a medieval city in Spain (in Galicia), where, since 1958, two-week festivals called "Music in Compostela", whose main purpose was to promote Spanish early and modern music. The organizers of the festival attracted Segovia to participate in them, which began to conduct classes here for students. The room where they were held - a large hall with stone vaults - resembled a church or a monastery. Silence, the austere architecture of a feudal castle with its courtyards, fragrant roses, walls covered with climbing grapes. In this environment, each instruction of the authoritative musician was perceived with almost religious trepidation, and the lessons were remembered for a lifetime.

In the history of Spain, there was no artist who so actively promoted Spanish music around the world. Once, explaining why the guitar is the favorite instrument in Spain, Andres Segovia said that one Spaniard is already a whole society, just like one guitar is a whole orchestra!

See also:

Vladimir Bobri about some of the techniques of Andres Segovia (Summary based on the book by M. Weisbord "Andres Segovia", M., Muzyka, 1981)

Denis Kolvakh "Technique of Segovia"

A collection of materials about Segovia, containing the most significant publications about him in the Soviet press and literature (many of which are presented in photocopies of the originals), read in a special issue of our electronic journal "History of Guitar in Faces" (2012, No. 3) - "Segovia in the Soviet press and literature ".

DISCOGRAPHY

Centenary Celebration

Complete 1949 London Recordings

EMI Recodings Volumes 1 and 2

• Poet of the Guitar

• Segovia Collection

  1. Ponce, Rodrigo, Torroba

     My Favorite Works

     Purcell, Scarlatti, Handel, Bach, Frescobaldi

     Five Centuries of the Spanish Guitar

  2. Castelnuovo-Tecesco

Short spanish pieces

Styles to which the artist can be attributed:Jazz, Instrumental music, Acoustic music, Classical music, Heavy metal, Guitar music, Classic rock, Latin, Classic, Baroque, Flamenco

Andres Torres Segovia (Spanish Andrés Torres Segovia, since 1981 with the addition of the title of Marquis de Salobreña, Spanish marqués de Salobreña; February 21, 1893, Linares - June 3, 1987, Madrid) - Spanish guitarist, considered the father of modern academic guitar.

Since childhood, Segovia dreamed of making the guitar an equally recognized instrument in the field academic music like a piano or violin. He began to learn to play the guitar from childhood with his relatives, inspired as an example by the virtuoso technique of flamenco guitarists. As a teenager, Segovia moved to the city of Granada, where he took guitar lessons, and at the age of 16 he gave his first concert in Madrid, performing transcriptions of various works made for guitar by Francisco Tarrega and his own transcriptions by Johann Sebastian Bach. Segovia's early performances were greeted with coolness, in part due to the fact that his performing technique was markedly different from that of Tarrega and most of his students: following Miguel Llobet (who, perhaps, Segovia managed to get some lessons from), he played using more than just pads fingers, but also nails, which makes the sound stronger and sharper (there is a point of view that this difference is due to the desire of Segovia to take the guitar out of living rooms and salons in large concert halls).

Since the mid-1910s. Segovia's mastery of performance won more and more acclaim for the academic guitar in Spain. In 1919 and 1921. took place his first tour in South America, and in 1928 - the first trip to the USA. Constantly expanding his guitar repertoire (this was one of the main merits of this musician), Segovia shifted for guitar wide circle works by various authors - including such outstanding and complex works as "The Legend" by Isaac Albeniz and<<Чакона>> Bach. At the same time, Segovia turned to contemporary composers with a request to write for the guitar, and over time, Spanish, as well as European and Latin American composers (F. Moreno Torroba, J. Turin, M. Castelnuovo-Tedesco, M. Ponce, etc.) began to respond. It turned out to be long creative community Segovia and Heitor Villa-Lobos, who wrote a number of works for the famous guitarist, starting with the famous "Twelve Etudes".

Since the mid-1950s. Segovia taught extensively - first in Siena and then in Santiago de Compostela, where he also contributed a lot to the creation of the local music festival... Among his students there are many outstanding modern guitarists (D. Williams, D. Brim, A. Dias, K. Parkening, etc.)

In 1958, Segovia won the Grammy Award for Best Recording of Solo Academic Music.

In 1981, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, in recognition of the merits of Segovia to Spanish culture, elevated him to the nobility with the title of marquis. In 1985 Segovia was awarded the most prestigious award in the world of academic music - the Ernst Siemens Prize.

Until a ripe old age, Andres Segovia continued concert and teaching activities... More than seventy years lasted creative way this great artist!

Andres Torres Segovia (Spanish Andrés Torres Segovia, since 1981 with the addition of the title of Marquis de Salobreña, Spanish marqués de Salobreña; February 21, 1893, Linares - June 3, 1987, Madrid) - Spanish guitarist, considered the father of modern academic guitar.

Since childhood, Segovia dreamed of making the guitar as recognized in the field of academic music as the piano or violin. He began to learn to play the guitar from childhood with his relatives, inspired as an example by the virtuoso technique of flamenco guitarists. As a teenager, Segovia moved to the city of Granada, where he took guitar lessons, and at the age of 16 he gave his first concert in Madrid, performing transcriptions of various works made for guitar by Francisco Tarrega, and his own transcriptions by Johann Sebastian Bach. Segovia's early performances were greeted with coolness, in part due to the fact that his performing technique was markedly different from that of Tarrega and most of his students: following Miguel Llobet (who, perhaps, Segovia managed to get some lessons from), he played using more than just pads fingers, but also nails, which makes the sound stronger and sharper (there is a point of view that this difference is due to the desire of Segovia to take the guitar out of living rooms and salons in large concert halls).

Since the mid-1910s. Segovia's mastery of performance won more and more acclaim for the academic guitar in Spain. In 1919 and 1921. took place his first tour in South America, and in 1928 - the first trip to the United States. Constantly expanding his guitar repertoire (this was one of the main merits of this musician), Segovia transposed a wide range of compositions for guitar by different authors - including such outstanding and complex works as "The Legend" by Isaac Albeniz and> Bach. At the same time, Segovia turned to contemporary composers with a request to write for the guitar, and over time, Spanish, as well as European and Latin American composers (F. Moreno Torroba, J. Turin, M. Castelnuovo-Tedesco, M. Ponce, etc.) began to respond. The creative collaboration of Segovia with Heitor Villa-Lobos, who wrote a number of works for the famous guitarist, starting with the famous "Twelve Etudes", turned out to be long-lasting.

Since the mid-1950s. Segovia taught extensively - first in Siena and then in Santiago de Compostela, where he also contributed a lot to the creation of a local music festival. Among his students there are many outstanding modern guitarists (D. Williams, D. Brim, A. Dias, K. Parkening, etc.)

In 1958, Segovia won the Grammy Award for Best Recording of Solo Academic Music.

In 1981, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, in recognition of the merits of Segovia to Spanish culture, elevated him to the nobility with the title of marquis. In 1985 Segovia was awarded the most prestigious award in the world of academic music - the Ernst Siemens Prize.

Until a ripe old age, Andres Segovia continued his concert and teaching activities. The creative path of this great artist lasted more than seventy years!