To understand the importance of classical guitars in both Spain and Latin America, we need to understand the history of the instrument. During the Renaissance era, the values of expression through art were rapidly developing and so did the guitars. Spain was the first country to start making the blueprints for our modern guitars. During the 15th-16th century, the Spaniards had came up with a stringed instrument called the vihuela. This instrument had six to seven double strings with a body that some described as a lute with a flat back. The vihuela is one of the closest ancestors of our modern guitar with the other being the Baroque guitar. As Europe advanced through the six musical periods, newer models of the guitar were being constructed each with unique physical features that helped enchance the instrument's sound output. Since Spain was the largest contributer to the develepment of the modern classical guitar, the terms "classical guitar" and "Spanish guitar" are almost interchangable.
Now that we have a better understanding of the instrument, we can start looking into how the guitar contributed to Latin American music. Prior to the Spanish conquests of the Americas, the Natives used rattles, drums, and early forms of the flute for their cultural ceremonies. However, with the introduction of European imperialism in America, came the Spanish conquistadors, and with them, they brought musical instruments such as the vihuelas and chordophones. These intruments rapidly gained popularity among the few remaining Natives who survived the European conquests and started incorperating them into their own cultures; redesigning and making new variants to fit their needs. Also, the African slaves who were forced into Latin America due to the Atlantic Slave Trade contributed a lot to the develepment of Latin American music. Prior to their enslavement, the Africans played drums and bells for their rituals, enabling them to develope sophisticated rhythms that eventually blended with Latin American music once they arrived there. The tweaking of guitars in Latin America combined with the introduction of African cultures has greatly contributed to the Latin American music we hear today.
The melodious nature of European music compounded with the complex rythmic nature of the Natives and Africans merged to give birth to a new style of music exclusive to Latin America. It was common for Spanish composers to write pieces in simple meter but in Latin America, most of their music were usually composed in compound meter. The sophisctaed meters and the Native American's culture contributed to the development of popular Latino dances such as the Zamba, Tango, and Joropo; each with their unique swings and twists. As the world experienced technological advancements during the Romantic period (1830-1900), the line between Latino and Spanish music began to dissipate. During the Romantic period, travel between the Iberian Peninusla and South America became more effecient, thus promoting musicans from Spain and Portugal to study in Latin America and vice versa. The Romantic period also shed light to the Latin American composers because many of Iberia's American colonies gained their independence during the Napoleonic wars. Their independence from the Iberian Peninusla combined with the developments in transportations allowed the works of Latino composers to become more recognized. In the later section, we will be analyzing some classical guitar music from both regions so we can see and hear the similarities and differences between the two continent's music.
The name of the piece, Capricho Árabe roughly translates to Arabian Caprice in Spanish. This piece expresses Spain's history of being ruled by the Arabs for around 700 years (711 - 1492), which explains the music's arabesque nature. The piece begins with a d minor chord without the third played in harmonics, mimicking the sound of a bell to signal the beginning of the story or music. It then goes into an improvational-like section that help lead us into the main motif/melody of the music starting in measure 11. The motif is at first presented in the key of d minor which leads the listener to feel a sense of melancholy or sorrow. Some reflect the minor melody to Spain's turbulent history under Moorish rule, but the sorrowful aura also adds to the 'Arabic atmosphere'. This sense of despair persists until the beginning of measure 32 where the music modulates to its parallel major key: D major. At this point of the music, the mood shifts to a more joyful state where the overall tempo and dynamics become more lively and spritoso. However, the joy doesn't last long as the piece reverts back to it's original d minor key where the melody from measure 11 through 20 is repeated. The piece ends with a similar set of harmonics from the beginning but instead of it starting the piece, it leaves us with a question that is then resolved by a complete d minor chord, bringing the piece to a woefull ending.
The Capricho Árabe is one of the most recognized music of the Spanish guitar due to its use of glissandos, harmonics, and delicate harmonies that help bring out the emotional nature of Spanish music. During Tarrega's time, Europe was experiencing the era of Romanticism; when there was a great emphasis on intense emotions being the source of free expression and the sentiments of the artist. These intense emotions were often conveyed by changing the mood or feeling throughout the music. What makes music desirable to listen to in the first place is its emotional mood swings it offers to the listener. If the listener is not emotionlly moved by the music, then either the musician or the music has failed to serve their purpose. In Capricho Árabe, the picece starts with an improvisational intro that establishes a sense of 'uncertainty' or 'mysteriousness', it then shifts us into a moving somber melody and modulates into more 'hopeful' melody that eventually returns to its original minor melody. These changes in mood makes the music sound 'interesting' because there is a story that can be interpretated based off the atmosphere the music sets. The idea of emotional drama can be amplified by incorporating other techniques such as glissandos and playing it more tasto or ponticello. These techniques were commonly used by Spanish composers as they were the masters of the classical guitar and knew how to convey emotions through the instrument better than anyone else. Every audience can interprerate the music in their own way and this idea is emphaized in the Romantic era; the value of individulism and the freedom to feel and express however you desire.
The Joropo is final piece of a larger suite containing six other movements that are mostly based off of popular Latino dances such as the Chacarera and the Zamba (listen to the composer perform the entire suite!). The Joropo begins with a series of unique tremolo-like picking patterns (scroll to the last page of the music for more details) giving the effect of two dancers greeting each other. We then hear the main melody of the piece starting in measure 6 along with the introduction of the 3/4 6/8 time signature change in addition to the increase in tempo. The melody switches back and forth between 3/4 and 6/8 creating a swingy and joyful mood where it then trails off into another idea at the end of the fifth system. However, these different ideas always return to the same main melody which then moves on to another idea, and then back to melody, and to another idea. This patttern persists many times due to the repeats but the piece ultimately ends with two E major chords, finishing the piece and the entire Suite del Recuerdo in a joyous state, reflecting the energy of the traditional Joropo dance.
Since the Joropo is derived from the waltz and the Fandango [link those terms], The rhythm of the Joropo is typically in 3/4, which this piece is in but it also alternates to 6/8 (two VERY different fractions in music terms, learn more!), making it a more rhytmically complex piece to dance and play. For example, from measure 6 through to the first repeat, every measure is constantly changing between 3/4 and 6/8, moving the strong beats to a new location in the measure, enchancing the rhymrhmic nature of the Latin American dance. The music also uses the guitar as a precussion instrument when the rests in the fourth page, second system are played by striking the strings to produce a "harsh noise which results from the contact of the strings with the fingerboard" (Explanation of Notation from Suite del Recuerdo). This untraditional way of playing the classical guitar adds to the rhythmic nature inspired by the Natives and Africans who contributed to the development of the Joropo.
[record this piece with repeats and proper counting when I feel like it]
The Recuerdos de la Alambra, translating to Memories of the Alhambra, recalls Tarrga's first impressions of when he first visited the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain. The entire piece is played with tremolo, allowing the piece to flow from phrase to phrase in a smooth and dreamy manner, complementing the recuerdos aspect of the music. This piece is similar to Tarrega's, Capricho Arabe, where both pieces have a minor section which modulates to their respective parallel major keys. However in Recuerdos de la Alhambra, the piece ends with an A major chord, concluding Tarrega's thoughts on the palace in a delightful manner in contrast to Capricho Arabe's d minor ending. The music goes through many key changes due to the abundant use of repetitions where it starts off in A minor, then goes to A major, then returns to A minor, and ends in A major. Theses changes in keys can be characterized with Tarrega's culture shock and emotions he experienced while touring the Moorish palace.
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The Bordel 1900 is one of the four pieces in Astor Piazzolla's Histoire du Tango where...
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Author: Kai Stokes