Download Aguado (y Garcia), Dionisio

Aguado (y Garcia), Dionisio
(b Madrid, 8 April 1784; d Madrid, 29 Dec 1849). Spanish guitarist and
composer. ‘Padre Basilio’ of Madrid, possibly Miguel Garcia, gave him his
first instruction in the guitar, an instrument for which tablature notation was
still commonly used in Spain. In about 1800 Aguado, like Fernando Sor, was
influenced by the Italian Federico Moretti and adopted the conventional staff
notation for the guitar; thereafter both Spaniards published their music in the
improved manner championed by Moretti, distinguishing the musical parts
by the direction of note stems, use of rests, etc. Aguado's artistic career
unfolded slowly, owing to the Napoleonic invasion of Spain and its
aftermath. He retreated to the village of Fuenlabrada in 1803, teaching and
perfecting his technique there until 1824, the year his mother died; his
Colección de estudios para guitarra appeared in Madrid in 1820. He moved
to Paris in 1825 (while Sor was in Russia) and immediately gained an
enviable reputation as a virtuoso and teacher; a revised version of his
Escuela de guitarra (Madrid, 1825) was translated into French by François
de Fossa as Méthode complète pour la guitare and published in Paris
(c1826). The last ten years of Aguado's life were apparently spent in Madrid,
where he revised his method (as Nuevo metodo para guitarra, 1843) and
devoted himself to teaching.
In the years before his final departure from Paris (1838), Aguado was in
close collaboration with Sor. They gave many concerts together, and Sor
dedicated a duet op.41, Les deux amis, to his younger colleague. They did
not agree on right-hand technique in guitar playing; Aguado recommended
the use of fingernails in plucking the strings for the sake of clarity, while Sor
advocated using the flesh of the fingertips for a mellower and more powerful
tone. But despite their differences, they greatly admired one another, Sor
gallantly ‘excusing’ Aguado's fingernail technique on account of the latter's
superb musicianship and skilled execution.
A complete catalogue of Aguado's compositions is not available.
According to Prat, he wrote several dozen studies, rondos, dances and
fantasias. His guitar method was extremely popular in the 19th century, and
was republished frequently, including a facsimile edition by Minkoff (Geneva,
1980). His subsequent Nuevo metodo para guitarra (Madrid, 1843) was
issued in English as New Guitar Method (London, 1981). Other facsimile
editions include The Selected Works of Dionisio Aguado, ed. S. Wynberg
(Monaco, 1981), and Selected Concert Works, ed. B. Jeffery (Heidelberg,
1990). Aguado is also known for the invention of the tripedisono, which
supported the guitar away from the performer's body.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
‘Aguado’, Encyclopédie pittoresque de la musique, ed. A. Ledhuy and
H. Bertini (Paris, 1835)
D. Prat: ‘Aguado’, Diccionario biografico de guitarristas (Buenos Aires,
1934/R)
E. Pujol: El dilema del sonido en la guitarra (Buenos Aires, 1934,
3/1971)
P. Cox: The Evolution of Playing Techniques of the Six-Stringed
Classic Guitar as Seen through Teaching Method Books from ca. 1780-ca.
1850 (diss., Indiana U., 1978)
B. Jeffery: ‘I metodi per chitarra di Dionisio Aguado’, Il Fronimo, no.30
(1980), 17–25
B. Jeffery: ‘La technica di unghia e polpastrello secondo Dionisio
Aguado’, Il Fronimo, no.33 (1980), 14–20
P. Cox: ‘Considerazioni sui primi metodi per chitarra’, Il Fronimo, no.34
(1981), 5–15
M. Ophee: ‘In difesa dei “due amici”’, Il Fronimo, no.36 (1981), 7–20
W. Moser: ‘Die Lehrwerke Aguados’, Gitarre & Laute vi/2 (1984), 13–
18; vi/3, 61–8; vi/4, 43–8
E. Stenstadvold: ‘I metodi per chitarra di Aguado: un mistero risolto?’,
Il Fronimo, no.70 (1990), 40–47