Joaquín Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez for Guitar and Orchestra, Narciso Yepes

Concierto de Aranjuez for Guitar and Orchestra, Narciso Yepes, Philharmonia Orchestra, Luis Antonio García Navarro Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez (22 November 1901 – 6 July 1999), commonly known as Joaquín Rodrigo, was a Spanish composer and a virtuoso pianist. Rodrigo’s music is among the most popular music of the 20th century. In particular, his Concierto de Aranjuez is considered one of the pinnacles of Spanish music and of the guitar concerto repertoire. Written in 1939 in Paris, it is far and away Rodrigo’s best-known work, and its success established his reputation as one of the most significant Spanish composers of the twentieth century. Rodrigo and his wife Victoria stayed silent for many years about the inspiration for the second movement. In her autobiography, Victoria declared that it was both an evocation of the happy days of their honeymoon and a response to Rodrigo’s devastation at the miscarriage of their first pregnancy.