Manuel de Falla. Composer.
“I thank the Lord for having in you a friend whose heart is of the same rare and fine quality as his art.”
Sir Neville Marriner. Orchestra conductor.
“On reading Joaquín Rodrigo’s reflections on his own works, I feel somewhat more reassured in some of the decisions I have taken when interpreting
what the composer wanted to transmit. Performing his music has led me to understand Rodrigo, the composer. And now I perceive Rodrigo,
the man.”
Plácido Domingo. Tenor.
“The Spanish composer most recognized today throughout the world. Concierto de Aranjuez remains the best known of his works, but there are other extraordinary ones for different instruments, whether it be the guitar, or certainly the harp or for voice. All that he wrote is extraordinary.
Let me express the great affection and love that we felt and continue to feel for the Maestro and the great admiration that he awakens around the world.”
Xavier Montsalvage. Composer.
“Joaquín Rodrigo figures among those composers who have obtained a success that is so overwhelming it has overshadowed and has undermined the dissemination of the rest of his production. As we are all aware, this is the very famous Concierto de Aranjuez, whose premiere I had the luck to attend, and which undoubtedly deserves its boom, but which holds values that are not exclusive to this emblematic score.”
Montserrat Caballé. Soprano.
“Eternal legacy. The music of Rodrigo is creative, innovative, profound, as much in its Spanish facet as in its medieval aspect. Personally I am very grateful. He was a genius who left a unique heritage.”
Narciso Yepes. Guitarist.
“Joaquín Rodrigo is one of the pillars of the Spanish music of the 20th century. He is an admired and respected composer on the five continents, which as a Spaniard, fills me with pride.”
Victoria de los Ángeles. Soprano.
“Joaquín Rodrigo is a monument of the music of Spain. He deserves so many things. The prizes and the medals in themselves are nothing, and yet they are many things. I have all the affection and admiration for him in the world. I consider him a monument of Spanish music, a unique man who left his mark on a whole period. I also admire him greatly as a person. He has lived his life in an extraordinary manner. He overcame his small handicap and was gifted in music. His works are very personal. They are recognized immediately
on hearing them. He is outstanding for his personal and unmistakable style.”
Cristóbal Halffter. Composer and orchestra conductor.
“With his example, he showed us in postwar Madrid, characterized by a total provincialism of the lowest form, that it was possible to imagine and make music that would fly high, and that we too one day could be composers and try to create music that was superior without having to emigrate or take a vow of poverty. What is most important is the profound respect and admiration which the process he used to compose his works produced in me. Only he who knows the difficulty in reflecting music graphically on a score, and the difficulty in imagining a sound or group of sounds that are developed in time and transferring them to a visible score can comprehend the enormous complexity of this task when it is undertaken by a person who cannot see how it sounds, or what came previously or what will happen later in a work. To carry out this job without being able to materialize it in
a graphic manner is a gigantic task which only someone gifted with exceptional talent such as Joaquín Rodrigo is capable of performing.
It is not only creation that is difficult, but making it possible for a performer to interpret that creation and bring it to life before an audience. Well, I began to write about a friend, a colleague, one who is loved and admired and I realize I am writing about a man who has entered history.”
Walter Clark. Musicologist and Director of the Center for Iberian and Latin American Music at the University of California at Riverside.
“What is the reason for this book? Why now? The majority of the biographies found on Rodrigo were written for the general public and as a consequence do not offer a profound study of his music. For this reason, one of the main goals of this biography is, for the first time in history, to focus great attention on the originality, variety and the depth of the music of Rodrigo.”
Yehudi Menuhin. Violinist.
“It is wonderful to think that the Spanish will long be reminded of their character, their qualities of thought, of feelings and being, through the music of Joaquín Rodrigo.”
“I thank the Lord for having in you a friend whose heart is of the same rare and fine quality as his art.”
Sir Neville Marriner. Orchestra conductor.
“On reading Joaquín Rodrigo’s reflections on his own works, I feel somewhat more reassured in some of the decisions I have taken when interpreting
what the composer wanted to transmit. Performing his music has led me to understand Rodrigo, the composer. And now I perceive Rodrigo,
the man.”
Plácido Domingo. Tenor.
“The Spanish composer most recognized today throughout the world. Concierto de Aranjuez remains the best known of his works, but there are other extraordinary ones for different instruments, whether it be the guitar, or certainly the harp or for voice. All that he wrote is extraordinary.
Let me express the great affection and love that we felt and continue to feel for the Maestro and the great admiration that he awakens around the world.”
Xavier Montsalvage. Composer.
“Joaquín Rodrigo figures among those composers who have obtained a success that is so overwhelming it has overshadowed and has undermined the dissemination of the rest of his production. As we are all aware, this is the very famous Concierto de Aranjuez, whose premiere I had the luck to attend, and which undoubtedly deserves its boom, but which holds values that are not exclusive to this emblematic score.”
Montserrat Caballé. Soprano.
“Eternal legacy. The music of Rodrigo is creative, innovative, profound, as much in its Spanish facet as in its medieval aspect. Personally I am very grateful. He was a genius who left a unique heritage.”
Narciso Yepes. Guitarist.
“Joaquín Rodrigo is one of the pillars of the Spanish music of the 20th century. He is an admired and respected composer on the five continents, which as a Spaniard, fills me with pride.”
Victoria de los Ángeles. Soprano.
“Joaquín Rodrigo is a monument of the music of Spain. He deserves so many things. The prizes and the medals in themselves are nothing, and yet they are many things. I have all the affection and admiration for him in the world. I consider him a monument of Spanish music, a unique man who left his mark on a whole period. I also admire him greatly as a person. He has lived his life in an extraordinary manner. He overcame his small handicap and was gifted in music. His works are very personal. They are recognized immediately
on hearing them. He is outstanding for his personal and unmistakable style.”
Cristóbal Halffter. Composer and orchestra conductor.
“With his example, he showed us in postwar Madrid, characterized by a total provincialism of the lowest form, that it was possible to imagine and make music that would fly high, and that we too one day could be composers and try to create music that was superior without having to emigrate or take a vow of poverty. What is most important is the profound respect and admiration which the process he used to compose his works produced in me. Only he who knows the difficulty in reflecting music graphically on a score, and the difficulty in imagining a sound or group of sounds that are developed in time and transferring them to a visible score can comprehend the enormous complexity of this task when it is undertaken by a person who cannot see how it sounds, or what came previously or what will happen later in a work. To carry out this job without being able to materialize it in
a graphic manner is a gigantic task which only someone gifted with exceptional talent such as Joaquín Rodrigo is capable of performing.
It is not only creation that is difficult, but making it possible for a performer to interpret that creation and bring it to life before an audience. Well, I began to write about a friend, a colleague, one who is loved and admired and I realize I am writing about a man who has entered history.”
Walter Clark. Musicologist and Director of the Center for Iberian and Latin American Music at the University of California at Riverside.
“What is the reason for this book? Why now? The majority of the biographies found on Rodrigo were written for the general public and as a consequence do not offer a profound study of his music. For this reason, one of the main goals of this biography is, for the first time in history, to focus great attention on the originality, variety and the depth of the music of Rodrigo.”
Yehudi Menuhin. Violinist.
“It is wonderful to think that the Spanish will long be reminded of their character, their qualities of thought, of feelings and being, through the music of Joaquín Rodrigo.”
