With their dark and melancholy mixture of dissonance and cello-like phrasing, Villa-Lobos' compositions in particular, seemed to fit the guitar perfectly. Composers such as Heitor Villa-Lobos began to compose original pieces specifically for the guitar. Segovia, and the classical guitar had arrived.Īs Segovia traveled the world, he and the guitar became more and more popular. His rousing success in New York led to offers for more appearances in America and Europe, and a trip to the Orient in 1929. Again he overwhelmed the audience with his technique and musicianship, and converted more dissenters to the classical guitar. Segovia's quest lead him to America in 1928 for his first concert in New York. With the advent of Nylon strings, the guitar could produce more consistent tones, while also being able to project the sound much farther. Over the coming years, Segovia would perfect his technique and push luthiers to experiment with new woods and designs, which could increase the natural amplification of the guitar. The only problem he had, was that the guitar could not produce enough sound to fill the hall. Many so called "serious" musicians believed that Segovia would be laughed off of the stage, because the guitar could not play classical music. His original program included transcriptions from Tárrega, as well as his own transcriptions of Bach and others.
ANDRES SEGOVIA ASTURIAS ALBUM PROFESSIONAL
Segovia gave his first public concert in Spain at the age of, with his professional debut at the age of twenty in Madrid. He followed it through to the end no one can argue that he didnt succeed far above and beyond. His plan was threefoldto present the guitar to the concert-going public as a serious virtuosos instrument, to establish a pedagogical system for the instruction of the instrument on the university level and to build a repertoire for the classical guitar through his own careful and stylish transcriptions of Bach, Scarlatti and others as well as to persuade prominent modern composers to craft new music for the instrument. He dreamed of a day when the guitar would share the concert and recital stage on an equal footing with the piano and the violin. They told him it wasnt respectable. This hardened his resolve to both master the instrument on his part as well as to legitimize it to the music world and the world at large. Young Segovias family attempted to dissuade him from throwing his life away on a humble instrument. Segovia's career got its start when his uncle introduced the four year old Andres to the guitar through folk songs sung to a strummed air guitar. The boy showed a deep interest and was transported forthwith to the local luthier. Without his untiring work to promote the instrument through his ambassadorship of the guitar, it would still be considered a folk instrument. Indeed, his efforts can to still be felt in the nearly two decades (as of this writing) since his death. Andrés Segovia (1893-1987) is the father of the twentieth centurys classical guitar renaissance.