Invocación

By Mattias Schulstad

Spring 2020, Stockholm

It is now almost a decade since I recorded Invocación, an album based on the idea that the Spanish composer Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909) was deeply influenced by the music of Frederic Chopin. Produced by David Frost, Invocación has proven successful – chosen as Album of the Week by both Classic FM in London and WQXR in New York, and played on radio stations throughout the world. It has now been rereleased by my own label with updated sound and new cover art. I welcome any thoughts and inquiries at info@mattiasguitar.com.

Tárrega is recognized today as a founding composer for the modern classical guitar. His steady use of guitars made by Antonio de Torres (1817-1892, Spanish) helped standardize the design and sound qualities of the instrument we know today and his pupils carried forth his ambitious ideas about its possibilities.

So what was this young Spaniard doing writing mazurkas, a regional Polish dance popularized by Chopin?

Tárrega made transcriptions of works by Bach, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Wagner. But what makes his Chopin transcriptions stand out are their effect on his original work. Tárrega adopted several of Chopin's compositional formats, not only mazurkas, but preludes and waltzes, too. And he wrote pieces that weren’t called nocturnes, but that function like nocturnes.

Among Tárrega’s pupils were Emilio Pujol (1886-1980) and Miguel Llobet (1878-1938); Barcelona served as common ground. The city was home for many years to Tárrega and Pujol, and it was the place of birth for Llobet. Llobet made arrangements of Catalan traditionals, which show another facet of Tárrega’s cultural framework. The arrangements are sparse and exposed, and allow the guitar to sing. By contrast, the original music of Pujol is rhythmic and dance-like.

Tags: Classical Music, Late Romantic Period, Classical Guitar, Tárrega (composer), Chopin (composer), Pujol (composer), Llobet (arranger), Schulstad (artist, co-arranger).