03 August 2012

Concierto de Aranjuez (the adagio movement)

The Concierto de Aranjuez is a composition for classical guitar and orchestra by the Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo. Written in 1939, it is probably Rodrigo's best-known work, and its success established his reputation as one of the most significant Spanish composers of the twentieth century...

The Concierto de Aranjuez was inspired by the gardens at Palacio Real de Aranjuez, the spring resort palace and gardens built by Philip II in the last half of the 16th century and rebuilt in the middle of the 18th century by Ferdinand VI...

Rodrigo, blind since age three, was a pianist. He did not play the guitar, yet he still managed to capture the spirit of the guitar in Spain... 
I'm in the process of transferring all the music I own to digital format, so this week I am bidding a fond farewell to this vinyl album, purchased at the time of its release in the early 1960s.
[Miles] Davis plays flugelhorn and later trumpet, attempting to connect the various settings musically. Davis commented at rehearsal, "The thing I have to do now is make things connect, make them mean something in what I play around it." Davis thought the concerto's adagio melody was "so strong" that "the softer you play it, the stronger it gets, and the stronger you play it, the weaker it gets", and [Gil] Evans concurred.

11 comments:

  1. Are you selling your vinyl?

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    1. I'll probably just give them to the local library (they don't circulate records, but they can add them to their book sale to raise money). I don't think these would be worth trying to sell on eBay, and I would guess shipping them to a buyer would be expensive and/or hazardous to their health.

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    2. Vinyl shipped properly is by no means damaging; this is of course, how most ebay purchases are done. You might be surprised at how much a well-kept, original Sketches of Spain could go for: http://www.popsike.com/php/quicksearch.php?searchtext=sketches+of+spain&x=0&y=0

      Wish I could be at that library book sale...

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  2. Really? I just bought a record player. And this is one of the records I bought last summer at a flea market.

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  3. DON'T DUMP THE VINYL!!!!! This past February, we witnessed Pepe Romero and The Pacific Symphony perform Concierto de Aranjuez at The Segerstrom here behing The Orange Curtain, and it was spectacular. He mentioned that he'd probably played it over 1,000 times, but honestly, this version makes me re-think which one is the better version. Thanks!

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  4. how are u doing the transfers? hardware? software? ...if you don't mind.
    i have a stack of 30 - 60 year old records (mine and parents) that i've contemplated transferring.

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    Replies
    1. Perhaps "transfer" was the wrong word to use. Right now what I'm doing is borrowing from my local library CDs of albums that I have, then selecting the cuts I want to save and downloading them to my hard disk using iTunes.

      However, I have a bunch of old albums that are uncommon and not available to borrow as a CD. For those, I will either purchase the digital track, or perhaps borrow someone's USB turntable.

      I posted the question of how to transfer from vinyl to digital in the blog last year, and got some EXCELLENT comments from readers. It's worth reading their suggestions because many readers here have practical and professional experience in this regard:

      http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2011/03/seeking-advice-re-converting-vinyl-to.html?showComment=1299296607320

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    2. thanks for the link... wow lots of good information!

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  5. I don't suppose you still have your childhood baseball card collection?

    http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l2736&_nkw=miles+davis+sketches+of+spain

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  6. My favorite composition of all time! Well, top 3 anyway. I read an interview with Rodrigo's wife after he died. She said that emotionally it was based on their first year of marriage, both the joy and the grief of her miscarriage. The grief and loss come through so clearly in this it almost brings tears.

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