Rodrigo (musician)

Rodrigo - Concierto de Aranjuez | NARCISO YEPES | 10-string guitar | classical guitar

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• published: 15 Sep 2012
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Guitarist: Narciso Yepes / Conductor: Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos "Narciso Yepes gave a most delicate account of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez. The range of timbres he can produce, to contrast phrases and to shape them, is astonishing . . . The work is not worthy of such playing." (Paul Griffiths 1974, The Times, London, 6 Nov., p. 11) "What can I say about Narciso Yepes? What can I say about the guitarist to whom we owe the international success of the Concerto de Aranjuez? Yes, it was in Paris in 1947 where Ataulfo Argenta, Yepes and the Spanish National Orchestra met to illuminate my unique opus at a time when no one knew its true future. From then on, the Concierto de Aranjuez took on a new nature, and it is for this same reason that I am grateful to Narciso Yepes for the fruit of an intense collaboration that has brought us to travel our musical trajectories side-by-side. I will not say that Yepes was the best nor the worst. He has simply been my guitarist par excellence. My guitarist." (Joaquin Rodrigo in «El Mundo» May 4, 1997) * This is performed without amplification, as Yepes always insisted, since amplification changes the nature of the sound. Microphone diaphragms can only resonate with high-pitched upper partials, not with their fundamentals, and so privilege/enhance a tinny tone quality rich in upper partials while inevitably distorting purer tone qualities with fewer upper partials and sound recipes weighted more in the range below microphones' sensitivity, which happens to be the type of sound that is more rounded/voice-like and projecting in live, acoustic contexts. The same applies to recordings, of course, which are never an absolutely true representation of the acoustic reality, enhancing tone qualities that sound tinny live while distorting tone qualities that sound more beautiful live. Instead of taking the easy way, Yepes developed the right hand technique to suppress upper partials and produce a more sustaining, more projecting sound. His chosen positioning of the instrument places the right hand naturally at the angle of attack that is needed to produce a projecting sound (with fewer upper partials). The so-called "correct" and old-fashioned posture that many little masters promote does exactly the opposite and makes it impossible to produce the sound of which the guitar is actually capable. Of course this "correct" posture is promoted in terms of everything but its impact on sonority - which should be the first thing to consider for a musician - and typically in terms of bogus "health" claims from people who are after all not medical authorities. Incidentally, Yepes had studied both the Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais Method - directly with Moshe Feldenkrais - long before all this fashionable nonsense about "posture" started. These somatic approaches can be incorporated around the positioning of the instrument for optimal sonority without being the first and last consideration. In any event, we know of no one who ever developed carpal tunnel or focal dystonia from adopting Yepes's sitting position and angle of attack, but one hears about such problems all the time among those seated "correctly". Proof of Yepes's projection from nonpartisan witnesses: 'Dinkelspiel Auditorium was invaded by hordes of guitarists and music buffs Friday evening who listened, cheered, and left playfully threatening to throw their own instruments away. The reason? Narciso Yepes [...] Yepes played with cautious but resonant phrasing and deep musical conviction. His ten-string guitar eliminates any need to transcribe lute music, and its sound carried beautifully despite Dink's notoriously weak acoustics.' (The Stanford Daily, Volume 164, Issue 35, 6 November 1973) Source: http://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d;=stanford19731106-01.2.34&e;=-------en-20--21--txt-txIN-student+army+training+corps 'Guitar concerts in Carnegie Hall can be a frustrating affair. Narciso Yepes brought his 10-string invention there last Thursday, and suddenly it was not a problem hearing that instrument in that space. His guitar fills the hall with sound. The musician who plucks it is one of the finest in the world today. [...] One left his recital stimulated and elated, with nary a thought as to the potential limitations of the instrument, dynamically or musically.' (1982) Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/1982/1117/111700.html * And here Yepes's pupil and teaching assistant, Fritz Buss, confirms that Yepes "refused" to use amplification, that he didn't need it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao6R4VFWAPQ * About the Yepes 10-string guitar: http://www.tenstringguitar.INFO Standard tuning of the Yepes ten-string guitar (afinación estándar de la guitarra 10 cuerdas de Yepes): 7=C2 [lowest string / la más baja] 8=A#2 / Bb2 9=G#2 / Ab2 10=F#2 / Gb2 * Movements of the concerto: 1. Allegro con spirito 00:00:00 2. Adagio 00:05:32 -Cadenza 00:12:04 3. Allegro gentile 00:16:24