nostalgia revisited

as a child i was surrounded by music. i thank the Lord for this. my father got his degree in classical guitar, my mother started to get her degree in voice, but quit when she was a sophomore to support my father going to college. they were married then. they had me a year later. meanwhile, they made their living in a rock and roll band. the star city players. talk to anyone cool who lived in lincoln in the early 80's and they would have heard them. they made their living for a number years just playing shows. i can vaguely remember a few of them.

fast forward ten years and my mom goes back to school to finish her degree in music. she wants to teach voice lessons. (oh and if anyone wants voice lessons, im sure she would still be up for it.) i remember going to all sorts of concerts and and listening to all sorts of music in the car with her as she studied. most of it was classical. but there was this one tape she had that i would steal at night and listen on my own little tape player. it moved me. but then it disappeared and for another 10 years ive always wondered what it was. but i could still hear it in my sleep. the science of it. in 3-d.

until now.

i stumbled upon the music while listening to Paco de Lucia videos on youtube. i recognized it immediately. and now there is a name to the music: Concierto de Aranjuez, composed by Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre in 1939. interestingly enough:

Until asked to perform and interpret Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez in 1991, Paco de Lucía had never learned how to read musical notation. While learning to play the Concierto as a flamenco guitarist, where rhythm and pace is essential, he preferred to risk giving the listener a 'dirty' note when being forced to go from low to very high notes rather than to displace the rhythm and pace just to keep the notes clean. He felt that as a flamenco guitarist he could interpret the Concierto in a fashion not previously done. Joaquín Rodrigo declared that no one had ever played his composition in such a brilliant manner. [wikipedia.com]

so here you go, the three movements to the Convierto de Aranjuez. Lock yourself in a closet for 20 minutes and listen to the whole thing. it is beautiful.