Dionisio Aguado

Dionisio Aguado (lithograph)

Dionisio Aguado y García (born April 8, 1784 in Madrid ; † December 29, 1849 ibid) was a Spanish guitarist and composer as well as the author of an important textbook for the guitar at the time.

Life

Dionisio Aguado received music lessons from the Cistercian monk Father Basilio , whose real name was Miguel García (and was probably confused with Manuel del Pópulo Vicente García ). After Aguado settled on his estate in Fuenlabrada near Aranjuez , he devoted himself entirely to the guitar. In 1826 he went to Paris, where he taught and gave many concerts. Soon he was the favorite of salons and concert halls. But here he also met his great contemporary Fernando Sor (1778–1839), with whom he then had a lifelong friendship. Out of friendship, Aguado dedicated his composition Les deux amis for two guitars to him , with which the two performed as a guitar duo. Aguado returned from Paris in 1838 and then worked as a teacher in Madrid.

The new techniques

In the late 18th century the baroque guitar with its 5 double choirs (10 strings) was replaced by the six-string guitar. This had the mood that is still valid today: EA dgh e '. Aguado, who in 1825 brought out the most extensive guitar school of his time with Escuela de Guitarra in Madrid , now developed his “Nuovo Método para guitarra” (Madrid 1843) in Paris after fundamental studies in order to familiarize new and old guitarists with the completely new guitar technique do. He composed small, very appealing musical pieces and well-thought-out etudes, some of which were explained by a corresponding text.

Aguado was the first to advocate nailing in his textbook. He became a pioneer of this type of attachment. Until then, the prominent guitar virtuosos were split into two camps: Here Dionisio Aguado, Mauro Giuliani (1781–1829), Ferdinando Carulli (1770–1841) as a representative of the nail attack, and there Fernando Sor , Matteo Carcassi (1792–1853) and Antoine Meissonnier (1783–1857), who despised this new method and swore by the tip stop. Aguado defended his technique with nails in his textbook: “We can either play with the nails or with the fingertips of the right hand. As for me, I've always used my nails. Nonetheless, after hearing my friend Sor play, I decided to cut my thumbnail off, and I congratulated myself on following his example. The impulse of the thumb tip for the bass produces a full and pleasant tone. I keep the nails for the index and middle fingers. My long experience should entitle me to express my opinion on this question. With our fingernails we achieve a color on the guitar that cannot be compared either with the sound of the harp or that of the mandolin. In my opinion, the guitar is characterized by a character that sets it apart from other instruments: it is sweet, harmonious, pathetic, sometimes majestic. She does not have access to the grandeur of the harp or the piano. Its delicate grace and variety of sound modulations make it an instrument full of secrets. For this reason I think it is desirable to strike the strings with your nails. They produce a clear, metallic, varied tone full of delicacy, with light and shadow ... ” .

The fundamental change in guitar construction, the new touch technique, all of this resulted in changes affecting the sitting position and the instrument posture. This was also dealt with in detail in the textbooks, in addition to Aguado, Carulli (Paris 1810) and Sor (Paris / Bonn 1830). The guitarists also had to learn the new guitar notation that had just been introduced.

As far as the position of the guitar is concerned, Aguado recommended a tripod ( tripodison or tripod , later also called tripodison ) to lock the instrument in place so that the instrument can be held appropriately. This way of supporting the guitar has not caught on. By the way, Fernando Sor had supported his guitar with the left edge of the frame on the edge of a table. There weren't any footstools as we know them today that put the left leg up.

Works (selection)

Textbooks

• Collección de Estudios para Guitarra. Madrid 1819 (lost).
  • New edition: Studies for the guitar by Dionisio Aguado. Edited by Bruno Henze , Schlesinger'sche Buch- und Musikhandlung, Robert Lienau, Berlin-Lichterfelde 1926.
• Escuela de Guitarra. Madrid 1825; 2nd edition Paris 1826
• Méthode complète pour la Guitare. Edited by François de Fossa . Paris 1826.
• Nouvelle Méthode de Guitare, op.6 Paris 1834.
• Nuevo Método para Guitarra. Madrid 1843. (PDF) ( Memento of May 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

Sheet music editions

• Tres Rondos brilliant. Madrid 1822.
• Seis Valses de Guitarra dedicados a Da. Luisa Gomez Melon. (PDF) ( Memento from May 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
• Colección de Andantes, Valses y Minuetos.
• Variaciones brilliant.
• Fandango con Variaciones. Paris
• Quatro piezas des estudios. Paris
• Les deux amis. for two guitars

Sources and literature

• Adolphe Ledhuy, H. Bertini (Ed.): Aguado. In: Encyclopédie pittoresque de la Musique. Paris 1835, pp. 124-127.
• Wolf Moser : The textbooks of Aguados. In: Guitar & Laute 6, 1984, booklet 2, pp. 13-18 (part 1), booklet 3, pp. 61-68 (part 2), and booklet 4, pp. 43-48 (part 3).
• Wolf Moser: guitar music. Hamburg 1973/77.
• Wolf Moser: Me, Fernando Sor - An attempt at an autobiography and guitaristic writings. Edition Saint-Georges, Lyon 2005, ISBN 3-00-015274-1 .
• Konrad Ragossnig : Manual of the guitar and lute. Mainz 1978.
• Heinz Nickel: Contribution to the development of the guitar in Europe. Haimhausen 1972.
• Wilibald Gurlitt , Carl Dahlhaus (editor): Riemann Musik-Lexikon. In three volumes and two supplementary volumes. Aguido y García, Dionisio. 12th completely revised edition. 1. Personal section A – KB Schotts-Söhne, Mainz 1959, p. 13 (first edition: 1882).

Web links

• Sheet music and audio files by Dionisio Aguado in the International Music Score Library Project

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Józef Powroźniak: Guitar Lexicon (translation of Leksykon gitary from Polish by Bernd Haag). Verlag Neue Musik, Berlin 1970, 4th edition. 1988, ISBN 3-7333-0029-7 , p. 81 ( Gárcia, Manuel del Popolo Vicente ).
2. ↑ Wolf Moser: Spanish guitarists between Aguado and Tárrega. In: Guitar & Lute. 1, 1979, 4, pp. 26-30, here: p. 27.
3. ^ Hannes Fricke: Myth guitar: history, interpreters, great hours. Reclam, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-15-020279-1 , p. 226.
4. ↑ Facsimile ( Memento from May 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) in Boijes Samling
5. ↑ Ragossnig 1978, p. 102.
6. ↑ D. Aguado: La Guitare fixée sur le Tripodison ou Fixateur [...]. Bernard Latte, Paris, 1836 or 1837; and in addition (with German translation): Wolf Moser: Collection of historical sources: The guitar fixed on the tripodison or fixed. Instructions for successful use. In: Guitar & Laute 6, 1984, booklet 3, pp. 18-20, booklet 4, p. 65 f., Book 5, p. 17 f., Booklet 6, p. 56.
7. ^ Wolf Moser: The textbooks Aguados. Part 1. In: Guitar & Laute 6, 1984, Heft 2, pp. 13-18; here: p. 16.
8. ^ Wolf Moser: Dionisio Aguado. In: Guitar & Laute 6, 1984, issue 2, p. 42 f.
9. ↑ Rainer Stelle: Supplement to the article “Die Lehrwerke Aguados”, Part 1, by Wolf Moser (Guitar & Lute No. 2/84, Pages 13-18). In: Guitar & Laute 6, 1984, issue 3, p. 6 f.