DIONISIO AGUADO Prelude In E Minor
Our classical expert Bridget Mermikides presents this lovely prelude by one of the fathers of the classical guitar, the Spanish guitarist and composer, Dionisio Aguado.
Bridget continues her series of simpler pieces with this lovely Prelude from Aguado.
In this issue we are looking at a prelude by the Spanish classical guitarist and composer, Dionisio Aguado (1784 – 1849), which provides a musical and instructive way of developing plucking technique. Aguado is a highly influential father of the classical guitar tradition, who devoted his entire life to the guitar, its repertoire, study and technical mastery, and was revered by the public and fellow great musicians (including Paganini, Guiliani and Rossini) for his virtuosic and flawless playing. His book, The New Method For Guitar, which contains all the essentials of guitar technique, was first published in the mid 1840s and is still published today by Tecla. His studies and preludes, alongside advice on hand positions, angle of the fingers, type of stroke, use of the nails, tone production, arpeggio technique are still relevant to today’s classical player, one and a half centuries laters. Aguado was also an inventor of the Tripodison. This was a three-legged wooden stand with a metal clamp that gripped and supported the instrument, giving the player more freedom of arm movement. It also increased the guitar’s volume and resonance by limiting the damping effect of contact with the human body. Although it didn’t catch on at the time we do have some similar products on the market today: The MBrace Guitar Holder and the K&M Guitar Performer Stand (used by Santana) bear a remarkable resemblance to Aguado’s invention.
In the 1830s Dionisio shared accommodation with Fernando Sor in Paris and their friendship resulted in Sor composing the duet Les Deux Amis (The Two Friends) opus 41. Their tones must have been quite different from one another; Sor plucked with just the fingertips and disapproved of Aguado’s nails calling them ‘inconvenient’. But Aguado’s approach to tone-projection using fingernails and flesh, has now become standard practice of almost all of today’s serious classical guitarists.
Aguado’s compositions consist of purely solo pieces, including numerous studies and lessons for his students, waltzes, minuets and light pieces, with some more substantial works including
Trois Rondos Brilliants, Le Menuet Affandangado and Le Fandango Varie.
Here we look at a lesser known work of uncertain date – but it is technically useful and beautiful – featuring a consistent plucking-hand pattern through an expressive harmonic sequence. For this I recommend where possible using a rest stroke (where the plucking finger comes to rest on the adjacent string) for the top line melody, and free stroke (plucking fingers travel free, avoiding other strings) for the remaining notes. This ensures a projection of the melody balanced with a quieter but flowing accompaniment. I recommend treating this prelude as such an exercise which – when mastered – rewards you with a developed guitar technique as well as an expressive performance piece.
NEXT MONTH Bridget arranges and transcribes Prelude In C Major by Napoléon Coste
“Aguado was the inventor of the Tripodison, a threelegged wooden stand with a metal clamp that gripped and supported the guitar”