Guitarist’s universal language
Talks to Pablo Sainz Villegas about how he ‘visualises’ his music in 3D.
Pablo Sainz Villegas has been praised as the ‘‘soul of the Spanish guitar’’. He has played with orchestras in more than 30 countries but says one of his proudest moments was working with John Williams, the legendary composer for films such as Star Wars, Jaws and Schindler’s List.
Williams had invited Sainz Villegas to premiere his composition Rounds.
‘‘It was one of the most wonderful experiences I’ve ever had,’’ Sainz Villegas says.
‘‘One of the things about being a musician, besides travelling around the world and seeing different ways of life, is meeting wonderful people and John Williams was one of them.’’
Sainz Villegas had just a month to prepare the song, a task normally requiring two to three months.
Williams invited him to his home to perfect the composition – Sainz Villegas on the guitar and Williams on the piano.
‘‘It was, really, a beautiful inspiration meeting him, such a successful musician and professional,’’ he recalls.
‘‘[It was] a beautiful lesson of humanity. He’s really a nice person, humble, full of humanity.
‘‘He welcomed me to his home in such a beautiful, human way.’’
That was five years ago. Now Sainz Villegas is touring here with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
This isn’t his first tour, though, by any means. Sainz Villegas has performed with orchestras in more than 30 countries, including the Danish National Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, Orchestre National de Lyon, Israel Philharmonic and, in North America, with the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics and Boston, Houston, Cincinnati, Oregon, Pittsburgh and Toronto Symphonies.
He’s finishing his tour this weekend with his flamenco guitar at the Michael Fowler Centre, alongside award-winning English born conductor Alexander Shelley.
‘‘It’s my first time in New Zealand and I am so excited. I feel so excited to be a musician as I have the opportunity to share my music and take in all these different, wonderful places in the planet, you know?’’
As Sainz Villegas plays, he closes his eyes. His lower jaw twitches like he is consuming the sounds.
His body is held upright, his guitar is moulded into his embrace and his fingers dance over the strings. Despite his closed eyes, he knows every string, crevasse and fret of the guitar.
He is no longer in the darkened room brightened by studio lights. He is submerged in deeps reds – almost purple – and then surrounded by dark blues of shapes that go up and down, and yellow – the light weight, the sun, Spain.
Sainz Villegas visualises his music. Three-dimensions of abstract sculptures, he says.
‘‘You create three layers, threedimensionality into the music, like different instruments sounding at the same time,’’ he says.
‘‘I convert the dimension of time into space because music requires time. To listen to it is like a cycle, two minutes to three minutes, but then you can visualise the structures of the music as if it were in a painting or in a sculpture.
‘‘Like, you see a sculpture or a painting and in one second you can describe what you saw. Music is all about structures and chords, so it’s the same thing. Instead of a tree, it’s a chord, and instead of an ocean, it’s the first section.’’
When asked about his reputation as ‘‘the soul of the Spanish guitar’’, Sainz Villegas looks a little bashful.
‘‘It’s difficult for me to talk about myself, right?
‘‘There is an aspect of my play. It’s my way to approach music, it’s my way to live music and to experience music, which is very emotional. It’s about becoming one with the music, it’s about becoming the music, vibrating with it.
‘‘For me, it’s like jumping into a river and the river being music and you let yourself go with the flow of the river and the music.’’
Sainz Villegas picked up the guitar at just 6 years old, in the small province of La Rioja – famous for its rolling vineyards.
The first Spanish written document was found in the region of La Rioja – in a monastery – dating back to the 12th century, he says.
His grandparents were farmers, his parents music enthusiasts.
In the summers, he would sit on the ledge of his grandparents’ home with his guitar while his music floated past the farm animals and over the surrounding Spanish hillside.
He first went on stage when he was just 7 – a defining moment that sealed his fate.
‘‘I felt pure magic being on stage, because I was a little kid playing a simple tune, but still I had all the elements to create or to allow magic to happen which is the audience, the music and yourself playing it, so it was beautiful.’’
Sainz Villegas studied in Weimar, Germany and then moved to New York City in 2001. There, he studied at the Manhattan School of Music and won the Andres Segovia Award and the Tarrega Competition.
He was the first guitarist to win El Ojo Crı´tico, Spain’s top classical music honour.
‘‘Music is a universal language and that’s what makes it so powerful. It doesn’t matter where you go, I can always speak through my guitar and reach people’s emotions,’’ he says.
Sainz Villegas is finishing his tour with NZSO in Tauranga tonight, Napier on July 27 and in Wellington on July 29.