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Moreover, Concierto Escorial would celebrate a historical monument, but the place is formidably grim, different from the musical atmosphere evoked. After Victoria’s experience of eating tripe, the concierto could hardly be named Concierto de Alcalá de Henares. He may have considered a resonant name from among the places the couple had visited five years previously. Aranjuez, it should also be remembered, is often a miserable place in winter, with cold winds and desolate spaces.īut when Rodrigo completed his new composition in 1939, he was in need of a title. These were day-trips by train (hardly what could be called a “honeymoon”). Such “excursions” were not languid stays in hotels, for the couple was without money or employment. On sunny days we made excursions to Aranjuez, Alcalá de Henares-how sick I was after eating tripe there-to El Escorial and to Toledo. We had rented a furnished apartment on Castelló Street. The first months in Madrid passed tranquilly. The following morning we set out for Madrid by automobile. Victoria’s diary gives the facts:Īfter the wedding banquet, Joaquín and I went for a long walk along the beach. What happened was that the couple married on January 19, 1933, and the next day traveled to Madrid to set up their first home. One familiar fable, for example, is that Joaquín Rodrigo and his wife Victoria de Kamhi spent their honeymoon in Aranjuez, Spain, and that was a large inspiration for the piece. Of course, various mythologies have spun themselves around the creation of the Concierto de Aranjuez-charming but highly questionable. Such criticism is like finding fault with the perfect action of a Swiss clock that has been keeping accurate time for half a century, or seeing imperfections in a painting by the French painter Jean-Antoine Watteau. Some guitarists have ventured to criticize Rodrigo’s scoring, though it would be difficult for them to tell what they would put in its place. One of my most treasured possessions is a copy of the miniature score signed with a sweet inscription by the composer and dated April 6, 1993. My library of recordings contains over a hundred versions, yet the work retains its freshness and spontaneity however many times I hear it. Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez is one of the miraculous compositions of the 20th century.

Did Rodrigo and his wife spend their honeymoon in Aranjuez? Is the slow movement a cry of pain? What did actually spark the writing of the Concierto de Aranjuez? In this history, we separate fact from fiction using composer Joaquín Rodrigo’s own words. Since the naming of the classical guitar concerto and its extraordinary fame, a kind of cult has arisen round Aranjuez.