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Here'a an interesting Segovia story and no it's not flattering. Frank Martin, the Swiss composer whose only composition for guitar, Quatre Pieces Breves or 4 short pieces which appear on Julian Bream's landmark album 20th Century Guitar were written in 1933 for Segovia when Martin was still a struggling composer seeking recognition. Although given the recognition they deserved by Bream they were in fact written for and dedicated to Segovia. Their unfortunate history
is described in an article by Jan J. de Kloe, published in the Summer
1993 issue of "Soundboard." Based on information provided by Martin's
widow, Maria, the article describes the Martin-Segovia interaction as
follows:
Segovia lived awhile in Frank Martin's native city, Geneva,
and Martin admired the guitarist. Maria Martin doesn't know
if Segovia asked for a composition, or if Frank Martin took
the initiative to write a piece for the guitarist. It is certain
that Martin received pieces from Segovia written by Castel-
nuovo-Tedesco as examples of how to write for the instru-
ment. When Martin sent Segovia the resulting QPB, the com-
poser never received any confirmation or thank-you note. When
they crossed each other in a street one day, Segovia greeted
Martin with a short "au revoir" and walked the other way as
if to avoid a discussion. At this point Martin thought that may-
be his piece was unplayable.
Although QPB was performed by less-known guitarists, it wasn't until
Bream's 1967 recording that it became a standard repertoire piece. At
one point, Bream tentatively approached Martin about writing another
piece for guitar. Unfortunately, Martin demurred. Too bad, too bad for us, the rest of the guitarists. You can see and hear them performed on the web by Daekun Jang.
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You came to the party because of Segovia but you stayed because of Bream and Williams- tomc
Last edited by tomc on Sat Apr 01, 2006 5:36 pm; edited 2 times in total
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kfisherx
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 11:33 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Along the same lines.... Rodrigo presented the Aranuez to Segovia to premiere and he was told that the piece was unplayable.... Once it became famous Segovia never played it.
....and also when Shearer presented his technique to the "great one" he was told that it was garbage.
He certainly wasn't always right was he? In fact he made lots of enemies I understand. Darn good thing he made such good music!!!
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a_l_existence
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 11:56 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
I was having a discussion with my teacher about how I can't stand listening to the piano anymore since I have started really getting into CG. He laughed and told me about a story about segovia...\
I don't remember word for word but here's what I remember
After dodging the question about why he never played the piano for years, he finally answered on reporter. Segovia said something along the lines of, "why would I want to play an instrument that you bang on it's teeth and the screeching sound of you get from pulling on the teeth is the music you hear?"
Now I can't remember exacty what was said, but Segovia made it sound like playing the piano is like going to the dentist.
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a_l_existence
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 12:00 am Post subject: Reply with quote
Another quick story I heard was during a masterclass my teacher attended with Segovia, I don't remember the artist.
After the artist played his piece, silence fell over the audience. Segovia looked at him, asked him if he had ever been to the city in Spain that the piece was written about. The player said, "no". Segovia looked at him and said, "Go to the (insert actual city I can't remember), live there for 3 years, fall in love with a beautful Spanish girl, have her break your heart, then come back and play the piece again." That was all Segovia said.
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tomc
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 12:27 am Post subject: Reply with quote
The Shearer story is, as far as I recall true but I'd have to look up the source. As far as Aranjuez, what is known, i.e . documented is the Concierto was presented and dedicated to the then 46 year old Segovia. It was premiered by Regino Sainz de la Maza and the dedication changed to that guitarist. It was first recorded by Narciso Yepes. Segovia never performed it. There are those stories you mention but there is no agreement as to their truth as there exists no documentation.
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You came to the party because of Segovia but you stayed because of Bream and Williams- tomc
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Matt
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 12:47 am Post subject: Reply with quote
Villa Lobos's etudes were originally written for him, but he never played them them until many years after they were written, because he considedered them unplayable. But when they were published, he wrote a very nice introduction to them. Also, When Villa Lobos wrote his guitar concerto, Segovia refused to play it untill Villa Lobos wrote a cadenza for it.
What I find amazing is that Segovia played big venues like Massey Hall in Toronto unamplified, and that you could still hear him.
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RBIsaacs
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发表于 2006-5-6 03:54:29
发表于 2006-5-6 18:07:26
