Julián Arcas (25 October 1832 – 16 February 1882) was a Spanish

classical guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...

ist and composer, who influenced

Francisco Tárrega Francisco de Asís Tárrega Eixea (21 November 185215 December 1909) was a Spanish composer and classical guitarist of the late Romantic period. He is known for such pieces as Capricho Árabe and ''Recuerdos de la Alhambra''. He is often called ...

and

Antonio de Torres Antonio de Torres Jurado (13 June 1817 – 19 November 1892) was a Spanish guitarist and luthier, and "the most important Spanish guitar maker of the 19th century." It is with his designs that the first recognisably modern classical guitars a ...

. He was "one of the most important figures in Spanish music in the 19th century".

Biography

Arcas was born in María, Almería, and died in

Antequera Antequera () is a city and municipality in the Comarca de Antequera, province of Málaga, part of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. It is known as "the heart of Andalusia" (''el corazón de Andalucía'') because of its central locat ...

, Malaga. From 1860 until 1872, he performed all over Europe. The young

listened to him in 1863 in Castellón and played for him after the performance, on the request of Tárrega's father. Arcas then invited Tárrega to study with him in Barcelona. Between 1864 and 1870, Arcas performed all over Spain, in some of these appearances partnering with a pianist called Patanas, after which he retired to Almería, establishing a business in Calle Granada.Summerfield (2002), p. 37. Arcas wrote fifty-two original works and transcribed thirty further pieces for the guitar, including waltzes, variations, preludes and dances. Thirty were published in Barcelona by Vidal y Roger and fifty in Madrid by Unión Musical Española. Through the work of the guitar maker

Antonio de Torres Jurado Antonio de Torres Jurado (13 June 1817 – 19 November 1892) was a Spanish guitarist and luthier, and "the most important Spanish guitar maker of the 19th century." It is with his designs that the first recognisably modern classical guitars are ...

, Arcas influenced the development of the classical guitar, particularly with regard to the design of the soundboard.

Bibliography

* Eusebio Rioja: ''Julián Arcas o los albores de la guitarra flamenca'' (Sevilla: Bienal de Arte Flamenco, 1990), . * Javier Suárez-Pajares: "Julián Arcas: Figura clave de la Guitarra Española", in: ''Actas del XV Congreso de la Sociedad Internacional de Musicología: Culturas musicales del Mediterraneo y sus ramificaciónes'', vol. 4, (Madrid, 1992). * Eusebio Rioja: "Julián Arcas Lacal (1832–1882), concertista internacional, compositor y maestro de guitarra", in: ''Revista velezana'' no. 12 (1993), p. 43–54. * Melchor Rodríguez (ed.): ''Julián Arcas. Obras Completas para Guitarra / Guitar Works'' (Madrid: Soneto, 1993), . * Javier Suárez-Pajares, Eusebio Rioja Vázquez: ''El guitarrista almeriense Julián Arcas (1832–1882): una biografía documental'' (Almería: Instituto de Estudios Almerienses, 2003), .

Selected recordings

* ''Julián Arcas: Complete Guitar Music'', performed by Gabriele Zanetti; 4-CD-set (Brilliant Classics 95639, 2020).

References

External links

*
New scores of Julián Arcas
1832 births 1882 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Spanish male musicians Composers for the classical guitar Spanish classical composers Spanish classical guitarists Spanish male classical composers Spanish male guitarists Spanish Romantic composers 19th-century guitarists {{spain-guitarist-stub