José Rey de la Torre (December 9, 1917 – July 21, 1994) was one of the most significant classical guitarists of the mid-twentieth century, and considered by many to be the father of "modern classical guitar technique".

Early life

Rey studied with Severino López in Havana, Cuba. After establishing a career as a child prodigy in Cuba, his family sent him to Barcelona in 1932 to study under the retired virtuoso guitarist

Miguel Llobet Miguel Llobet Solés (18 October 187822 February 1938) was a classical guitarist, born in Barcelona, Spain. Llobet was a renowned virtuoso who toured Europe and America extensively. He made well known arrangements of Catalan folk songs for the ...

(1878–1938). On May 9, 1934, Llobet presented him in a concert at the Academia Marshall together with a pianist and then shortly after in a solo recital. Both received rave reviews from the tough Barcelona critics. Catalan composer and critic Jaime Pahissa described Rey as the most complete guitarist he had heard. Another critic compared him not only with Llobet but also with

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), usually known in English by his Castilian Spanish name Pablo Casals,

Career

His American début was at The Town Hall in New York City in 1940. He subsequently made many appearances in the US, Canada and elsewhere. He gave radio broadcasts and played in two television plays. Rey de la Torre gave the US première of

Concierto de Aranjuez The ''Concierto de Aranjuez'' (, "Aranjuez Concerto") is a classical guitar concerto by the Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo. Written in 1939, it is by far Rodrigo's best-known work, and its success established his reputation as one of the mos ...

Joaquín Rodrigo Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquess of the Gardens of Aranjuez (; 22 November 1901 – 6 July 1999), was a Spanish composer and a virtuoso pianist. He is best known for composing the ''Concierto de Aranjuez'', a cornerstone of the classical gui ...

on November 19, 1959, with the Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of Robert Shaw. He also premièred the ''Introduction to the Chôros'' by

Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the ...

in New York, in August 1962, and ''Three Pieces for Guitar'' by

Carlos Chávez Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez (13 June 1899 – 2 August 1978) was a Mexican composer, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influenced by nativ ...

in New York on November 14, 1969. A number of works were written for him by various composers, among them

Julián Orbón Julián Orbón de Soto (August 7, 1925, Avilés, Spain – May 21, 1991, Miami, Florida was a Cuban composer who lived and composed in Spain, Cuba, Mexico, and the United States of America. Aaron Copland referred to Orbón as "Cuba's most gifte ...

Spanish Music Center and Allegro recordings

Rey made a number of recordings, the earliest of which he found unsatisfactory. In the mid 1940s he recorded his first two LP albums for the Spanish Music Center (SMC) label. The first was titled ''The Music of Francisco Tárrega - A Guitar Recital, vol. 1'' SMC-516 and the second was ''The Music of Fernando Sor - A Guitar Recital, vol. 2'' SMC-517. While it is believed that Andrés Segovia may have been the first to record the F. Sor studies, it was Rey's recordings of these important studies that first made it to vinyl. In the early part of 1950, Rey recorded another two LP albums for the Allegro label. The first was titled ''Fernando Sor - Grand Sonata, Op.22'' AL 76 and the second was ''German Song from the Minnesingers to the 17th Century'' AL 90. The later released was a collaborative effort with tenor Earl Rogers. The former album dedicated to Sor was later re-released by Allegro under a different title ''Rey de la Torre Plays Fernando Sor'' LEG 9013. The recording was later licensed to other minor record labels (such as Ember, Everest and EL) and it was generally released under the title ''Rey de la Torre Plays Spanish Guitar Classics''.

Philharmonia recordings

In December, 1950 he recorded the Quintet in D, G. 448 by

Luigi Boccherini Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (, also , ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and ''galante'' style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major Europea ...

with the Stuyvesant String Quartet on the short-lived Philharmonia record label. His most significant solo recording was made originally under the Philharmonia label in 1952, and was later re-released, first by Elektra records, and then by Nonesuch. Additionally, a recording exists of "Five Songs on Poems by

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...

" by

Noël Lee Noël Lee (December 25, 1924 – July 15, 2013) was an American classical pianist and composer. Born in 1924 in Nanjing, China, Lee studied music in Lafayette, Indiana, then attended Harvard University, studying with Walter Piston, Irving Fine, ...

with soprano

Adele Addison Adele Addison (born July 24, 1925) is an American lyric soprano who was a figure in the classical music world during the 1950s and 1960s. Although she did appear in several operas, Addison spent most of her career performing in recital and conc ...

and flutist Samuel Baron in 1961 on the Composers Recordings Inc. (CRI 147).

Epic recordings

Rey made at least five albums for

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

: * ''Rey de la Torre Plays Classical Guitar'' LC 3418 (music by

Gaspar Sanz Francisco Bartolomé Sanz Celma (April 4, 1640 (baptized) – 1710), better known as Gaspar Sanz, was a Spanish composer, guitarist, and priest born to a wealthy family in Calanda in the comarca of Bajo Aragón, Spain. He studied music, theolog ...

Fernando Sor Fernando Sor (bapt. 14 Feb. 1778, died 10 July 1839) was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer of the Romantic music, Early Romantic era. Best known for writing solo classical guitar music, he also composed an opera (at the age of 19), thr ...

, Miguel Llobet, Ponce,

Federico Moreno Torroba Federico Moreno Torroba (3 March 189112 September 1982) was a Spanish composer, conductor, and theatrical impresario. He is especially remembered for his important contributions to the classical guitar repertoire, becoming one of the leading twe ...

and Tárrega). * ''Virtuoso Guitar'' LC 3479 (music by

Mauro Giuliani Mauro Giuseppe Sergio Pantaleo Giuliani (27 July 1781 – 8 May 1829) was an Italian guitarist, cellist, singer, and composer. He was a leading guitar virtuoso of the early 19th century. Biography Although born in Bisceglie, Giuliani's cent ...

Joaquín Turina Joaquín Turina Pérez (9 December 188214 January 1949) was a Spanish composer of classical music.''Encyclopædia Britannica'' online (2014)"Joaquín Turina"/ref> Biography Turina was born in Seville. He studied in Seville as well as in Mad ...

, Llobet, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Falla and Tárrega). * ''The Romantic Guitar'' LC 3564 (music by

Enrique Granados Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados y Campiña (27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916), commonly known as Enric Granados in Catalan or Enrique Granados in Spanish, was a composer of classical music, and concert pianist from Catalonia, Spain. ...

Isaac Albéniz Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (; 29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the Post-Romantic era who also had a significant influence on his conte ...

, transcribed by Llobet and

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is in the Inner Plateau (''Meseta central''), near the northern slopes of th ...

; Tárrega, Joaquín Rodrigo,

Manuel de Falla Manuel de Falla y Matheu (, 23 November 187614 November 1946) was an Andalusian Spanish composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Francisco Tárrega, and Enrique Granados, he was one of Spain's most important musicians of the first hal ...

and Grau).; * ''Recital'' LC 3815 (stereo BC 1151) (music by

, Joaquin Nin-Culmell,

Antonio Lauro Antonio Lauro (August 3, 1917 – April 18, 1986) was a Venezuelan musician, considered to be one of the foremost South American composers for the guitar in the 20th century. Biography Antonio Lauro was born in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela. Hi ...

, Ignacio Cervantès,

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 calle ...

; * ''Music for One and Two Guitars'' LC 3674 (stereo BC 1073).

Mid career health issues

Around 1961, right at a time when his career was flourishing, he suffered a setback: the middle finger of his right hand became less responsive and was a challenge for a number of years until Marianne Eppens, a physical therapist, was able to isolate the cause and offer a remedy. In 1969 they were married and moved to California. In 1975 at the zenith of his career Rey was diagnosed with

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are involv ...

, a disease which ended his performing career a year later. Rey combined a teaching career with his active concert life until his retirement from the stage, at which point he devoted all of his efforts to teaching. He spent a brief period (1975–1977) teaching in New York, before relocating to San Francisco, where he spent the final two decades of his life, teaching in spite of a spiraling debilitation caused by his rheumatoid arthritis.

Discography

* ''The Music of Francisco Tárrega - A Guitar Recital, vol. 1'' SMC-516 (1945) * ''The Music of Fernando Sor - A Guitar Recital, vol. 2'' SMC-517 (1945) * ''Fernando Sor - Grand Sonata, Op.22'' AL 76 (1949) * ''German Song from the Minnesingers to the 17th Century'' AL 90 (1949) * ''Boccherini: Quintet for Guitar & Strings #1 in D Major/Malipiero: Rispetti E. Strambotti'' PH-101 (1952) * ''20th Century Music for the Guitar'' PH-106 (1952) * ''20th Century Music for the Guitar'' PEKL 244 (1964 - a reissue of 20th Century Music for the Guitar) * ''Spanish Music For The Classic Guitar'' Nonesuch H-71233 (1966 - a reissue of 20th Century Music for the Guitar) * ''Rey de la Torre Plays Classical Guitar'' LC 3418 (1957) * ''Virtuoso Guitar'' LC 3479 (1958) * ''The Romantic Guitar'' LC 3564 (1959) * ''Recital'' LC 3815 (stereo BC 1151)(1962) * ''Music for One and Two Guitars'' LC 3674 (stereo BC 1073)(1966) * ''Five Songs on Poems by

'' (CRI 147).

References

Sources

*Danner, Peter. ''Rey de la Torre''. Soundboard, XXI, 2, Fall 1994, pg. 7. *Phillips, Robert. ''The Influence of Miguel Llobet on the pedagogy, repertoire, and stature of the guitar in the twentieth century''. Doctoral dissertation. 2002, OCLC 51796355. *Rey de la Torre, José. ''Miguel Llobet, El Mestre''. Guitar Review no. 60, Winter 1985, pg. 22–32. *Turner, Zane:
MusicWeb International
*Weller, Anthony. 2006. ''Program notes for Rey de la Torre, Guitar''. Bridge Records, Inc. 9188. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rey de la Torre, Jose 1917 births 1994 deaths Cuban classical guitarists Cuban male guitarists 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century guitarists 20th-century male musicians Cuban expatriates in Spain Cuban emigrants to the United States