Music Appreciation Day: Personal Stories to Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez

In 1960, to fulfill my life's dream, I left my pregnant wife in the Philippines for graduate studies ( Ph.D) at the University of Illinois in Chicago for a year.

 

https://lifeinus1960present.blogspot.com/2014/06/autobiography-update-chapter-6.html

 

To alleviate my homesickness I listened to classical music. One of my favorite piece is Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concierto_de_Aranjuez

 

Below is a recording from BBC radio of how the music affected me along with several other music lovers of the piece. The tape is 27 minutes long and my portion is from 10:52 to 14:39.  I felt weird hearing my own voice with undeniably a strong Filipino/Ilongo accent.  This recording is a testament to the saying Music is life itself by Louis Armstrong.

 

 

 

“Soul Music: Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez” The Compass BBC World Service

Audio Player

 

 1. “Soul Music: Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez” — BBC World Service

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Written by Joaquin Rodrigo in 1939, the Concierto de Aranjuez is a guitar classic. It was written amid the chaos of the Spanish Civil War, and in circumstances of poverty and personal tragedy. Soul Music explores how the piece touches and changes people’s lives. The composer’s daughter Cecilia Rodrigo explains how the blind composer was inspired by the fountains and gardens of the palace of Aranjuez. Nelício Faria de Sales recounts an unforgettable performance deep inside one of Brazil’s largest caves, while David B. Katague remembers how the piece got him through a difficult period of separation from his family in the Philippines. Guitarist Craig Ogden explains the magic of the piece for a performer, and actor Simon Callow recalls how hearing the piece was a formative experience for him during his schooldays, when it turned rural Berkshire into a piece of Spain. The recording is 27 minutes.