 Oviatt Library |
Segovia, Andrés Torres (1893-1987)
For all of us who follow guitar recitals, the ritual seemed to be eternal: from the wings, a stout gentleman carefully strolled to center stage and eased himself onto an adjustable piano bench, seemingly unmoved by the standing ovation that greeted him. Adjusting his left leg on the footrest, he makes a friendly hand gesture for his audience to be seated. Then, after quietly tuning, he sounds the strings of his instrument, he plays the first work on the program, sending the listener to another time period. This ritual has now ended: Segovia now stands as a legendary figure in the firmament of the performing arts.
Andres Segovia, (1893-1987) is still remembered as a performance legend on the concert stages throughout the world. His impact the world over was staggering. In 1987, the year of his death, Japan proclaimed that he had influenced more than 2 million aspiring students and amateurs as well as the business of guitar. The industry of guitar -- developing the repertoire, making arrangements, printing music, performance, teaching, building instruments and strings -- was only a part of Segovia's original message back in 1928 when he first arrived on the concert stages of the United States. The main message: to bring the guitar to as wide and varied an audience as was humanly possible.
For ten years prior to 1928 he had succeeded in bringing the instrument to both European and South American audiences by traveling on foot, by car, train and boat. During this time he was also aware of the magic of records. Sometime in 1925, he heard the recordings of Miguel Llobet Soles, 1878-1938, a friend and mentor, and by 1927 he found he could place the guitar in more homes throughout the world on a 10 inch, 78 rpm disk. However, this did not lessen his touring schedule. The audience needed to see and hear in person what the legend and the guitar were capable of doing.
Segovia took an educational tack by visiting educational institutions giving master classes throughout the world. CSUN received his support through his fund raising performances. Since 1981, faculty from the Guitar Area bestow on outstanding guitar majors the Segovia Scholarship Award.
Segovia experienced the whole gamut of development in the recording industry from acoustical to electrical recording, and before his death he saw his recordings being transferred to DAT and spun out on CD recordings through the digital industry.
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