Four Pieces
A. Barrios-Mangoré
1885-1944
Annotations for Eliot Fisk Concert, January 15, 1989, prepared by Ron Purcell, Sherman Oaks, California:
Augustín Pío Barrios was born in the countryside of Paraguay in the little village of San Juan Bautista de las Missiones. His musical talents were recognized during his primary education at the local Jesuit school and he was given a scholarship to attend the Colegio Nacional in Asunción. His concert career began in 1910 performing in cities throughout South and eventually Central America. During this time he began absorbing the music from these countries and started to compose what was to become the largest collection of original works for guitar based on popular and traditional folk music. The musical training he received introduced him into the repertoire of the great masters, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, etc. and from this influence he made transcriptions of their works as well as compose original works based on this influence.
Barrios composed over three hundred works (a little over 100 survived) for the guitar many of which are based on the song and dance forms found throughout Iberoamérica such as, cueca, choro, estilo, maxixe, milonga, pericón, tango, zamba and zapateado. He had a tremendous command of writing in various musical styles composing numerous representative works, i.e., Preludes, Suites, Waltzes, Mazurkas and Romanzas which reflect the historical periods Baroque thru the Romantic.
To gain more attention to his concerts, Barrios billed himself in 1932 as "Nitsuga Mangoré, the Paganini of the Guitar from the Jungles of Paraguay." The billboard showed a picture of him in a Guaraní Indian costume. The name, "Nitsuga" (Augustín spelled backwards) and "Mangoré" (a legendary Guaraní chieftan who resisted the Spanish Conquest) was used for several years. He visited Europe from 1934-1936 and performed in Belgium, Germany, Spain and England. Eventually he dropped the pseudonym and used only Mangoré at the end of his name. Richard Stover's, "The Guitar Works of Agustín Barrios Mangoré," [Belwin/Columbia Pub.] and his production of the Barrios Historical Recording with El Maestro Records, show pictures from this time.
From the "Suite Andina," Aconquija, describes a traditional folk ceremony occuring somewhere high in the Andes. It opens with a flute like theme and progresses to the sounds of drums (tambora) followed by a low double reed instrument (Barrios calls for a "fagote," bassoon like sound) and returns to the opening theme. A Straussian-like waltz, Junto a tu Corazón (Close to your Heart) reflects the opening of the twentieth-century craze for the sentimental waltz. One can almost hear the zither strumming away in the middle section. Contemplación, is a reflective programmatic work, exacting complete control of the instrument. The tremolo technique, considered by guitarists as one of the more difficult feats to master, gives a shimmering effect to this romantic work. Concluding this set of four pieces by Barrios is Las Abejas (The Bees). The concert guitarist is challenged by this virtuoso work as was Harry James when he performed "Flight of the Bumble Bee."
Ron Purcell
- International Guitar Research Archives
- California State University, Northridge
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