GRAHAM WADE
Be careful of the company you keep….Mr Roach’s comment that my love of Segovia ‘makes a bob or two’ is moronic and the word ‘worshipper’ is infantile and insulting. Such drivel does not constitute worthwhile points of discussion for individuals alleged to be adult. There is no answer to snide frivolity.
Mr Roach attempts to stigmatise Segovia as an ‘egotist’. I wonder if Mr Roach ever met Segovia or spoke with him, attended any of his concerts, or received a letter from him. (I am, by the way, completely in the dark about Mr Roach’s contribution and commitment so far to the history and well-being of the classical guitar.)
I spent a reasonable amount of time with Segovia in various contexts, including at his home in Madrid. Segovia possessed in fact a wonderful inner humility, listened intensely to other opinions, and was to be respected for his uniquely vast experience of art and life. His friends and acquaintances had consisted of some of the finest artists of the 20th century including Llobet, Picasso, Rodrigo,Villa-Lobos, Hauser, Ramirez, Falla, Torroba, Turina, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Ponce, Stravinsky, Tansman (who loved the way Segovia played his music), Menuhin, etc as well as literary figures such as Lorca and Machado.
Segovia is estimated by his official biographer to have performed 5402 concerts between 1909 and 1987, and on average played some sixty-nine recitals a year, no year being missed despite wars, illness, personal bereavement, etc. Over his career he played in over 100 countries, and in between constant travelling throughout his life edited dozens of editions and some fifty long-playing recordings.
Were all the audiences from 1909 onwards misguided? Of course not. Segovia’s art was that of performing above all. I attended at least forty of his recitals between the early 1960s and 1986. Far from being ‘mannered and gratuitous’, meaningless words in this context, Segovia’s performing art, (developed over the 1920s and 1930s, and honed to perfection in the 1940s and 1950s). was an unforgettable and magical experience.
As Julian Bream commented in 1974:” I was simply riveted by his playing. I’d never heard such beautiful articulation, such a wealth of tone-colour, and such wonderfully integral interpretation. His technique is really quite formidable. There’s never been a technique of such precision and control before Segovia and it would be remarkable if there would be in the future a superior technique…I think the most remarkable thing on hearing Segovia would be the effect of the sound that he produces and the effect of that sound upon one’s sensibilities…It is the hallmark of Segovia’s playing that anything Segovia attempted was always done with tremendous conviction.”
Sean – superb playing, such articulate feel and composure in spite of some very challenging stretches. Love the tone you achieve. Which leads me to the inevitable question (as a fellow guitarist): what guitar(s) do you play ? Understand if you prefer to reply privately. Thanks and best wishes.
GRAHAM WADE
Be careful of the company you keep….Mr Roach’s comment that my love of Segovia ‘makes a bob or two’ is moronic and the word ‘worshipper’ is infantile and insulting. Such drivel does not constitute worthwhile points of discussion for individuals alleged to be adult. There is no answer to snide frivolity.
Mr Roach attempts to stigmatise Segovia as an ‘egotist’. I wonder if Mr Roach ever met Segovia or spoke with him, attended any of his concerts, or received a letter from him. (I am, by the way, completely in the dark about Mr Roach’s contribution and commitment so far to the history and well-being of the classical guitar.)
I spent a reasonable amount of time with Segovia in various contexts, including at his home in Madrid. Segovia possessed in fact a wonderful inner humility, listened intensely to other opinions, and was to be respected for his uniquely vast experience of art and life. His friends and acquaintances had consisted of some of the finest artists of the 20th century including Llobet, Picasso, Rodrigo,Villa-Lobos, Hauser, Ramirez, Falla, Torroba, Turina, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Ponce, Stravinsky, Tansman (who loved the way Segovia played his music), Menuhin, etc as well as literary figures such as Lorca and Machado.
Segovia is estimated by his official biographer to have performed 5402 concerts between 1909 and 1987, and on average played some sixty-nine recitals a year, no year being missed despite wars, illness, personal bereavement, etc. Over his career he played in over 100 countries, and in between constant travelling throughout his life edited dozens of editions and some fifty long-playing recordings.
Were all the audiences from 1909 onwards misguided? Of course not. Segovia’s art was that of performing above all. I attended at least forty of his recitals between the early 1960s and 1986. Far from being ‘mannered and gratuitous’, meaningless words in this context, Segovia’s performing art, (developed over the 1920s and 1930s, and honed to perfection in the 1940s and 1950s). was an unforgettable and magical experience.
As Julian Bream commented in 1974:” I was simply riveted by his playing. I’d never heard such beautiful articulation, such a wealth of tone-colour, and such wonderfully integral interpretation. His technique is really quite formidable. There’s never been a technique of such precision and control before Segovia and it would be remarkable if there would be in the future a superior technique…I think the most remarkable thing on hearing Segovia would be the effect of the sound that he produces and the effect of that sound upon one’s sensibilities…It is the hallmark of Segovia’s playing that anything Segovia attempted was always done with tremendous conviction.”
Sean – superb playing, such articulate feel and composure in spite of some very challenging stretches. Love the tone you achieve. Which leads me to the inevitable question (as a fellow guitarist): what guitar(s) do you play ? Understand if you prefer to reply privately. Thanks and best wishes.
Hello! I’m playing mostly on a 2008 Merula Special made by Bert Kwakkel. Thanks for your kind words!