Ramon Amira -> RE: Romanza Anonima (Dec. 6 2009 7:23:44)
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Yes, "Romance" sometimes called "Romance D'Amor" and other names is certainly one of the best known and most popular pieces ever written for guitar. When classical guitarists get together the subject of authorship invariably comes up sooner or later, and it has been debated for a very long time. I have heard anecdotal references to Llobet as the author, but it seems unlikely. Narciso Yepes claimed authorship, but there was evidence that it had been played before he was born. Vicente Gomez published his version of it (which I have) and included a real nice intro. He played the piece in the 1941 film "Blood and Sand." I got together with Vicente many times when I was living in California. I once asked him who he thought wrote it. He gave me a sly smile (he had the best smile of anyone I have ever met) and said, "I did." Incidentally Vicente was another flamenco guitarist who also was a master of classical guitar, and whose flamenco music has been widely published. He was a fine flamenco guitarist, who unfortunately has been largely overlooked. There is just one video of him on YouTube, playing Alegrias, and flashing that great smile. I have never known anyone who played with as much great joy and enthusiasm as Vicente. I have my own theory that it was composed by Fernando Sor. The style is similar to a lot of Sor's compositions, but especially to one of his pieces, a study in E Minor, generally referred to by classical guitarists as "Sor 17," the reference being to the famous Segovia Twenty Sor Studies, Segovia having once said that anyone who can play all of those twenty studies fluently can play anything. This particular study was number seventeen of the Segovia Sor Studies. It bears a striking similarity in that it is also in E Minor, the melody line is on the first string, just like "Romance," and is generally brought out with rest strokes, and the accompaniment is mostly on the second and third strings, just as in "Romance," and played free stroke. It also starts in E Minor and then goes to E Major, exactly like "Romance." If you play them both in succession you get the feeling that the same composer wrote both, but unfortunately it's not likely that the question will ever be definitively answered.
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