Moreno Torroba, Federico

b. (1891) - d. (1982)

Federico Moreno Torroba was born in Madrid on 3rd March, 1891. He learned music from an early age with his father, Jos Moreno Ballesteros, a well known organist, and then studied composition with the great Catalan musicologist, Felipe Pedrell (18411922) and the composer, Conrado del Campo (1878-1953). In 1918, the year when Moreno Torrobas tone poem, La ajorca de oro (The Gold Bracelet) had its premire at the conservatoire, he met the great guitarist, Andrs Segovia, who commented in his autobiography: Then there was a first in the field of the guitar: for the first time, a composer who was not a guitarist, wrote a piece for the guitar. It was Federico Moreno Torroba, whose musical poem had just been premiered by the National Symphony under the direction of Maestro Arbs. Moreno Torroba had been introduced to me by the orchestras first violin, Seor Francs. It did not take us long to become friends, nor for him to accede to my suggestion: Would he compose something for the guitar? In a few weeks he came up with a slight but truly beautiful Dance in E major. In spite of his scant knowledge of the guitars complex technique, he approached it accurately by sheer instinct and, to my joy, the work remained in the repertoire. The composer continued to write for guitar during the rest of his life, producing some eighty works including dances, impressionistic pieces, sonatas and sonatinas and suites as well as concertos and compositions for four guitars. The close association with Segovia in due course established Moreno Torrobas international reputation as one of the foremost composers involved in the remarkable twentieth century renaissance of the classical guitar. His guitar music has remained one of the most popular elements of the modern repertoire ever since Segovia recorded the first movement (Allegretto) of Sonatina (20th May, 1927). Moreno Torroba, however, was not only a prolific guitar composer but one of the leading advocates in the late flowering of the zarzuela, the light Spanish opera form characterized by a blend of sung and spoken dialect. As conductor and impresario, he travelled widely throughout the 1930s and 1940s with several stage companies, visiting the United States and Latin America. His first zarzuela was written as early as 1912, but it was the success of La mesonera de Tordesillas (The Hostess of Tordesillas) (1925), which confirmed his enthusiasm for the genre, and a whole string of triumphs, including La marchenera (The Girl from Marchena) (1928) and Luisa Fernanda (1932) followed, continuing through till Ella (1966), the composer finally achieving an astonishing total of some eighty operas. After the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939, Moreno Torroba continued as one of the dominant figures of Spanish musical culture. Founding a new zarzuela company in 1946, he once again toured widely and in 1957 Mara Manuela became the most popular Spanish opera of the decade. In the post-war years, the composer wrote nine ballets, a quantity of choral and orchestral music, a piano concerto and many piano solos, a variety of songs and miscellaneous other works, as well as numerous guitar pieces, a prodigious output which continued until his death at the age of 91. Moreno Torrobas musical vocabulary eschewed experimentation along twentieth-century avant-garde lines, preferring lyrically melodic music with tonal harmony. His philosophy of composition is often described as castizo, signifying a blend of folk elements drawing on the traditions of Iberian culture, combined with conventional forms and evocative or impressionistic works celebrating dance genres, specific places, or moods. His guitar music is particularly rich in its use of colour, melody, and lively rhythms to transport the listener into an essentially Spanish expression of a poetic and romantic sensibility.

Chamber Music

KALANIEMI, M.: 2 Finnish Pieces / ASSAD, S.: Uarekena / STRAVINSKY, I.: 5 Easy Pieces / MORENO, T.: Estampas (Minneapolis Guitar Quartet)
Concertos

TROY339

RODRIGO, J.: Concierto de Aranjuez / MORENO-TORROBA, F.: Concierto de Castilla / CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO, M.: Serenade (Troster)
Instrumental

CTH2171

ABRSM Repertoire for Guitar, Grade 8 (2009) 9.70100 DIAZ, Alirio: Classic Portraits - The Best of Alirio Diaz ATM-CD-1813 Guitar Duet Recital: Rost, Monika / Rost, Jurgen SOR, F. / C10174 GRANADOS, E. / ALBENIZ, I. / MORENO TORROBA, F. / TARREGA, F. / RUIZ-PIPO, A. GUITAR FAVORITES 8.553999 Guitar Music - MILAN, L. / MUDARRA, A. / NARVAEZ, L. / SANZ, DE3347 G. / MURCIA, S. / AGUADO, D. / ALBENIZ, I. (The Spanish Guitar) (Segre) Guitar Music - NIN-CULMELL, J.M. / FRASER, M.K. / DE3236 CONSTANTINIDIS, Y. / MORENO, T.F. / BARTOK , B. / GRIEG, E. (Galbraith) Guitar Recital: Denis Azabagic 8.554555 Guitar Recital: Fukuda, Shin-ichi - TURINA, J. / MORENO, T.F. / MM1148 RODRIGO, J. / FALLA, M. Guitar Recital: Korhonen, Timo - TARREGA, F. / TORROBA, F. / ODE752-2 ALBENIZ, I. (Sevilla) Guitar Recital: Pablo Sainz Villegas 8.557596 Guitar Recital: Richards, Jonathan - MORENO TORROBA, F. / DDV24119 GRANADOS, E. / ALBENIZ, I. / SCRIABIN, A. / SCHUMANN, R. / FREDRIC, C. (Forever) Guitar Recital: Schoeppe, Susanne - PONCE, M.M. / MORENO, T.F. / GMP04501 DOLEZEL, D. / CASTILLO, C. Guitar Recital: Segovia, Andres - MILAN, L. / COUPERIN, L. / IDIS6432 PONCE, M.M. / BACH, C.P.E. / HAYDN, F.J. / AGUIRRE, J. (Rare Recordings) (1952-1954) Guitar Recital: Segovia, Andres - MUDARRA, A. / FRESCOBALDI, IDIS6421-22 G.A. / VISEE, R. de / RAMEAU, J.-P. (The Golden Years of Andres Segovia) (1952-1954) MORENO TORROBA, F.: Music for Guitar M56833 MORENO-TORROBA: Guitar Music, Vol. 1 8.557902 SEGOVIA, Andres: 1944 American Recordings (The) (Segovia, Vol. 1) 8.111087 SEGOVIA, Andres: 1946 New York and the 1949 London Recordings 8.111088 (The) (Segovia, Vol. 2) SEGOVIA, Andres: 1950s American Recordings, Vol. 6 (Segovia, Vol. 8.111314 8) SEGOVIA, Andres: Guitar of Andres Segovia (The) - Hermann Hauser CDS433