Dionisio Aguado y García

Lithograph of Dionisio Aguado by J.A. López

Dionisio Aguado (8 April 1784 – 29 December 1849) was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer.

Biography

Born in Madrid, he studied with Miguel Garcia. In 1825, Aguado visited Paris, where he met and became friends with and for a while lived with Fernando Sor. Sor's duo Les Deux Amis ("The Two Friends") commemorated the friendship: one part is marked "Sor" and the other "Aguado."

Aguado's major work Escuela de Guitarra was a guitar tutor published in 1825. It is still reprinted today (Tecla editions). In the Escuela Aguado describes his use of fingernails on the right hand as well as his invention of a "tripodion": a device that held the guitar and thus minimized the damping effect of the player's body on the guitar's back and sides. Aguado's other works include Trois Rondos Brillants (Opus 2), Le Menuet Affandangado (Opus 15), Le Fandango Varie (Opus 16), as well as numerous waltzes, minuets, and other light pieces. The more extended works require a virtuoso technique and left-hand stretches that are almost impossible on the longer string lengths of modern guitars. (See Frederick Noad, "The Classical Guitar")

Aguado returned home to Madrid in 1838 and died there aged 65.

Aguado's surname comes from the Spanish word for "soaked." (This is because an ancient relative of his, who was a knight, returned after a battle caked in mud. The nickname then eventually became the surname.)

Instruments used by Aguado

Of the instruments used by Aguado, two which were built by

• Pierre René Lacôte, (Paris 1838) and
• Etienne Laprevotte, (Paris 1838)

are held at the Museo Arqueológico Nacional in Madrid.

List of works

• 1825 Rondo
• Op. 1 : Douze Valses
• Op. 2 : Trois Rondo Brillants
• Op. 3 : Huit Petites Pièces
• Op. 4 : Six Petites Pièces
• Op. 5 : Quatre Andantes et Quatre Valses
• Op. 6 : Nuevo Método de Guitarra
• Op. 7 : Valses Faciles
• Op. 8 : Contredanses et Valses Faciles
• Op. 9 : Contredanses non difficiles
• Op. 10 : Exercices Faciles et Très Utiles
• Op. 11 : Les Favorites - Huit Contredanses
• Op. 12 : Six Menuets & Six Valses
• Op. 13 : Morceaux Agréables non difficiles
• Op. 14 : Dix Petites Pièces non difficiles
• Op. 15 : Le Menuet Affandangado
• Op. 16 : Le Fandango Varié

External links

Images of Aguado

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Sheet music

• Rischel & Birket-Smith's Collection of guitar music Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Denmark
• Boije Collection The Music Library of Sweden
• creativeguitar.org (sheetmusic largely compiled from the above primary sources)
• Free scores by Dionisio Aguado y García at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
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