Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez

II ADAGIO

Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) composed the Concierto de Aranjuez in 1939 and since has become his most renowned work. Rodrigo writes about the conception of his most famous composition: "...in my small studio on Rue Saint Jacques in the heart of the Latin Quarter, vaguely thinking about the concerto, which had become a fond idea given how difficult I judged it to be, when I heard a voice inside me singing the entire theme of the Adagio at one go, without hesitation. And immediately afterwards, without a break, the theme of the third movement. I realized quickly that the work was done. Our intuition does not deceive us in these things..." Having completely lost his sight at the age of three, all of Rodrigo's compositions were originally written in braille, of course including the complex score of this concerto. Afterwords, Rodrigo would dictate his score note for note to a copyist, who would painstakingly transcribe it into musical notation.