Julián Arcas

Julián Arcas

Julián Arcas (1832 – 16 February 1882) was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer, who influenced Francisco Tárrega and Antonio de Torres.

Biography

Arcas was born in María, Almería, and died in Antequera, Malaga. From 1860 until 1872, he performed all over Europe. The young Francisco Tárrega listened to him in 1863 in Castellón and played for him after the performance, on the request of Tárrega's father. Arcas then invited Tárrega to study with him in Barcelona. Arcas wrote fifty-two original works and transcribed thirty pieces for the guitar, including waltzes, variations, preludes and dances. Thirty were published in Barcelona by Vidal y Roger and fifty in Madrid by Unión Musical Española.

Through the work of the guitar maker Antonio de Torres Jurado, Arcas influenced the development of the classical guitar, particularly with regard to the design of the soundboard.

Bibliography

• Eusebio Rioja: Julián Arcas o los albores de la guitarra flamenca (Sevilla: Bienal de Arte Flamenco, 1990), ISBN 84-86773-20-2.
• Javier Suárez-Pajares: "Julian Arcas: Figura clave de la Guitarra Española", in: Actas del XV Congreso de la Sociedad Internacional de Musicología: Culturas musicales del Mediterraneo y sus ramificaciónes, vol. 4, (Madrid, 1992).
• Eusebio Rioja: "Julián Arcas Lacal (1832–1882), concertista internacional, compositor y maestro de guitarra", in: Revista velezana no. 12 (1993), p. 43–54.
• Melchor Rodríguez (ed.): Julían Arcas. Obras Completas para Guitarra / Guitar Works (Madrid: Soneto, 1993), ISBN 84-87969-38-0.
• Graham Wade: A Concise History of the Classic Guitar (Pacific, Missouri: Mel Bay, 2001), ISBN 078664978X.
• Javier Suárez-Pajares, Eusebio Rioja Vázquez: El guitarrista almeriense Julián Arcas (1832–1882): una biografía documental (Almería: Instituto de Estudios Almerienses, 2003), ISBN 84-8108-273-2.

References

External links

• Free scores by Julián Arcas at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• New scores of Julián Arcas