El Arreglito
Sebastian Yradier
El Arreglito is the one but best known piece by the Spanish composer Sebastian de Iradier y Salaverri (1809-1865), because La Paloma, a Habanera which was written by him is firmly on the top of the charts and still popular in Spain and Mexico.
Iradier, who is commonly known as Yradier because his music publisher in Paris wanted his name to be more French (looks good on the covers), exploited a new musical form, the Habanera. The most famous of them -La Paloma- was published in 1855. Yradier lived and worked in Madrid, Paris, Cuba and the United States and in the end died in Spain.
El Arreglito has the characteristics of the Habanera, two-four time and phrases with triplets and eights. The title of the piece translates as love affair. Bizet used the theme partly for the world famous Habanera from Carmen.
Yradier wrote El Arreglito for a larger ensemble than a single solo guitar, so this piece is an arrangement. it is written by Federico Sacchi, an Italian guitarist from the nineteenth century. I found the piece in the Boye Collection and made my own setting of it.