Gavota Madrigal
Augustin Barrios
The Paraguayan Augustin Barrios (1885 - 1945) was one of the great guitar virtuoso's from the romantic era. His compositions are virtuoso and contain lots of innovative techniques.
Barrios was born in San Bautista de las Misiones in Paraguay as the fith son of a married couple of teachers. His parents included a great deal of music and culture in his education. Inspired by his mother's play, Augustin started playing guitar at an early age. After his musical training in the capital Asuncion, Barrios toured the world as a guitar virtuoso. He also occupied himself with composition, literature and poetry. He was one of the first guitarists to be recorded, a few recordings are an evidence of his virtuoso and inspired playing.
His music was influenced by three aspects: the folklore of his land, the mystics of religion and his love for the European classical music, e.g. by Bach. He left more that three hundred compositions.
Gavota Madrigal is one of my wife's favourites. It is quite a challenge to play because of its excursions to the higher positions, not quite a strong point of my playing. It is a joyful folk dance like piece with an elegant musical line. I will definitely be working on it in the near future!