Guitar Duo: Romantic Era

In the beginning of the nineteenth century, Romanticism emerged as a reaction to the classical period with its strict styles, extending into the twentieth century.

In the Romantic era, everything in art is centred around what people feel, fantasy and nature. Recurring themes became amongst others the idolization of love (the ideal love as well as the impossible one), a longing for a nostalgic past, renewed enthusiasm for nature, death and spontaneous human emotions like joy, sadness, amazement, fear, pain and longing.

In this way new musical forms emerged, such as the Romantic symphony with its long duration, complexity and unusual tonality. The culture music becomes less accessible for amateurs, so the musique de salon fills this gap.

After the reign of Fernando Carulli (1770–1841) Fernando Sor (1778–1839) and Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829) in the classical era, early-romantic composers such as Napoleon Coste (1805 - 1883) and Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806 -1856) joined the scene.

After the luthier Antonio de Torres (1817 – 1892) presented his design of the classical Spanish guitar, the Romantic composers got more room on stage, in particular via composers like Francisco Tarrega (1852 - 1909) and Miguel Llobet (1878-1938).

In this section, you will find a number of guitar duo compositions from the Romantic era, partly originals, partly arrangements.