1949 Sabicas Flamenco Guitar Solos 3 78 RPM 10" Vinyl Record Set Decca DU-709

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1949 Sabicas Flamenco Guitar Solos 3 78 RPM 10" Vinyl Record Set Decca DU-709
DECCA ALBUM No. DU-709 Complete on Three Ten-inch Unbreakable Records DU 40072 DU 40073 DU 40074 DANZA MORA Agustin Castellon Flamencan Danza AIRES DEL NORTE Agustin Castellon Flamencan Gallegada GUAJ1RA Agustin Castellon PANADEROS EN SOL Agustin Castellon AIRES DE LINARES Am Agustin Castellon Flamencan Tarantas TREMOLO EN Ml MAYOR Agustin Castellon Flamencan Tremolo THE PERFORMER... The great Andres Segovia calls him his favorite guitar- ist. This tribute from the world’s most renowned classi- cal guitarist is perhaps the best indication of the virtuosity and artistic merit of Agustin Castellon, known professionally as Sabicas. In the realm of Flamencan music Sabicas has no peer. Sensitive and scholarly, he is blessed with both an inherent feeling for the music of his native land and an aggressive intellectual drive that has compelled him to master its every nuance. His style is clean and authoritative; his interpretations are authentic; his repertoire is almost limitless. Sabicas was born in Pamplona, in the mountainous region of northern Spain, of a merchant gypsy family and first displayed an inclination toward music at the age of five when his father took him to a country fair to buy him a toy. Confronted by an array of hundreds of toys, young Agustin wanted only a guitar. Since he was too small to handle such a large instrument, his father bought him a puitarron, which is slightly larger than a ukulele but has strings similar to those of a guitar. At nine Sabicas made his debut in Pamplona and was immediately acclaimed as Spain’s youngest genius of the guitar. At eleven he appeared at one of the fore- most artistic centers of Spain, the Teatro Novedades in Madrid. Here, too, the young gypsy was received with unanimous praise and was signed for a nation- wide tour with the finest artists of the Cante Jondo.* ’The Cante Jondo is a traditional type of Andalusian folk song, usually restricted in its melodic range to a sixth and containing de- liberate uses of so small an interval as a quarter step. It is related, harmonically, to early church music; the frequent use of repeated notes and elaborate embellishments is customary. In 1927, when Sabicas was only fourteen, he won a silver cup in a contest for Flamcncan guitarists and even more important, a recording contract. Through recordings, his fame became international. An invita- tion to play in Latin America followed. He proved so popular in Argentina that, although contracted for only a month, he stayed at the Mayo Theatre in Buenos Aires for six consecutive years. Toscanini and Stokowski heard him during their 1940 visit to the Argentine and returned to the States as two of his most ardent fans. Sabicas followed with a triumphal North American tour, accompanying the great Flaniencan dancer Car- men Amaya. Among the thousands who applauded him in the United States was President Franklin D. Roose- velt, for whom Sabicas was invited to give a concert at the White House. His success notwithstanding, Sabicas remains ever the perfectionist—and always his own most severe critic. To him a performance may he good, but never perfect. The listener to these records will be pardoned, however, if he considers Sabicas the criterion by which to judge all Flaniencan guitarists. THE RECORDS... DANZA MORA While stopping at a hotel in Spanish Morocco, Sabi- cas heard a strange, extraordinarily rhythmic music outside his window. Looking out from his balcony, he discovered a group of natives in the square below doing a Danza Mora, a Moorish dance. The haunting rhythm refused to leave his mind and when he returned to Spain he decided to put it on paper. Sabicas here in- terprets what he considers to be the most authentic Danza Mora by any Spanish guitarist. AIRES DEL NORTE Unlike the other compositions in the album, this is a Gallegada, a potpourri of Galician songs. A colorfully descriptive piece, it first presents the songs of love and loneliness of a Galician youth, then the famous Albo- rada, followed by a brief tremolo. The holiday in song ends with the Mufteira, a gay Galician jota. GUAJIRA The Guajira is a chant of Cadiz. Its sentiment is more satirical than sad. Based on the songs of the towns- people, it is not strictly Flamcncan, though it has the form and rhythm of the Flamenco. PANADEROS EN SOL Al] the elegance of 18th Century Spain is expressed in this, one of the oldest rhythmic Flaniencan dances. Sabicas’ marvelous technique transforms it into a classical piece comparable to the beautiful sonatas of Alexander Scarlatti. AIRES DE LINARES A Tarranlas, this is one of the most moving of all Flaniencan songs. It is the chant of the miners of Anda- luci'a, expressing the pathetic tragedy of their difficult struggle for existence, and is regarded as an example of the perfect Flamcncan form. TREMOLO EN Ml MAYOR Many consider this the most classical of all Flamcn- can compositions. Played with four fingers and studded with many difficult notes, it is the supreme test of the guitarist. Displaying remarkable technique, Sabicas gives the work a most brilliant reading.









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