Andrés Segovia has an immovable condition as the father of modern classical guitar, he laid the foundations for everything that came after. Without it, this modest instrument today would be relegated only to popular and folk music.
That said, there are also many people who criticize his attitudes and even his playing technique, it is no more untouchable for the new generation of guitarists.
Something that many consider remarkable about Segovia is its relationship with the guitar composer Agustín Barrios Mangore, whose name is almost always present today in the repertoire of classical guitarists and is often considered one of the best composers for the instrument (like Chopin de guitar, quoting John Williams).
Despite the recognition Barrios receives today, he was relatively unknown in the classical guitar world during his lifetime. He did not tour Europe or the United States, he gave concerts in Latin America, successfully, but the small market did not allow him to earn a large amount of money. He did not become a world figure, unlike his counterpart Segovia, which filled prestigious theaters in the most important cities of the world.
Although Barrios came from a country relatively isolated from the musical world, we cannot say that he did not have the opportunity to explode his career. He spent a lot of time in one of the world’s cultural centers at the time: Buenos Aires. He did not take advantage of this favorable environment, he dedicated himself to playing concerts and making consistent albums with mostly popular melodies, and he stayed away from the growing classical guitar community in Buenos Aires. Llobet, Segovia and other notable guitarists traveled regularly to give concerts in this city with a large and welcoming audience.
Barrios was geared more towards the popular music audience, this was for a number of reasons discussed elsewhere. Later, he had another great opportunity to advance his career, meeting Gino Marinuzzi, the world-famous director of La Scala Opera in Milan in Rio de Janeiro. He played a private concert for the notable musician and some of his friends and was warmly congratulated. If he had kept in touch with Marinuzzi, he could have made some contacts with businessmen in Europe and organized some concerts.
Another, and probably the best opportunity he had (although this time it did not depend much on him) was when he met Andrés Segovia. Maestro Segovia, at the time they met, was not yet the world guitar authority that he would become in later years, but he was nevertheless in a much better position than Barrios, he was giving concerts in South America and Europe.
Segovia had heard of Barrios before meeting in 1921. Miguel Herrera Klinger (Uruguayan biographer) stated that on one occasion he overheard a conversation in a guitar shop in Buenos Aires between Andrés Segovia, Regino Sáinz de la Maza and Domingo Prat about Barrios. They talked about the metal ropes used by the Paraguayan. Sáinz de la Maza was the only one who did not reject the steel strings, as long as it was Barrios who played them. To which Segovia said: “Well, as far as I’m concerned, I wouldn’t know what to do with that fence.” This happened around 1912, when Barrios was not yet a mature guitarist and Segovia was just beginning his career.
They finally put on in 1921, in Buenos Aires. Segovia was gaining more and more recognition at this time, it was in a much better position than Barrios, that determined the way the meeting happened: Barrios attending a concert in Segovia. After the concert they were introduced by a friend of both. They spoke politely and Barrios promised to visit him.
This visit took place some time later at the house in Segovia (Barrios was the one who had to go after Segovia). Klinger declared about this meeting: “Barrios played a cascade of musical gems for the great Segovia who was surprised … even better: he was stunned. Almost 2 hours later he was congratulated by the Master. One work in particular that he liked a lot and indicated that he would play at his concerts. Barrios gave him an original copy with a dedication. The work that Segovia said he would like to program in his concerts he never played. And logically: if he had played it, with the extraordinary skills he possessed, he would have elevated Barrios to inaccessible heights, thus detracting from his own artistic prestige. “
The work Klinger is talking about here is La Catedral, one of Barrios’ masterpieces. There is a possibility that Barrios never gave Segovia a copy, as he did not have it with him, he had to ask a friend to send it to him from Uruguay. We do not know for sure if the copy arrived on time, before Segovia left Buenos Aires. But if Segovia had been sincere, he would have helped Barrios organize concerts in Europe and the United States. Many years later, Barrios would realize that Segovia was not his friend and would say of him that he was “deaf at heart.” Barrios acknowledged that Segovia was an outstanding technician but he did not see himself in any way “less technical.” Barrios was proud of his identity as a composer, which implied skills and talents far beyond the “mother” acquisition of physical virtuosity.
This is the commonly accepted version, that Segovia had some envy and fear of being replaced by Barrios as a guitar authority, and so he ignored it. There were also other reasons for that rejection that were not related to competition. They are technical and musical reasons.
Segovia had a reputation for being a harsh critic, he never hesitated to criticize important musical figures such as Narciso Yepes and his 10-string guitar, Paco de Lucía and Abel Carlevaro. He had a clear vision of what classical guitar should be and would not accept anyone heading in another direction. Barrios was one of them. Barrios played with metal strings, a very good reason for Segovia to reject him. It could also be that he did not like Barrios’ music, as it sometimes had a Latin American folk character. He despised everything that related the guitar to folk music.
The quote from Segovia that says that Barrios “is not a good composer for the guitar” is famous. David Norton, the student who asked Segovia about Barrios in a masterclass made the following post on the delcamp.com online forum:
Everyone here knows the quote: “In public, I heard Segovia say that ‘Barrios was not a good composer for the guitar.’ Richard Stover has repeated this statement for years, as a kind of mantra.
But that’s not the whole story. This post is. You see, as fate would have it, I was the student who asked Segovia about Barrios that afternoon, and this excerpt from the quote is his answer for me.
The context is this. Segovia had completed a masterclass at California State University – Northridge (CSUN). I think this was in April 1981 or 1982. It is not important. The class concluded and I, along with 20 or 30 other people, was in the front floating. The circumstances were such that Segovia was answering some questions from the students. I found myself within 4 feet of him, with Stover (my teacher at the time) right next to me.
I asked him: “Maestro, what is your opinion about Barrios’ music that has become so popular recently?” His wife asked me to repeat it, because naturally they weren’t really listening. I did, translated.
Segovia paused and it was clear that he was struggling to find the right words. “Barrios …. was not …. he did not write …. all the small pieces (he made a gesture with his hands, thumb and forefinger indicating smallness) …. not like Ponce, who wrote large . ” Compared to Ponce or Castelnuovo, Barrios is not a good composer for the guitar. “
Stover only heard the last. He was beyond furious with me for asking, “YOU HAD to ask Him, in front of God and everyone! And he just discarded my whole life’s work. Thank you so much !!” And he was trampling. A week later, he apologized for overreacting and said, “So what? He’s an old man, who cares what he thinks? People with some brains know Barrios better.”
And no one who wasn’t there that afternoon would have found out about this conversation, if Stover himself hadn’t spent the next several years repeating it over and over again, and then attacking it.
So there you have it, at least as well as I remember the incident 23-24 years ago. In context, a 90-year-old man, who was obviously very fatigued after 3 hours of teaching, speaks in English (which was never his strong point), and his actual statement is not as damning as the one Stover speaks. published over the years.
Do it as you want.
There was another meeting between the two teachers, many years later, at the end of Barrios’ life. In March 1944 Segovia visited San Salvador to give a concert. The two teachers met and spent several hours chatting in the Segovia hotel room. Not even a note was played, as Barrios was in poor physical condition and Segovia felt a certain pity for his “enemy”, since he was forgotten and poor in a relatively isolated country and Segovia knew the fame and recognition that his talent deserved. .
They had a polite and cordial meeting, where Segovia left Barrios a set of guts as a gift.
This story sheds light on his opinion of Barrios’ music. Segovia admired Barrios as musicality but he did not want to popularize his music with a folkloric character, his goal was to show the world that the guitar could be considered an instrument of art music. This could also be mixed, but I doubt it, with jealousy.
We can blame Segovia for not showing Barrios to the world, but Barrios never did much to become what he should be. He was not interested in that. His music was for the people he knew. This can be understood in his bio below.
We cannot know with certainty the reasons why Segovia rejected Barrios, we can only speculate. What we do know is that Barrios and Segovia squandered a great opportunity to make classical guitar even bigger.