Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquess of the Gardens of Aranjuez, was born in Sagunto (Valencia), and completely lost his sight at the age of three after contracting diphtheria. He began to study piano and violin at the age of eight; harmony and composition from the age of 16. Although distinguished by having raised the Spanish guitar to dignity as a universal concert instrument and best known for his guitar music, he never mastered the instrument himself. He wrote his compositions in Braille, and they were transcribed for publication.
The Concierto de Aranjuez was inspired by the gardens at Palacio Real de Aranjeuz, the spring resort palace and gardens built by Philip II in the last half of the 16th century and rebuilt in the middle of the 18th century by Ferdinand VI. The work attempts to transport the listener to another place and time through the evocation of the sounds of nature. Composed in early 1939, in Paris, amid the tensions of the impending war, it was the first work Rodrigo wrote for guitar and orchestra. The instrumentation is unusual: rarely does the guitar face the forces of a full orchestra. Thus, the guitar is never overwhelmed.
An arrangement of the Adagio by Kevin Bolton for a brass band led by a flugelhorn was recorded by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band as part of the soundtrack to the 1996 film Brassed Off. The arrangement is sometimes referred to in jest as the Concierto d’Orange Juice, due to the pronunciation used in the film by actor Pete Postlethwaite. (Deep Purple used the theme in their version coincidently called ‘The Orange Juice Song’) In the movie Tara Fitzgerald makes a valiant attempt to apparently play the piece although she admits to being a little wobbly. The band rehearsal is cut together with footage of talks between management and unions to save the pit and presages the impending conflict to come just as in Rodrigo day.
Japanese violinist Ikuko Kawai’s has arranged an upbeat, faster update to the work with she entitles merely ‘Aranjuez’. It appears on her first album ‘The Red Violin’ released in 2000.
In 1967, the first song version was produced and launched on the French market by Richard Anthony, under the title Aranjuez, mon amour, with lyrics in French. The song rapidly became a bestseller at the international level. Pop stars of the moment rivalled in bringing our their own version, and the theme was sung in a wide variety of languages. Here is a version sung in Spanish by the Greek singer Nana Mouskouri.
Carlos Santana created his own arrangement of ‘En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor’ in 1994. The move to electric instrumentation would appear to be a long way from the original score but after all the same instrument carries the theme, as in Rodrigo’s music.
Please take a moment to comment as to which of these or perhaps another version entirley is your favourite – it would be much appreciated.
