Classical Guitar

Established in 19th-century Spain after its introduction from the Near East during the Moorish invasion, the classical guitar boasts a truly cosmopolitan tradition. Pepe Romero (performing "Malagueña" and "Asturias" from Isaac Albéniz's Suite Española), a son of Malaga and scion of the Romero guitar dynasty, features here alongside Australian John Williams, who begins our selection with Francisco Tárrega's "Recuerdos de la Alhambra". The art of the classical guitar can be collaborative, as our Next Steps confirm.

Versatile classical guitar dream-team the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet has perfected an almost telepathic level of interplay through freshly interpreted pieces, such as "Aragonaise" from Bizet's opera Carmen. The late Alexandre Lagoya (also, surprisingly enough for someone with such cultured hands, a talented boxer) performs "Claire de lune" with his fellow guitarist and wife, Ida Presti, who died tragically young in 1967. A great pioneer of the classical guitar features among our Deep Cuts.

The godfather of the modern classical guitar movement is without doubt Andrés Segovia (1893-1987). He was a true groundbreaker, given the fact that the guitar was once considered a third-rate instrument by the vast majority of classical musicians and composers. Segovia would change all that, aided by the advent of the nylon string. Here he plays "Españoleta" from Fantasía para un gentilhombre, composed in 1954 by Joaquín Rodrigo at the request of Segovia, who was the eponymous "gentilhombre".

If you're new to the world of the classical guitar, our selection of its greatest practitioners will introduce you to the legends (Pepe Romero, Ida Presti), masters (Christopher Parkening, John Williams), and composers (Joaquín Rodrigo, Francisco Tárrega) who have ensured the instrument's enduring popularity. Here, we give you guitar music in its most complex and purely satisfying guise, from the pieces that have become ingrained in mainstream popular culture ("Cavatina", from the soundtrack of The Deer Hunter) to lesser known — but no less captivating — études, bagatelles, and madrigals.