Dionisio Aguado y García

Dionisio Aguado y García (8 April 178429 December 1849) was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer of the late Classical and early Romantic periods.

Biography Born in Madrid, he studied with Miguel García. In 1826, Aguado visited Paris, where he met and became friends with and for a while lived with Fernando Sor. Sor's duo Les Deux Amis ("The Two Friends") commemorated the friendship: one part is marked "Sor" and the other "Aguado."

Aguado's major work Nuevo Metodo Para Guitarra was a guitar tutorial published in 1843. In the Nuevo Metodo Aguado describes his use of fingernails on the right hand as well as his invention of a "tripodison": a device that held the guitar and thus minimized the damping effect of the player's body on the guitar's back and sides. Aguado's other works include numerous waltzes, minuets, and other light pieces. The more extended works require a virtuoso technique and left-hand stretches that are almost impossible on the longer string lengths of modern guitars. (See Frederick Noad, "The Classical Guitar")

Aguado returned home to Madrid in 1837 and died there aged 65.

List of works

Op. 1 : Douze Valses Op. 2 : Trois Rondo Brillants Op. 3 : Huit Petites Pièces Op. 4 : Six Petites Pièces Op. 5 : Quatre Andantes et Quatre Valses Op. 6 : Nouvelle Méthode de Guitare (1834) Op. 7 : Valses Faciles Op. 8 : Contredanses et Valses Faciles Op. 9 : Contredanses non difficiles Op. 10 : Exercices Faciles et Très Utiles Op. 11 : Les Favorites - Huit Contredanses Op. 12 : Six Menuets & Six Valses Op. 13 : Morceaux Agréables non difficiles Op. 14 : Dix Petites Pièces non difficiles Op. 15 : Le Menuet Affandangado Op. 16 : Le Fandango Varié

Works without Opus number: Allegro Coleccion De Andantes, Valses Y Minuetos Douze Walses, Une Marche Militaire, Et Un Theme Varie Escuela de Guitarra (1825) Gran Solo (Fernando Sor's Op.14, Arr. by Aguado) Muestra De Afecto Y Reconocimiento (Seis Valses) Valses Characteristiques Variaciones Variaciones Brillantes Mazurka (Polish national song, Arr. by Dionisio Aguado) Adante by Dionisio Aguado Introducción y rondó

Album Duo Imbesi Zangarà, Tocando en Dos works by Julian Arcas, Francisco Tarrega, Dionisio Aguado, performed by Carmelo Imbesi e Carmen Zangarà, Classical Music 3.0, 2022