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Castelnuovo-Tedesco...Musical Maestro!"Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco - Composed
Although he was disregarded by some of his contemporaries for his "quaint and reactionary views of music", he nevertheless went on to write not only a great quantity of music, but music of great quality. Indeed, his output was quite prolific, writing in such forms as: Concertos (including the popular guitar concertos); orchestral music; chamber music; piano music; vocal and choral music; ballets; operas; and of course, guitar music. A well-rounded composer by all accounts! Castelnuovo-Tedesco showed great promise in music even in early childhood. He had composed pieces for the piano by the time he was only ten years old. His mother was a big influence, teaching him the piano before he went on to study music formally. At twenty years of age he was quite famous throughout Europe. By the time he was twenty-three in 1918 he had studied in both Florence and Bologna and had graduated from the conservatories with a growing excellent reputation. He started mixing in the highest musical circles and was very successful. In 1925 he won an award for his opera La Mandragola, which was performed for the first time in Venice. It was when he met the "ubiquitous" Segovia in 1932 that the repertoire for the guitar took a turn for the better. Indeed he wrote over 100 works for the guitar, some of which remain at the top of the repertoire of the concert platforms today. Who could not be moved by his guitar concertos or the Homage to Boccherini?
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Being of Spanish/Jewish heritage the family fled to America where they could carry on their musical life in a normal fashion, without the intrusion of the idiotic and ultimately doomed fascist regime. The weird fact was that the Castelnuovo-Tedesco family had come to Italy from Spain in the 15th century because of the persecution of Jews there. So they fled to America, the "land of dreams" where he did indeed make his mark! It wasn't long before he landed a job with M.G.M. studios writing film scores and other incidental music for film. (In fact, he wrote music for over 200 films in his lifetime). This kept him in a sound financial position for many years but later on he realized he was more akin to being the freelance writer, which he later became. He continued to teach music and had many students who became famous in their own right. Names like John Williams (Composer & conductor), Henry Mancini, Andre Previn and Jerry Goldsmith all came under the tutelage and influence of Castelnuovo-Tedesco, whom they all admired and respected a great deal.
Check out this great little video on YouTube of Cesar Amaro playing Tarantela Note: Press "play" button then pause it so it loads properly. Then press "play" again when fully loaded. It should take several minutes to load)...
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He died in his adopted country in California on the 16th of April 1968. No doubt many guitarists and all manner of musicians the world over mourned the passing of this great, gentle, generous human being. A man who gave so much to the world of guitar and music.
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