Agust�n Barrios Mangore

Paganini of the Classical Guitar

"Agust�n Barrios Mangore - seen as one of
the greatest musicians of all time by many..."

He is now the most acknowledged Paraguayan musician in history. It wasn't always so, however, and due to some famous musicians championing his music, he has come back into favoritism today.

Indeed, the world-famous classical guitar player John Williams has said of Mangore..."I think he's the greatest guitar composer of all, in other words, a guitarist who wrote guitar music. He had a real feel for form...you never thought his pieces were too long or too short, and melodically his pieces used to join up...they were never just one little clever idea, one tune often takes you into another part of the tune almost like the great jazz guitarist Django Rheinhardt..."

Born in the city of San Juan in 1885, Agust�n Barrios Mangore was one of eight children. Both his parents were musical and his mother was quite a good guitarist herself. After early study of the guitar masters Sor, Aguado & Tarrega with his teacher, Gustavo Escalda, he was widely regarded as a child prodigy at the age of thirteen.

Mangore even excelled in other fields including poetry and calligraphy when he attended Colegio Nacional de Asuncion as one of the youngest university students in Paraguayan history. In addition to that he spoke multiple languages and also studied mathematics and philosophy. Moreover, he believed, as was instilled in him by his family at an early age, that you could not divorce the artist from culture. He firmly believed that you had to be immersed in culture to be a legitimate artist.

Barrios it could be said behaved curiously, indeed eccentric, in later life. He took the name of a famous native chieftain and took to performing in full native dress. In one of his poems he described how he was chosen to be..."Nitsuga Mangore, the "Paganini of the guitar" by "Tupa, the supreme spirit and protector of my people". This practice was almost reminiscent of the mystical Yogis of India who "bestow shakti" on a chosen one to continue the lineage but also engage in a special, often healing, purpose while on earth. It is obvious that Mangore's special mission was music but chiefly the guitar.

Barrios composed over three hundred works for the guitar, many of which were virtuosic. He also performed all over South America and even in Europe. He was widely accepted and respected though it is said the great Segovia didn't care much for his work except for La Catedral. That couldn't have done much for his reputation at the time seeing as Segovia was regarded as a sort of demi-god. Luckily, history has judged him to be both a quality player but more importantly, a composer of the highest rank.

Check out this great little video on YouTube of David Russell playing Julia Florida (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)...

Because it's a great way to super-boost your playing
and become the guitar player you've always wanted I
personally recommend these titles. Just click on
the pictures below to BUY NOW...

Mangore died at a relatively young man at fifty-nine years of age in El salvador after being reduced to a shadow of his former self (due to heart disease) and relying on teaching and some modest performing to help him get by. That aside he is well-loved, even revered by Paraguay as one of their greatest musical heroes. And it is well-deserved!

You can get some great music by Agustin Barrios Mangore here...

Still Haven't Found What You're Looking For?

Simply enter whatever term you're searching for e.g. if you're searching for all pages that mention the word "segovia" just type in that term and away you go!

You can even search the Web. Just enter "classical guitar" followed by your search word(s). I hope you find me again!

Ready? 1-2-3... Search!