Joaquín Rodrigo was born in Sagunto, Valencia, on 22 November 1901.  Popularly known to be the composer of the famous Concierto de Aranjuez, Rodrigo is in fact the author of a richly varied musical oeuvre.  Rodrigo’s work covers a wide range of instrumental, vocal and choral compositions, including eleven concertos for various instruments (guitar, piano, violin, harp, cello), numerous songs, ballet music, sacred music and film music.

Rodrigo lost sight almost completely at the age of three, which event led to a vocation towards music, as he himself was later to affirm.  After initial studies in Valencia he went to Paris in 1927, where he studied at the Ecole Normale de Musique with Paul Dukas for five years.  He became friends with Maurice Ravel, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, Manuel de Falla and many other musicians and within a short time made a name for himself as a pianist and composer.  In addition, he studied musicology at the Paris Conservatoire and at the Sorbonne.  Because of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Rodrigo and his wife, the pianist Victoria Kamhi whom he had met in Paris, went back to Spain via Germany and Austria in 1938.  The premiere of the Concierto de Aranjuez in 1939 in Barcelona assured Rodrigo enduring fame and recognition as Spain’s leading composer.  Aside from his composing schedule and concert tours as a highly appreciated pianist, he was head of the music department of Radio Nacional de España and music critic of one of the leading Spanish newspapers for several years.  At the same time, he taught music history at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid and was invited to give lectures in many countries.

Throughout his life, Rodrigo was frequently honoured by governments, universities, academies and other civil and musical organisations in many different countries, a.o. the honorary title "Marques de los Jardines de Aranjuez" conferred to him by the King of Spain Juan Carlos (1992) and the "Premio Principe de Asturias de las Artes 1996" as well as his appointment as "Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettre" (1998).

Joaquín Rodrigo died in Madrid on 6 July 1999.

 Website: www.joaquin-rodrigo.com/indexf.html