Andrés Segovia

In a time before electronic media, young Andresito encountered the music of his Andalusian homeland as a direct expression of joie de vivre. Singing and guitar were essential elements of this music. He intuitively recognised the special allure of recreating a vocal line on the guitar and intertwining it with the rhythm of other voices. A new, still unexplored world of sound opened up to him, and he decided to embark on a journey into this unknown land. He became his own teacher and student. Both—with incredible will and continual forgiveness towards each other—are present on this journey. The writer Salvador de Madariaga acknowledged the scale of this successful venture by calling Segovia a “Columbus of the spirit.”