Narciso Yepes

Narciso Yepes
Narciso Yepes at the age of 12 in 1939
Born	Narciso García Yepes November 14, 1927 Lorca, Region of Murcia, Spain
Died	May 3, 1997 (aged 69) Murcia, Spain
Occupation	Musician
Spouse	Marysia Szumlakowska
Children	Juan de la Cruz, Ignacio, Ana

Signature of Narciso Yepes on the program of one of his recitals in 1958

Narciso García Yepes (Lorca, November 14, 1927 – Murcia, May 3, 1997), better known as Narciso Yepes, was a Spanish musician known worldwide for his work as a Spanish classical guitarist.

Biography

At the age of 13, he began studying at the Conservatory of Valencia with Vicente Asencio, a famous guitarist of the time.

In 1947, he performed the Concierto de Aranjuez (by Joaquín Rodrigo) in public for the first time, under the direction of maestro Ataúlfo Argenta, which earned him immediate fame.

In 1951 he discovered his faith in God: "My life as a Christian had a long empty interlude that lasted a quarter of a century. I was baptized at birth, and after that I did not receive a single notion that might enlighten and nourish my faith... From 1927 until 1951, I did not practice, nor did I believe, nor did I care in the least whether or not there was a spiritual life and a transcendence and a hereafter. God did not count in my existence. But... later I came to know that I had always counted for HIM. It was a sudden, abrupt, unexpected conversion... and a very simple one. I was in Paris, leaning on a bridge over the Seine, watching the water flow. It was morning. May 18, to be exact. Suddenly, I heard Him within me... Perhaps He had already called me on other occasions, but I had not heard Him. That day I had «the door open»... And God was able to come in. He not only made Himself heard, but He entered my life fully and forever... It was a question, seemingly very simple: «What are you doing?» In that instant, everything changed for me".

In 1952, by his own account, he rescued and rearranged a traditional song for guitar: Romanza española (anonymous), a piece of music included in the film Forbidden Games (Jeux Interdits, directed by René Clément, 1952).

In 1958 he married a young Polish woman, a student of philosophy, named Marysia Szumlakowska[1], with whom he had three children: Juan de la Cruz (who died in an accident at the age of 18), Ignacio Yepes (composer, flutist and orchestra conductor), and Ana Yepes (dancer and choreographer).

In 1964, Yepes began to use and popularize the ten-string guitar. In an interview Yepes said "I have not created anything, since guitars with 8, 10 or more strings already existed in the 18th and 19th centuries"[2]. From it he obtained much better resonance, and at the same time it made it easier for him to play pieces of Baroque music (originally written for the lute). What prompted him to create this new guitar was the tonal imbalance caused by the lack of a good part of the natural harmonics on the six-string guitar.

Tuning of the ten-string guitar according to Narciso Yepes.

Narciso Yepes's enormous repertoire, enlarged by numerous transcriptions of music from all periods, is surely the richest of all time. The publication of his transcriptions and revisions of scores, as well as the many recordings made throughout his career, are a reference for guitar students all over the world.

On April 25, 1987, he took part as soloist with the Orquesta de València in the inaugural concert of the Palau de la Música of the city on the Turia, performing the Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo with Manuel Galduf conducting.

From 1993 onward, Narciso Yepes began to limit his public appearances because of health problems. His last concert was in Santander, on March 1, 1996. His great musical career earned him a multitude of awards and honors. He died in 1997 of lymphatic cancer. At his own wish, his ashes were given to the Community of Nuns of the Monastery of Santa María de Buenafuente del Sistal in the Province of Guadalajara, to which he felt very close. He was named Illustrious Friend of Buenafuente.

Discography

For guitar and orchestra

1. Salvador Bacarisse: "Concertino for Guitar and Orchestra in A minor". Ernesto Halffter: "Concerto for guitar and orchestra". With the RTVE Symphony Orchestra in 1980, conducted by Odón Alonso.
2. Maurice Ohana: "Tres gráficos".
3. Antonio Ruiz-Pipó: "Tablas".
4. With the London Symphony Orchestra and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos.
5. Joaquín Rodrigo: "Concierto de Aranjuez" and "Fantasía para un Gentilhombre". With the RTVE Symphony Orchestra and Odón Alonso.

Manuel María Ponce. Concierto del Sur performed at the tribute to Andrés Segovia. 1987

1. Manuel Palau: "Concierto levantino". With the Spanish National Orchestra and Odón Alonso.
2. Antonio Vivaldi: "Concerto in D major"; Manuel Palau: "Concierto levantino". With the National Orchestra and Odón Alonso.
3. Antonio Vivaldi: "Concertos for guitar, lute and mandolins", with Paul Kuentz conducting the Chamber Orchestra.

Solo guitar

1. Five centuries of guitar:
   1. Luis de Milán: "Six pavanes".
   2. Luis de Narváez: "Canción del emperador and variations".
   3. Diego Pisador: "Pavane and Villanesca".
   4. Gaspar Sanz: "Suite española".
   5. Antonio Soler: "Two Sonatas".
   6. Isaac Albéniz: "Malagueña".
   7. Manuel de Falla: "Homage to Debussy".
   8. Ernesto Halffter: "Madrigal".
   9. Federico Moreno Torroba: "Madroños".
   10. Xavier Montsalvatge: "Habanera".
   11. Maurice Ohana: "Tiento".
2. Fernando Sor: "24 Studies".
3. Heitor Villa-Lobos: "12 Studies and 5 Preludes"
4. Johann Sebastian Bach: "Prelude", "Chaconne in D minor", "Sarabande and Double"; Silvius Leopold Weiss: "Fantasia in E minor and Suite in E major".
5. Ibero-American music:
   1. Héctor Ayala: "Suite".
   2. Salvador Bacarisse: "Suite".
   3. Francis Poulenc: "Sarabande".
   4. Vicente Asencio: "Homenajes".
   5. Gerardo Gombau: "Three pieces from the Belle Époque".

Miguel Ángel Cherubito "Suite Popular Argentina" (six pieces), Editorial Schott

See also

• Segovia and Yepes

Recordings

Photo from 1988.

Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo

• 1st mov.

• 2nd mov.

• 3rd mov.

Tribute Concert to Andrés Segovia in 1987

• Tribute speech by Segovia

• Interview with Yepes

Fantasía para un gentilhombre by Rodrigo

• 1st mov.

• 2nd mov.

• 3rd mov.

• 4th mov.

Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 99 by Castelnuovo-Tedesco

• 1st mov.

• 2nd mov.

• 3rd mov.

Concierto del Sur by Ponce

• 1st mov. (a)

• 1st mov. (b)

• 2nd mov.

• 3rd mov.

Recuerdos de la Alhambra

• [3]

Suite Popular Argentina Miguel Ángel Cherubito, Zafiro label

External links

• Fundación Internacional José Guillermo Carrillo (in Spanish)
• Narciso Yepes en el recuerdo, Antonio Díaz Bautista. (in Spanish)
• Narciso Yepes y su legado olvidado. (in Spanish)
• Obituary of Narciso Yepes (in Spanish)
• Región de Murcia Digital. Report on Narciso Yepes (in Spanish)
• Yepes in 1976, on the La 2 (TVE) program A fondo, with Joaquín Soler Serrano.
• Narciso Yepes: broadcast of August 7, 2011, of the program La guitarra, on Radio Clásica.
• Narciso Yepes: broadcast of August 19, 2012, of the program La guitarra.
• N. Yepes plays Villa-Lobos: broadcast of January 27, 2013, of La guitarra.
• Narciso Yepes, 90th anniversary of his birth: edition of Nov. 11, 2017, of La guitarra.