Sounds of the Spanish Guitar

An exploration of music by Francisco Tárrega, Manuel de Falla, María Teresa Prieto or Regino Sainz de la Maza performed on MIMEd 1598, a guitar by Manuel Ramírez made ca.1904.

Samuel Diz is a concert guitarist and researcher of 20th-century Spanish music who specialises in the music of the Spanish Generation of 1927. This concert, a result of his research process, brings together the music and poetry of the Generation of ’27 with an instrument made by one of the best makers of Spanish guitars of the time.

Performer’s Bio: Samuel Diz is multiple award-winning artist who has performed across Europe, America and Africa at venues and festivals such as Fundación Juan March (Madrid), Festival de Música de Cádiz 'Manuel de Falla' and Palau de la Música Catalana (Barcelona)—where he received the 'El Primer Palau' prize, Cleveland Classical Guitar Society, Centro de las Artes de México, Harare International Festival of the Arts (Zimbabwe) and Galleria Nazionale (Rome). He lectures on the relation between the music and literature and has given lectures and concerts for The Council of Latin American and Iberian Studies, Yale University, the Department of Romance Studies at Boston University and the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages at Oxford University.

In his recordings and concerts, Diz recovers the original music around the life of Federico Garcia Lorca, author of famous poems dedicated to the guitar. His album ‘Memoria de la Melancolía’ (Poliédrica 2020) was recorded in García Lorca’s bedroom at the Huerta de San Vicente Museum (Granada), on Lorca’s own guitar, an instrument built by José Ortega in Granada ca.1906.

This concert is made possible through the support of the Cervantes Institute and is co-organised by the Cervantes Chair at Edinburgh University

Host or Publisher St Cecilia's Hall, The University of Edinburgh