ÁNGEL G. PIÑERO > ABOUT ÁNGEL

ÁNGEL G. PIÑERO

Composer and classical guitarist

Angel G. Piñero is -despite his death on 21 February 2022, we still refuse to speak in the past tense- a prominent Spanish composer and guitarist from Cádiz, born in 1932 with a varied and extensive musical career as a concert performer. His musical training is summarized in 17 years of official studies. He studied music (solfège, guitar, harmony, counterpoint, fugue, chamber music, history of world music, etc.) at the Conservatorio Superior Municipal de Música de Barcelona, later studying composition at the Munich Conservatory. Later he began to compose music, starting with guitar methods and composing musical works in the 1980s. His facet as a composer alternated with his work as a soloist. During his last years he was immersed in his work as a composer. His aim was to create repertoire for young artists and to enrich the heritage of the classical guitar.

“I am focused on writing for solo guitar, guitar and string quartet and for guitar and symphony orchestra. A whole life dedicated to the creation of works for Spanish classical guitar”.

Composer and classical guitarist

This great artist caused the admiration of different audiences for his great ability (unique in the history of Music) to play the guitar with both hands. 2 TECHNIQUES, 2 SONORITIES.

He has been the only concert performer in history to have achieved both sonorities, giving each of them their rightful place in the general repertoire of music.

“In the right hand, the school of playing the strings with the fingertip, for renaissance and baroque music. In the left hand, the school of playing the strings with the fingernails for classical, romantic and contemporary repertoire.”

Interview with Ángel G. Piñero, composer and guitarist.

Ángel shares with us his life and his dedication to the classical guitar in a very personal and close interview.

Interview with Catherine Lacoste, President of the Ángel G. Piñero Classical Guitar Association.

FIP Guadalquivir, Guadalquivir Piano Festival. 09/28/23

Listen to this podcast with the interview and the work “Balada a una desconocida” performed by Angélica Rodríguez (guitar and singing).

Video of the interview with Catherine Lacoste in which she talks about Ángel’s life and his legacy in the world of classical guitar.

His musical repertoire

His work consists of six works for guitar and symphony orchestra, eight works for guitar and string quartet and twenty works for solo guitar.

“Music, if done well, is huge, it is a universal language.” One of the current references of the artistic expression of the Spanish classical guitar.

He is the author of the PIÑERO Classical Guitar Method, books with nearly 100 original studies for guitar, and the PIÑERO Accompaniment Method, each of these methods is made up of four books. He is also the author of another method of accompaniment to traditional rhythms. All the methods have been translated into German and the first into English. His music dedicates a part to his homeland, Andalusia, which includes three Andalusian dances. One of them is dedicated to Cádiz, his native land, a classical guitar work based on bulerías.

“Me, my guitars and things from Spain”.

Ángel has taken his guitar and his Cadiz and Spanish character all over the world.

Discography

To write his compositions, Ángel G. Piñero is inspired by his state of mind, applying what he has learned over many years at the Conservatory.

In his discography he has recorded two CD’s entitled “UÑA Y YEMA” which include original concert works for guitar by Ángel G. Piñero. He also shows the techniques of fingernail and bud with works from the 16th and 17th centuries with the bud (Diego Pisador, John Dowland, Robert de Visée, etc…) and from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries with the fingernail (Bach, Sor, Tárrega, Granados, Albeniz and Piñero).

His third CD is dedicated to works composed by him with various foreign guitarists who won prizes at the “International Classical Guitar Competition Angel G. Piñero”. (Thierry Bégin-Lamontagne, Martin Bickerton and himself) performing works for solo guitar, works for guitar and quartet and works for guitar and orchestra).

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