Barrios Vol 1

Agustin Barrios is one of the most interesting and important figures in the history of guitar.

Born on 5th May, 1885 in San Juan Bautista, Paraguay, Barrios was taught the guitar by Gustavo Sosa Escalada before moving to Asuncion where he attended the Colegio Nacional.

His concert career began in 1906 and after extensive tours of South America where he achieved great fame, Barrios embarked on a tour of Europe in 1934 visiting Germany, Belgium, Spain and England.

Returning to South America Barrios eventually settled in San Salvador where died on 7th August, 1944.

Such was his fame that the city of San Salvador went into virtual mourning upon hearing the news of his death.

Barrios left very little manuscript of his original guitar compositions due mainly to the fact that he would change the music during performance but happily he did make a series of recordings prior to 1920 and it is from these that a lot of the present edition is based.

Jason Waldron transcribed "Cueca" and "Vals. No.3" (Barrios 7 Pieces for Guitar Volume 1) and "Maxixe" (Barrios 7 Pieces for Guitar Volume 2) at the request of John Williams in the mid 1970s and has continued transcribing from early recordings and available manuscripts from that time.

Apart from his many original compositions, Barrios was constantly arranging suitable works by the great composers of all periods and this edition contains his main successes in the area of transcription.

Most of the works are familiar except the "Madrigal-Gavotte" which was originally by Barrios' teacher, Sosa Escalada, and later re-arranged by Barrios into its present form.