RODRIGO, JOAQIN

born Nov. 22, 1901, Sagunto, Spain died July 6, 1999, Madrid one of the leading Spanish composers of the 20th century. Although blind from the age of three, Rodrigo began music studies at an early age and later became a pupil of Paul Dukas in Paris. In 1940, after the first performance of his highly successful Concierto de Aranjuez for guitar and orchestra, in Barcelona, he was widely regarded as the leading post-Civil War Spanish composer. Although best known for his music for the guitar, he also wrote concerti for other instruments, as well as an opera, choral works, piano pieces, and songs. His broadly Neoclassical style combines folkloristic colour with piquant orchestration and agreeable melodies.