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The
life and times of Segovia in Granada
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Travelling along the road in view
of the Mediterranean Spain's Andalusian coast, you see tranquil
blue waters of the sea sparkling in the early morning sunlight,
warming the tall grasses, wild flowers, herbs and sub-tropical
plants, a pleasant sight which are only the beginning moments
of a memorable visit. Memory, rekindle memory, and the encounter
with the guitarist became more than an interview. Almunecar,
a village about 60 miles east of Malaga. A turn from the sea
and there are' the tips of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Along
these hundreds of miles of Mediterranean coastline, the maestro
and his wife built their stucco summer home. The house is built
by a watchtower. 
If you cross the mountains which flank the coastal range down
into the plain on the other side, you come to the ancient city
of Granada, a scene of matchless beauty with white-wasbed stucco
homes set in the surrounding hills.
Upon meeting and talking with the maestro, it seemed fitting
to view and talk of Granada. The maestro talked of the Moorish
palace and gardens of the Alhambra in Granada. He spoke easily
and remembered the days of his boyhood, sitting in the Aihambra.
"It is so beautiful -Granada - that any artist who received
from heaven the advocation for music or art, must be in his
country in Granada, in the country of dreams. And for me, the
same thing happened", he said. "As a boy, I used to sit in the
Aihambra or at Albaicin and I would contemplate Granada".
It was in the province of Jaen, in the village of Linares that
Segovia was born in 1893, and a few weeks after his birth, his
parents moved to Granada.
Until the 15th century, the Moors crossing from Africa had held
sway in Spain, and the Alhambra in Granada contained the palace
and gardens built for the Moorish leaders.
In the 12th and 13th centuries they brought the plucked instrument
to Spain, the antecedent of the guitar which resembled the lute.
It would be a Spaniard, Segovia, who would make the guitar an
important classical solo instrument in the 20th century. 
Segovia taught Iumselt to play the guitar, and at 14, he gave
his first guitar recital in Granada. There were concerts throughout
Spain, the rest of Europe, and in 1928, his New York debut.
Segovia set about making the guitar a classical solo instrument.
He searched for music, transcribed much of it himself, and developed
his masterful technique.
"Now it is impossible to stop the guitar from its success."
"Many of the composers have written for me." It was not until
1932 that the first concerto for guitar and orchestra was written.
The maestro said he was glad to see the guitax taught in the
major conservatories of the world mentioning Milan, Barcelona,
Paris.
"The Arabs took the guitar to Spain and they got it from the
Persians," he said. "And 4,000 years before Christ, there was
a tomb in Persia and from the hieroglyphics they took an instrument,
this shape." (He traced the double reverse S-curve with his
hands.) "It is an old instrument - the guitar."
While the guitar is old, many of those who flock to his concerts
are youthful, and everywhere in the world, at least half the
people who fill the halls are youngsters.
"The guitar is exactly like a small orchestra." He explained
that it is the only instrument besides the organ and piano which
is polyphonic, having the ability to sound several voices together.
The guitar has almost the range of the human voice, and all
six strings can sound independently until damped.
The guitar is an extremely delicate instrument to tune and he
explains: "It is very unpredictable, the guitar. If you go to
the stage from your room and the room is warmer or cooler .
everything changes."
The maestro recalled a concert he had given in the Aihambra
in the Court of the Myrtles. A very appropriate place for the
classic guitar. However, he prefers a big hall. Segovia said,
"The guitar creates the intimacy even in the big hall. The small
hall gives a feeling of density and goes against the clarity
of the guitar." Segovia can fill the largest hall. Although
he reduced the size of his schedule. He likes to spend more
time at his villa in Granada.
Segovia is a legend in his own time . . playing music and recalling
memories of the past and present.
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