Agustin Barrios Mangore (born May 5, 1885 in
San Juan Bautista de las Misiones, Paraguay;
died August 7, 1944 in San Salvador, El Salvador),
He was the greatest guitarist/composer of the first
half of the present century. Barrios was born into
a large family in the small town of San Bautista
de las Misiones, in Southern Paraguay, the fifth of seven sons. Both of his parents
were educators and both placed great value on culture and arts. Inspired by
his mother's guitar playing, Barrios began to play the guitar at a very young age.
Through the folk music of his native country, young Barrios received his first
introduction to music; with songs such as the polca paraguaya, vals , and the zamba.
In 1898, Barrios was formally introduced to the classical guitar repertoire by
Gustovo Sosa Escalada. At that time, young Barrios had already composed works
for the guitar, and also performed pieces written by his former teacher Alias, such as:
La Chinita and La Perezosa. Under the influence of his new teacher, Barrios went on
to perform and study the works of Tarraga, Vinas, Sor and Aguado. Sosa Escalada was
so impressed with his new pupil, that he convinced Barrios' parents to let him move to
Ascuncion to continue his education. Having already surpassed the technical
and performing abilities of most guitarists, Barrios began to seriously compose
around 1905.
Barrios was quoted as having said:
"One cannot become a guitarist if he has
not bathed in the fountain of culture".
In addition to spanish he also spoke
Guarani, the native tongue of Paraguay.
He read French, English and German
and was immersed in philosophy, poetry
and theosophy.Musically he was a tremendous
improviser, and his fantastic creative ability
enabled him to compose over 300 works
for the guitar!
Agustin Barrios Mangore is buried in the Cementerio de los Ilustres in San Salvador,
and his guitar is one of the treasures of the David J. Guzman National Museum of Anthropology
After Barrios' death he and his music were forgotten or ignored for nearly two decades.
Since then, Barrios' recognition has been increasing steadily among the guitar community.
Recent artists such as: David Russell, John Williams, Wulfin Lieske, and others have brought
his music back to life through their recordings.
Over 100 of his works survive in manuscripts and in 78 recordings. With his death,
much of his music was left in the hands of his disciples in El Salvador. The rediscovery and
documentation of this legacy has been thanks to the efforts of Dr. Carlos Payes,
President of the Mangore Association of El Salvador. While visiting Europe in 1969,
Payes introduced the great British guitarist John Williams to the music of Mangore,
who went on to perform and record several works on a long play album in 1976.
Thus began the rediscovery of Mangore’s music by the guitar world. The heritage bequeathed
by the ingenious Mangore is invaluable for all lovers of the guitar, and is an obligatory author
for all repertoires.
Referent & Special thanks to : http://en.wikipedia.org ,
www cybozone.com by Johnna Jeong ,
www.geocities.com/Vienna/6619/barrios.html ,
Mangore Association of El Salvador.
