Andres Segovia: Passing of the Apostle of the Guitar

Article # :	11835
Section :	THE ARTS
Issue Date :	8 / 1987	3,514 Words
Author :	Susan Fegley Osmond
He died quietly, exemplifying to the last the dignity and eloquent understatement that had always been his trademark. While watching television in June with his wife and son, he murmured simply, "I am dying, I am dying," then closed his eyes. Perhaps more than any other performer in history, Andres Segovia had devoted his life to imparting to the public the secret universe of his chosen instrument, the guitar, and making it one of the most beloved instruments in the world. He was responsible for transforming the guitar from a little-known instrument primarily associated with the tavern into a respected classical instrument with a burgeoning literature and literally millions of students in conservatories throughout the world. He was the first to introduce the guitar to major concert halls and redefined much of its technique. He greatly widened its repertoire, both through his own transcriptions (over two hundred of them) and by inspiring composers to write more than three hundred works for the instrument. In the course fulfilling his life's calling as "the apostle of the guitar," as he put it, Segovia became a cosmopolitan man in the very best sense of the word. He traveled the world over and was versed in arts and letters. Despite all he saw and experienced in the near century of his life span, however, he never acquired a veneer of cynicism, nor gave in to the fashion of despair. "Artistically I have accomplished everything I wanted to," he said last year. "My life has been a line going slowly up without falling and without going back." He was probably one of the most healthy of artists - in both mind and body - that the world has been blessed with. The fruitfulness of his life of patient perseverance certainly causes one to question the stereotype of the artist-as-bohemian. He often attributed his extraordinary longevity to "an orderly life devoted to music and family," maintaining a steady work schedule till the very end. But, perhaps more than anything else, it was the simple sincerity and humanity of the man and his music that drew listeners and adherents to "the persuasive voice of the guitar," and will continue to do so through the numerous recordings he left behind. Segovia's earliest memory was of his uncle miming the playing of the guitar, while he, an infant, gleefully imitated the rhythmic action. In his nineties he was still performing up to sixty concerts a year, bringing the immortal beauty of the guitar to a world besieged with the clamor and haste of modernity. Only two months before his death at the age of ninety-four he was forced to cut short a concert tour of the United States due to hospitalization for exhaustion and a weak heart. 'Senorita Segovia' I was fortunate to be present at his final concert appearance in Washington, which took place in March of last year. The program was sold out. Over half of the members of the audience were young people. At the moment the venerable guitarist entered the stage and laboriously - but with grace and dignity - made his way with the help of a thick cane to the piano bench at center stage, a startled hush fell on the house. He acknowledged the standing-room-only crowd with a generous and engaging smile. Once seated he passed his cane to a stagehand, receiving in turn his beloved guitar. Instantly, he curled up around it, becoming utterly oblivious to everything but this, his one lifelong ... Read Full Article