Recuerdos de la Alhambra

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Recuerdos de la Alhambra (Spanish: Memories of the Alhambra) is a classical guitar piece composed by Spanish composer and guitarist Francisco Tárrega (November 21, 1852 — December 15, 1909).

A virtuoso on his instrument, Tárrega was known as the "Sarasate of the guitar". As well as his original works for the guitar, which include Recuerdos de la Alhambra, Capricho Árabe and Danza Mora, he arranged pieces by others for the instrument, including works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin and Felix Mendelssohn. As with several of his Spanish contemporaries, such as his friend Isaac Albéniz, he had an interest in combining the prevailing Romantic trend in classical music with Spanish folk elements, which he did with "Recuerdos de la Alhambra" and transcribed several of Albeniz's piano pieces (notably the fiery Asturias (Leyenda)) to guitar. Tárrega is considered to have laid the foundations for 20th-century classical guitar and for increased interest in the guitar as a recital instrument. The great Andrés Segovia used much of Tárrega's work on technique and many of his compositions to take the classical guitar into concert halls of Europe.

Recuerdos de la Alhambra shares a title with the Spanish language translation of Washington Irving's 1832 book "Tales of the Alhambra", which he wrote during his four-year stay in Spain. Irving, besides being a renowned writer and an accomplished lawyer, was also a member of the American diplomatic staff in England and Spain. Irving spoke Spanish fluently and also wrote other books concerning fifteenth century Spain, notably Christopher Columbus and the fall of Granada.

Performance Notes: The piece is also known for its particular use of the challenging technique known as 'tremolo.' This technique employs the index, middle and ring finger in rapid succession on one string in order to create an extremely fast repetition of notes in the melody. In this piece, the thumb then plays the bass in between melodic attacks. Many who hear this song initially in a non-live setting can mistake it for a duet rather than a challenging solo effort.

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