Paraguay - Augustin Barrios Mangoré

Augustin Barrios Mangoré was born in San Juan Bautista de las Misiones, Paraguay on May 5, 1885. As a young man he went to the capital, Asuncion, to study music. There he studied guitar with Gustavo Sosa Escalada and composition with Nicolo Pellegrini. His first compositional endeavors were transcribing works by Bach, Beethoven and Chopin.

As early as 1910 he left Paraguay for what was to be a week-long tour in Argentina. Because he was such a virtuosic player, he ended up extending his travels, being out of the country for fourteen years playing in Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. Sponsored by the diplomat Tomas Salomini, he gave concerts in Mexico and Cuba.

Then in 1919 his success was further consolidated when he was invited to play for the president of Brazil. As is explained the Garland Handbook of Latin American Music, “about 95 of the population of Paraguay is of mixed Spanish and Guarani Indian descent”. In 1930 he adopted the pseudonym Mangoré, after a famous Guarani chieftain.

By 1934 he made his way to Europe with his patron Salomini, living in Berlin while he played in Belgium and Spain. Two years later he returned to Latin America, and in 1939 taught at the conservatory in San Salvador, El Salvador until his death n 1944.

His compositions are very significant because they incorporate many elements of the folk music heard throughout Latin America. This includes Choros, which is a folk form out of Rio de Janeiro, Tangos from Argentina, Cuecos from Chile, and of curse the Danza Paraguayas from his home country.

He is argued to be one of the first guitarists in the world to have made recordings, and his virtuosic abilities were compared to that of Paganini. It is believed that he composed about 300 pieces for solo guitar, there are manuscripts and/or recordings for about one third of those compositions. Some of the most famous include La catedral, Danza paraguaya, Un sueño en la floresta, Preludio, op.5 no.1, Julia Florida, Una limosna por el amor de dios, Mazurka apasionata, Vals, op.8 nos.3 and 4, and Variations on a Theme of Tárrega, all of which have become part of the repertory.


Note: This biography was compiled using information found on Oxford Music Online, article on Augustin Barrios Mangoré, and on the website: http://www.cybozone.com/fg/jeong.html, only where it quotes excerpts taken from Richard Stover, Six Silver Moonbeams, "The Life and Times of Agustín Barrios Mangoré" (Clovis, CA: Querico Publications, 1992).

Citation from the introduction also taken from: Richard Stover, Six Silver Moonbeams, "The Life and Times of Agustín Barrios Mangoré", as is posted on http://www.cybozone.com/fg/jeong.html



List of Works

Abrí la Puerta mi China
Aconguija
Aire de Zamba
Allegro Sinfónico
A mi Madre
Arabescos
Armonías de América
Canción de Cuna
Canción de la Hilandera
Capricho Español
Choro da Saudade
Confesión
Contemplación
Cueca (Danza Chilena)
Danza Guarani
Danza Paraguaya
Dinora
Divagación
Don Pérez Freire (Tango)
El Sueño de la Muñequita
Estilo Uruguayo
Estudio de Concierto
Estudio del Ligado
Estudio en Arpegio
Estudio in G minor
Estudio No. 3
Gavota al Estilo Antiguo
Jha, Che Valle!
Julia Florida
La Catedral
Leyenda de España
Mazurka Appasionata
Medallón Antiguo
Minuet in A Major
Minuet in E Major
Minuet in B Major
Oracion
Oración por Todos
Pericón
Prelude in G Minor
Prelude in D Minor
Prelude in C Minor
Romanza en Imitación al Violoncello
Sarita
Serenata Morisca
Tango No. 2
Tarantella
Tua Imagem
Una Limosna por el Amor de Dios (The Last Tremolo)
Un Sueño en la Floresta (Souvenir de un réve)
Vals Op. 8 No. 3
Vals Op. 8 No. 4
Variations on a Theme by Tárrega
Vidalita