# Romantic Guitar Concertos



## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Thought it would be interesting to look up some of the Romantic Guitar Concertos. Anyone got any suggestions to who to dive into first?


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I can't think of any. Guitar repertoire at this time was written in a sort of instrumental bel canto style that evolved directly out of the classical style. It was an instrument mainly seen in salons etc. not a serious concert instrument. A few concertos by Carulli, Giuliani etc. were composed at the end of the classical period but still sounding a little behind the times compared to what Beethoven, Hummel, Rossini and Schubert were doing in the same years. 

Later into the Romantic period, more serious composers like Coste and Legnani were around but it was generally still a "popular" instrument and didn't really have a place in the concert hall, therefore no known concertos. The instrument itself underwent many changes and the standard six string instrument as seen today didn't evolve until the end of the 19th century. Before then a variety of sizes were available, most virtuosos playing guitar with more than 6 strings (Narciso Yepes, I believe, carried this tradition on in the 20th century and often played on 11 string guitars). With the advent of th new standard classical guitar, Guitar concertos became more common and soon enough performers like Andres Segovia (who played with nails, a louder sound as compared to the flesh which was the usual technique of the 19th century and earlier) commissioned new repertoire and brought the instrument into the concert hall. 

It would be interesting to see what concertos there may be from the Romantic era though, if there are any that have survived and have been recorded.


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