Andre Bernovski (Guitar) and Arseniy Strokovskiy (Accordion) plays Adago from Concierto de Aranjuez

Описание: Adagio from Concierto de Aranjuez – Joaquín Rodrigo

Duo Arpeggione
Andre Bernovski - Guitar
Arseniy Strokovskiy - Accordion

Joaquín Rodrigo – Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio)

A story of pain and light behind one of the most moving melodies of the 20th century

When we hear the Adagio from Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, it’s hard to believe that this music was not born in the peace of a garden, but out of deep personal tragedy.

In 1939, after the devastating Spanish Civil War, Rodrigo and his wife, Victoria Kamhi, were living in France. They were expecting a child, but the pregnancy ended in tragedy — their baby died during childbirth, and Victoria barely survived. Blind since the age of three, Rodrigo expressed through sound everything he could not see. It was in those days of pain and gratitude that he composed one of the most poignant works in all of music — the second movement of the Concierto de Aranjuez, the Adagio.

The concerto’s title refers to the royal palace of Aranjuez, near Madrid — a place where nature and architecture exist in perfect harmony. Rodrigo wanted to evoke the scents of jasmine, the murmur of fountains, the warmth of the Castilian sun. Yet in the second movement, instead of light and joy, we hear profound human sorrow — sorrow that purifies and uplifts.

The music begins with the quiet voice of the English horn — like the cry of a heart — answered by the guitar, not as a virtuoso, but as a companion. It is a dialogue between life and death, between husband and wife, between hope and grief. The orchestra gradually swells, the guitar responds with anxious chords, and everything builds to a powerful climax — a cry of despair when pain becomes unbearable.
Then silence and peace return. The opening theme comes back — no longer as a lament, but as a luminous prayer. The music seems to say: “We have lost much, but life goes on. Love is stronger than death.”

Rodrigo himself wrote that the Adagio was born “from the heart of Victoria and my own.” Indeed, within these sounds lies everything — sorrow, tenderness, gratitude, and hope.

After its premiere in 1940, the Concierto de Aranjuez became a symbol of the Spanish spirit. It has been performed on guitar, flute, trumpet, piano — in symphonic and jazz versions alike. Yet the meaning remains unchanged: this is music about life after pain, about how love transforms suffering into beauty.

The Concierto de Aranjuez is not just a piece of classical music.
It is a reminder that even from the deepest darkness, light can be born.