Between his birth in New York on 22 April 1916 and his death in Berlin on 12 March 1999, Yehudi Menuhin, the son of humble Russian immigrants, grew from a brilliant child prodigy violinist, who made his public concert début in San Francisco in 1924, aged just 7, into not just one of the 20th century s finest and most celebrated artists (as a conductor as well as a soloist), but also a peace campaigner, civil rights activist, spiritual guru and revered senior statesman of the musical world, who ended his days as the Right Honourable the Lord Menuhin of Stoke d Abernon, with a seat in the House of Lords, yet also found time to establish two music schools, a violin competition and an international scheme for taking music out of the concert hall and into the wider community.
This young guitarists debut album is the perfect introduction to his artistry, showcasing as it does four leading 20th-century composers of guitar music Antonio José Palacios, Alberto Ginastera, Antonio Lauro and Julio Gentil Montaña composers who in turn represent four different countries and four styles of music that differ widely both aesthetically and in terms of the traditions from which they spring. Among the most promising Spanish composers of his generation, Antonio José was acclaimed by Ravel and counted Lorca and Dali among his associates, but like Lorca, he was executed by a Falangist firing squad during the Spanish Civil War.