Capricho árabe

{{Short description|1892 guitar piece by Francisco Tárrega}}

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Capricho árabe (Arabic Caprice) is an 1892 Composition by Spanish composer Francisco Tarrega. The Piece was composed after a trip through Andalucia and North Africa, he dedicated it to his friend, conductor Tomás Bretón.{{Cite web |url=https://lasoga.org/el-capricho-arabe-de-francisco-tarrega-evocacion-y-realidad/ |title=El Capricho árabe de Francisco Tárrega: evocación y realidad. |date=2018-07-09 |website=La Soga |last=Fernández Prieto |first=Iván}}

The piece is around 5 minutes long and is in AABA form with an introduction. The A sections are in D minor, while the B section modulates to the relative F major and then to D major, which is the parallel major of the home key. Performers must use drop D tuning to access the low tonic.

The A section melody begins with a sentence over a vamp between tonic and dominant chords:

;A section, melody and bass line (D minor)

:

\relative c' \new Staff {

\key d \minor \clef treble \tempo "Andantino" 4 = 56

\set Staff.midiInstrument = "guitar"

\time 4/4

<<

\new Voice = "melody"

{\voiceOne \acciaccatura f'8\glissando a4 a ~ a8 g16 a \grace {(bes32 c} bes16) a bes c \acciaccatura c8 a4 a ~ a8 g16 a \grace {(bes32 c} bes16) a bes c \acciaccatura c8 a4 a r8 gis16 a b cis d e f8 f16 (e) d4 r16 cis (e) cis bes g e cis}

\new Voice = "bass"

{\voiceTwo d,,4 f' e a, d,4 f' e a, d,4 f' e a, d,4 a' e' a,}

>>

}

The B section begins with a transposed variation of the A theme but interpolates a new sequence played over a Circle of fifths progression:

;B section, melody and bass line (F major)

:

\relative c' \new Staff {

\key f \major \clef treble \tempo "Andantino" 4 = 56

\set Staff.midiInstrument = "guitar"

\time 4/4

<<

\new Voice = "melody"

{\voiceOne c'4 c c16 d e f \grace {(e f} e) c d e \grace {(d e} d8) c4 c8 r8 g'16 a \grace {(bes c} bes8->) a16 g \acciaccatura a8\glissando c4 f,-> ~ f8 d16 e \grace {(f g} f8->) e16 d \grace {(g a} g4) c,-> c,16 bes' d e (d c) bes c,

}

\new Voice = "bass"

{\voiceTwo f,4 c' g' c, f, c' g' c a2 d4 g, c, r8 8 c4.. c16}

>>

}

Three bands surrounding Tárrega's coffin played the song during his funeral in his honour.

The piece is widely recognized for its beauty, and utilizes slur techniques like portamento on the classical guitar.{{Cite book |title=Best of Tarrega for Classic Guitar |last=Castle |first=Joseph |publisher=Mel Bay Publications, Incorporated |year=2008 |isbn=0786678119 |pages=12 |language=es |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tP7TVd6l9CcC}}{{Cite journal |title=Capricho Árabe |journal=Mainhardt |url=https://guitarra.artepulsado.com/guitarra/capricho_arabe.htm |last=Herrrera |first=Francisco |year=1999}}