Biography of Agustin Barrios Mangore - Part 2

In the Land of Opportunity

Buenos Aires was a center of commerce, politics and art. This city had extensive immigration in the previous years, specially from Italy, and it had a cosmopolitan atmosphere. Barrios had the opportunity to watch top European artists in the great Teatro Colón, established in 1908.

In 1910, the year Barrios arrived, was the centenary of the independence of Argentina, so, the city had even a more festive mood. He attended guitar concerts that were performed regularly. He was particularly impressed by Miguel Llobet, whom he probably saw in concert during this year. Years later Barrios declared Llobet to be the greatest guitarist he had ever heard.

It wasn’t easy at first for Barrios, he didn’t just arrived to Buenos Aires and started a concert career. He made his living playing in movie theaters providing music for silent films. He also played incidental music for theaters.

Metal Strings, Popular music and the Paraguayan

Sometime in early 1911 he traveled to Chile and even as far as Peru. Reportedly he gave a concert in Santiago, which was harshly criticized, because he presented an inferior program composed mainly of popular tunes, and he used metal strings!

At this time, our artist didn’t present in concert what was considered the standard for classical guitarists. He played mainly popular tunes. I think that this was caused by many factors. First of all, he used metal strings. He was harshly criticized for this in Buenos Aires by the elite of Classical music. After that he was ashamed to present works of classical guitar by Sor and Aguado that he probably knew.

One of the principal characteristics of Paraguayan people (I know how they are, I am one and live here) is that one of their greatest fears is to be publicly ashamed, to be rejected. This was what happened to Barrios, he was an outsider from the guitar community because he did not use gut strings. And for whatever reason he didn’t want to change his metal strings.

Miguel Herrera Klinger, an Uruguayan friend of Barrios declared that on a certain occasion he was in Buenos Aires at a sheet music and guitar store, Agromayor and Co. It was where the guitar world would meet every day. He says that he overheard a conversation between Andrés Segovia, Regino Sáinz de la Maza and Domingo Prat regarding Barrios. Sáinz de la Maza was the only one who did not reject steel strings, as long as it was Barrios who played on them. To what Segovia said: “Well, as far as I’m concerned, I wouldn’t know what to do with that wire fence”.

He directed himself more towards the popular music public that didn’t bother if he used metal strings, playing tangos, marches, etc.

Barrios’ great friend: Martín Borda y Pagola

At some point in 1912 Barrios journeyed to Montevideo, Uruguay. Martín Borda y Pagola was a successful rancher of livestock who was an amateur guitarist. He was the owner of various instruments of great value, for which his house became a center for talented guitarists. It is probable that friends of Barrios in Buenos Aires gave him Borda y Pagola’s address and he journeyed to Montevideo to seek a “patron” relationship.

Borda y Pagola was a great supporter of Barrios, giving him at various times either financial or emotional help during the next 15 years. There is a story that Borda y Pagola became Barrios’ protector and he constantly urged him to write down his compositions (something at which he wasn’t very interested). At some point, Borda y Pagola became so frustrated with Barrios that he locked him in a room, declaring that he would not free him until he had written down many compositions.

The first recordings

In 1914 he returned to Buenos Aires where he began recording for the Argentine labels Atlanta and Artigas and produced seventeen 78 rpm phonograph records that show what kind of repertoire he was playing at this time.

They were all original works or popular tunes, marches and tangos. He developed this kind of folkloric repertoire playing in cinemas, where he had to “fill time”.

These are the first recordings ever made by a classical guitarist.

Expansion and growth in Uruguay

During the years 1912 to 1916 he must have spent a lot of time in Borda y Pagola’s ranch, where he made many friends. Some of this friends also offered Barrios a place to stay, something Barrios was particularly fond of. He reputedly lived one entire year with guitarist Luis Pasquet in Salto. These “visits” to friends would be a pattern he would repeat throughout his life, and he always would “pay” them with his art. During these years he also performed in many towns of Uruguay.

During the period of 1914 to 1916 he traveled forth from Uruguay to Brazil. We have a recorded program from a performance in Rio de Janeiro in 1916 that reveals a more substantial and “classical” repertoire, which includes transcriptions of Bach, Verdi, Chopin, Grieg and Mendelssohn, as well as music by Aguado, Giuliani, Coste and Arcas. He also played, of course, some original works.

The conquest of Brazil

From 1916 until 1920 Barrios was in Brazil. He based himself in Sao Paulo, probably with a supporting patron. He was constantly expanding his knowledge of music and the guitar. He now incorpoarated in his concerts more standard pieces for classical guitar, like Capricho Árabe by Tárrega. He also continued transcribing works by Bach, Beethoven, Bufaleti, Chopin, Mendelssohn and Schumann.

He also made a great step upward in his compositional skills. Some of his masterpieces are from this period, like Un sueño en la Floresta, Mazurka Apasionata, Allegro Sinfónico and Romanza en Imitación al Violoncello.

He played concerts in Sao Paulo and Southern Brazil with great success. He gained the reputation of an outstanding artist. This made him possible to meet the Brazilian luthier Romeo Di Giorgio, who made a guitar with 20 frets specially for Barrios. He utilized the high C now possible on his magnificent piece "Un sueño en la Floresta". He also met Arturo Napoleao, a Brazilian pianist/composer, whose “Romanza” barrios had transcribed for guitar.

The first “death” of Barrios

In 1918, due to a confusion with a musician of the same name, newspapers from Asunción reported that Barrios had died in the town of Melo, Uruguay. Of course he was alive and well in Sao Paulo.

The information was corrected the same year. When Barrios was informed of this, he responded humorously, saying “I was able to assist my own funerals, death is such a nice thing”.

The most curious of this is that, this happened again later, when his death was falsely reported in 1934 first in Mexico and later in Venezuela.

Barrios and Gino Marinuzzi

Gino Marinuzzi was the world famous conductor of La Scala Opera of Milan. He was in Rio de Janeiro around 1919 presenting some performances at the opera house. He had heard of Barrios and invited him to play at a special private get-together of about 20 friends (many of whom were knowledgeable professional musicians).

The outcome was very positive. Barrios was applauded and warmly congratulated by the Maestro and gave him a photo of himself with the following text: “To the great Barrios, who has revived the art of Galilei and Simon Molinari, with affectionate admiration, Gino Marinuzzi. Rio, September 30, 1919.

This was a great achievement for Barrios, to receive approval from one of the leading musicians of the day, not only as a performer but also for his talent as a composer. If he had been able to maintain contact with Marinuzzi, Barrios undoubtedly would have been able to arrange a tour to Europe much earlier, and his life would have turned much more different than it did.

On November of this successful year, he received a special invitation from the Presitdent of Brasil, Epitasio Pessoa, to perform at the Presidential Palace a concert for diplomats and ministers. After his performance the high ranking diplomats raised their champagne glasses for the great artist.

This successful period for Barrios was also of extraordinary progress in composition. Ever since 1919 all of his works are masterpieces of the guitar repertoire.