Marcus Wright, School of Languages, Cultures and Societies

Tracing the origins of Romance: Who wrote the most famous classical guitar piece?

Tracing the origins of Romance will be made of two parts. The second will be a live performance of the piece, performed on classical guitar. In the first, I will provide a brief overview of some of the most viable (and even some less viable) theories of who exactly composed this piece, complete with evidence. Mentioned will be both classical guitar giants such as Fernando Sor as well as other less known composers that may have been responsible for the piece. Classical guitar is not a particularly popular nor well-known instrument, however it has an extensive history, originating in Spain, travelling through Europe, and even down to South America. For this, it is sometimes called Spanish guitar. Some pieces are recognisable to the general public, but most are not. Romance is one of a rare few that became quite popular. There are around five theories I will touch on considering the composer of it, hoping to provide a general idea of the debates around the topic before performing it for the audience to hear themselves.

BA Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies, Final Year (he/him)
I am in my fourth year of studying Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American studies. Though we have occasionally covered music, there has been no teaching on classical music. I have been playing classical guitar for almost fourteen years and there is a rich and interesting history of the instrument in both Spain and South America. Romance was a piece I learnt for my grade five exam, and though I completed my grade eight three years ago, it remains a favourite. I would love to share my love of this piece for classical guitar to a diverse and intelligent audience.