| Classics of guitar |
| Francisco Tarrega-Eshea (1852-1909) |
 Francisco Tarrega-Eshea - famous Spanish guitarist-virtuoso and composer, founder of spanish school of guitar playing. He began to play guitar in the early childhood.
Musical abilities of Tarrega attracted attention to him and with the support of one rich family he came to Madrid and 1874 entered the conservatory, which he had graduated from on two specialities-piano and composition. In spite of good piano potentialities, Tarrega preferred the guitar and gave his concert in Madrid theatre "Alhambra". He had great success and the question is answered - Tarrega is guitarist. Concert tours through France, Italy, Austria, Holland and other countries confirmed the guitarist's abilities. The press compared Tarrega with the greatest performers-contemporaries - violinist Pablo de Sarasate and pianist Anton Rubinstein.
Tarrega has only 34 own compositions for the guitar. But all of them are splendid. They are "Mauritan dance", "Arabian capriccio", "Aragon chota", "Memory of Alhambra", "Dreams" and also other mazurkas, polkas, preludes, etudes and so on. His creation opened new ways for composers and performers. Very valuable are also Tarrega's guitar arrangements of Bach', Haidn', Mozart', Shuman', Shopin', Mendelson', Schubert's compositions. Tarrega didn't wrote a school for the guitar, but his pedagogical activity permits to say of him as of outstanding pedagogue. His learners are M. Lyobet, E. Pujol, D. Prat, D. Fortea.
Spain is under obligation to Tarrega of guitar art renascence. Fellow-country men keep memory of the prominent artist. His name is given to the International competition of guitarists carried out in Spain. A monument to Tarrega is created in Castelion de la Plan.
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