ARANJUEZ CONCERT
ARANJUEZ CONCERT – UC3M Orchestra
Date: October 30, 2026, at 8:00 p.m.
Location: UC3M Auditorium (Leganés Campus)
Admission: Free until capacity is reached
Director: Manuel Coves
This concert is presented in collaboration with the Joaquín Rodrigo Festival in Madrid and the European Guitar Foundation.
Program
∴ “Ritirata notturna di Madrid” by L. Boccherini – L. Berio (1925–2003)
∴ Concierto de Aranjuez – J. Rodrigo (1901-1999)
Alejandro Hurtado, guitar
1. Allegro con spirito
2. Adagio
3. Allegro gentile
∴ Spanish Caprice, Op. 34 – N. Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908)
Alberto Juárez, violin
Program Notes
We dedicate this program to music written by Spanish composers or closely associated with Spain, even when composed by foreign composers.
When Luciano Berio was commissioned to compose an opening piece for the 1975 season at La Scala, he looked back to an Italian who, like so many others, had made his fortune abroad: Luigi Boccherini, who settled in Spain in 1768 to work for Luis de Borbón, brother of Charles III. Among his extensive chamber music output, the Quintet, Op. 30, No. 6 stands out—a programmatic work titled *La musica notturna delle strade di Madrid*—whose first movement, *Ritirata*, Berio orchestrated for a full orchestra. It is a charming musical depiction of the curfew and the guard’s retreat at midnight.
The Concierto de Aranjuez is the most iconic work by Joaquín Rodrigo, a native of Sagunt, to the point that it has overshadowed the rest of his body of work. Composed in Paris in 1939 but premiered in Barcelona in 1940, it is the first work for guitar and orchestra written by Rodrigo, and also the first work of its kind in Spain in the 20th century. Nevertheless, it displays a delicate use of the orchestra as accompaniment, with the guitar always clearly taking center stage. The second movement, with its dialogue between the English horn and the guitar, is a marvel of melancholy and beauty. With this work, we wish to pay tribute to Joaquín Rodrigo on the 125th anniversary of his birth.
“Capricho Español,” Op. 34, is a symphonic poem by the Russian composer Rimsky-Korsakov that premiered in 1887. Between 1862 and 1865, Rimsky-Korsakov traveled extensively as an officer in the Russian Navy, and he spent a few days in Cádiz. The work, structured in five movements performed without pause, draws on Spanish folk material such as the Asturian Alborada and Fandango, which open and close the composition. It is one of his most acclaimed works for its brilliant orchestration—note the extensive use of percussion!—in which the violin plays such a prominent role that one might even call it a Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra.
Activity with credit recognition through the Activity Passport (requires prior registration and a mandatory signature upon completion of the activity). Registration is exclusively for UC3M students who need to request credit validation (based on the minimum number of hours required). The general public does not need to register. Admission is free and open to the public, subject to capacity limits.