State, and was in harmony with its emerging policy of celebrating Spanish history, conservatively interpreted. Composition Composed in early 1939, in Paris, amid the tensions of the impending war, it was the first work Rodrigo wrote for classical guitar and orchestra. The instrumentation is unusual: rarely does the classical guitar face the forces of a full orchestra. Thus, the classical guitar is never overwhelmed. Premiere The premiere of the Concierto de Aranjuez was held on 9 November 1940 at the Palau de la Música Catalana, in Barcelona. It was performed by guitarist Regino Sainz de la Maza with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Barcelona conducted by César Mendoza Lasalle. On 11 December 1940, the concerto received its first performance in Madrid, at the Teatro Español de Madrid conducted by Jesús Arámbarri, with the same soloist. The United States premiere was given by Rey de la Torre on 19 November 1959, with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Robert Shaw. Structure This concerto is in three movements, Allegro con spirito, Adagio and Allegro gentile. The first and last movements are in D major, while the famous middle movement is in B minor. Along with the solo guitar, it is scored for an orchestra consisting of two flutes (one doubling on piccolo), two oboes (one doubling on cor anglais), two clarinets in B, two bassoons, two horns in F, two trumpets in C, and strings. First movement The first movement's 40-measure introduction begins with the solo guitar strumming a three-measure theme in 6/8. The theme is made of tonic, supertonic, and dominant chords and features a flamenco-like hemiola rhythm. As it repeats several times, the tonic chord's uppermost note gets higher, starting with the third, then using the fifth, the tonic, and the fifth again. Introduction (guitar) 1st theme (1st oboe and 1st violins) 2nd theme (guitar, D major to E major) Second movement The second movement in B minor, the best-known of the three, is marked by its slow pace and quiet melody, introduced by the cor anglais, with a soft accompaniment by the classical guitar and strings. A feeling of quiet regret permeates the piece. Ornamentation is added gradually to the melody in the beginning. An off-tonic trill in the classical guitar creates the first seeds of tension in the piece; they grow and take hold, but relax back to the melody periodically. Eventually, a climactic build-up starts. This breaks back into