This guide is part of our overview of the essential classical guitar repertoire. Regino Sainz de la Maza (1896–1981) was the Spanish guitarist whose name is forever linked to one of the most significant premieres in the history of the classical guitar: the first performance of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez in 1940.
The Premiere That Changed Everything
Born in Burgos, Sainz de la Maza gave his debut recital at eighteen and by 1921 was already on a South American tour of ninety concerts. Through the 1920s he built a reputation as one of the leading Spanish concert guitarists of his generation — a contemporary and counterpart to Andrés Segovia in the effort to establish the guitar as a legitimate concert instrument. He was appointed professor of guitar at the Madrid Royal Conservatory in 1935 and counted Federico García Lorca and Manuel de Falla among his friends.
The Concierto de Aranjuez was conceived partly at his suggestion at a dinner in Santander in 1938. Rodrigo dedicated the work to him, and Sainz de la Maza gave the world premiere in Barcelona on 6 November 1940 with the Orquestra Filharmònica de Barcelona conducted by César Mendoza Lasalle. Without his advocacy, the piece that became the most recognised work of orchestral guitar music in history might not exist in its current form.
As a composer, Sainz de la Maza worked firmly within Castilian and Andalusian folk traditions, producing character pieces such as Alegrías, El Vito, Rondeña, and Zapateado — music that is direct, rhythmically vital, and rooted in popular culture. He also wrote La Guitarra y su Historia (1955), a history of the instrument.
