The following is a guest post by David J. Buch, an internationally known musicologist who currently lives in Chicago (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_J._Buch). He can be contacted at buch@uni.edu.
The most influential and foundational
modern Spanish guitarist-composer is Francisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea (1852-1909).
Both in regard to technique and repertory, Tárrega extended the Spanish guitar
tradition and established an international one, alloyed with the "romantic"
style, repertory and transcription from other media. His devoted students
Miguel Llobet, Emilio Pujol, Josefina Robledo and Daniel Fortea transmitted his
music and teachings, which reached Andrés Segovia and virtually all of his
followers. Tárrega's compositions and transcriptions are in the repertory of
almost every 'classical' guitarist, and his most renown pieces have transcended
the instrument and entered broad popular culture as no other
guitarist-composer's works.
One of Tárrega's
most admired and performed compositions, Recuerdos
de la Alhambra, has been known through an early 20th-century
publication edited by Tárrega and dedicated as an homage to the French
guitarist Alfred Cottin.[1]
But in 1991 an autograph manuscript came to light that provided a more precise
context for the origin of this rhapsodic tremolo study.[2]
The manuscript bears the date December 8, 1899 and has a different title: Improvisación !A Granada¡ Cantiga Árabe. An inscription at the end
indicates that the work was composed as a name-day gift to a woman who was
Tárrega's student, maecenas and possible muse. The dedication reads "To my eximious disciple Sra. Dª Conchita G.
De Jacoby / [from] your teacher and friend / Franco Tárrega. /
Màlaga 8 Diciembre 1889" (A mi eximia
discípula Sra. Da. Conchita G. de Jacoby / su Maestro y Amigo / Franco
Tárrega / Málaga 8 Di[ciem]bre 1899; see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Title and Dedication of Improvisación !A Granada¡ Cantiga Árabe
We learn of the
origin and purpose of this fine example of Spanish-'Moorish' romanticism from
the intimate inscription that Tárrega added at the end of piece "Since I can't
offer you a gift of more value on your saint's day, accept this little poetic
impression felt by my soul before the grand marvel of the Alhambra of Granada
that we admired together. Franco Tárrega (Ya que no puedo ofrecer a V[uestra]. ofrenda de mas valia en el dia de
su santo, acete esta mi pobre nota poética impresion que sintió mi alma ante la
grandiosa maravilla de la Alhambra de Granada que juntos admiramos. Franco
Tarrega; see Figure 2).[3]
Figure 2: Inscribed Ending of Improvisación !A Granada¡ CantigaÁrabe
Hence Recuerdos, or more precisely, !A Granada¡, was a gift for a specific woman's name-day, commemorating their time together at the great Alhambra palace. Tárrega dated it on December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
Many Catholics will know this date because it is often when a child will take
the first communion for its symbolic value. In any event, the purpose of !A Granada¡ is closely connected to this
woman and the solemn feast day for which she was named.
This study will
examine archival documentation concerning "Sra. Da. Conchita G. de
Jacoby," revealing more about her and about her relationship to Tárrega. It
will then re-examine Tárrega's music that was connected to her in the light of
new information. While a number of questions must remain unanswered, the
surviving evidence and biographical details will provide a fuller picture of
the woman and the context of the music dedicated to her.
Doña
Concha Martínez?
Aside from a brief mention in a standard dictionary article from 1934,[4]
what we know of Concepción Jacoby comes mostly from a biography of Tárrega
written by his student, Emilio Pujol (1886-1980) during the 1950s,[5]
and a very brief article that was published in 1952.[6]
Both accounts present hagiographic discussions of Tárrega and contain
inaccuracies and lacunae. For example, Pujol uses the erroneous name "Doña
Concha Martínez" in both publications. He claims that she was about 35 years
old at that time she met Tárrega in 1896. She was actually 48 years old that
year.[7]
Pujol was also unaware that Tárrega composed Recuerdos de la Alhambra for her. In fact, he was apparently aware
of only one of the three pieces he composed for her, the waltz !Sola¡, which Pujol claims was written
in the suburbs of Barcelona. The autograph manuscript reveals it was actually
composed in Valencia.
Pujol was not a
firsthand witness to much of what he describes. He met Tárrega in 1902 when he
was 16, two years after Concepción and Tárrega suspended their relationship. He
may have met Concepción around November, 1907, when she apparently returned to
help the ailing musician in his last two years of life. But there are good
reasons to believe that he had little or no direct knowledge of her or her
family. Moreover, his adulatory approach reflects the worshipful attitude of
his years as a teenage acolyte and later, as a faithful apostle of Tárrega's
teaching.
While Pujol
presents a saintly portrayal of his teacher, his description of "Doña Concha's"
character is complex and intriguing. He writes that Concepción possessed "a lively spirit, strong
temperament and exalted fantasy, her extreme sentiments ranged from the most
humble tenderness to the most imperious energy. There was a strange mixture of
commoner and patrician in her bearing. An unrestrained contrast that gave way
to a very original and interesting personality, nevertheless shrouded in a
nebulous and indescribable enigma.[8]
In Pujol's biography, she is by far, the most beguiling
and fascinating character in the entire text.
Pujol states
that Tárrega, with his wife and two children, moved into Concepción's villa in
the San Gervasio suburb of Barcelona, occupying quarters in the tower. But ". .
. in 1899, the Tarrega family was installed again in his apartment on [274]
Calle de Valencia [in Barcelona], and the master could not hear the name of
Doña Concha pronounced without the uncontrollable reflection of a bitter
disenchantment on his face." Now Pujol's depiction of Concepción has acquired a
decidedly dark aspect, a "dominant and fickle character of said lady, the origin
of so many compromising situations."[9]
But it is clear
from his writing, that when Pujol deprecates Concepción's character, he
traffics in hearsay. Much of his account is based on second hand speculation
and unverified assumptions. Treating Tárrega almost as a religious figure, he
entirely blames that "dominant and fickle" woman, for the rupture in their
relationship. But Pujol was 13 or 14 years old when the break occurred and had
not yet met Tárrega or Concepción. Because Pujol does not relate a single
firsthand encounter, one suspects that he never actually met her.
Pujol's conclusions
about Concepción do not fit his set of facts, and the situation he describes
can be interpreted differently. The autograph manuscript of ¡A Granada!, dated December 8, 1899,
with its affectionate and intimate inscription and dedication, undermines
Pujol's account of a painful break in 1899. One might now think that the break
might have occurred in the days immediately following December 8, in the last
weeks of 1899. But from November 1899 to May 1900, Tárrega was not in Barcelona
but traveling with Dr. Walter Leckie, as the dated manuscripts in Dr. Leckie's
two books reveal.[10]
The men started their tour together in Castellón in November, then on to Malaga
(where he composed !A Granada¡), then
Algiers, then Naples, and finally Marseilles. He was not back in Barcelona at
the end of May 1900.
Pujol's account
of the break is problematic in other ways. Pujol begins with a contradiction
when he writes that "Those who, having known Tárrega intimately, knew from
experience of the delicate, loyal, affective and respectful tact with which he
treated his friends." Pujol continues that that "his friends, surprised at
their breakup, did not fail to attribute it to the dominant and fickle
character of said lady, the origin of so many compromising situations." If Tárrega
treated his friends with respectful tact, how could they know that a
"compromising situation" caused the break? And if Tárrega's friends found her
character to be so obviously flawed the way Pujol suggests, why did the break
surprise them? It is clear that Pujol did not know the actual reason for the
break, and the idealization of Tárrega may have influenced him and the
individuals he consulted, leading them to entirely blame Concepción. His
statements about Concepción spreading stories about Tárrega cannot be assessed
as to its veracity either. He never cites any specific examples and his wording
again suggests he was repeating hearsay and rumor. Since we only have Pujol's
second- or thirdhand accounts to assess Concepción's character, perhaps we will
learn something of this woman from investigating the surviving archival
documentation and publications that concern her and her family, some of which
also had role in Tárrega's life.
Concepción
Gómez y Bataller de Jacoby
Pujol provides little precise information
on Concepción, some of it inaccurate. He mentions that Concepción Gómez had
been a singer and actress in zarzuelas. He states that in Mexico "Concha met
the German Jew Jacoby and married him. After a year of marriage, they had a
son." He notes that after the death of her sister, she took over the upbringing
of her niece Clara. But there is much more to this history, which in some
aspects does not conform to the account Pujol presents. A review of documentary
sources will help to clarify these aspects.
According to the
civil register of 1845-1854 in the Ajuntament de València, Concepción seems to
have been given the name Luisa when she was born on April 27, 1848 (see Figure
3).[11]
Perhaps this was an error or perhaps the full name was Luisa Concepción. In any
event, the civil register of 1851 lists the 3-year-old Concepción as the child
of these parents living in this household at the time, three years after the
birth of "Luisa." Her father, Juan Bautista Gomez y Molines, was from the small
Valencian coastal town, Santa Pola; he was blind. Her mother, Ana Bataller y
Fort was from an equally small Valencian inland town, Benifairó. Concepción
most likely grew up in poverty.
In 1867, when
she was 19 years old, Concepción and her older sister Amalia were both
performing at the Teatro Real in Madrid. They are praised in the journal El Artista, where the two sisters are
described as "Prima contraltos of the very first rank. A perfect fraternity:
doña Amalia Gómez y doña Concepción Gómez."[12]
The sisters traveled to the Americas in 1868 as part of the Spanish zarzuela
troupe of impresario Joaquín Gaztambide. They eventually found great success in
Mexico City, where they first performed with the Eduard Gonzalez Company in
late February 1871.[13]
At that time Concepción was described as "a highly sympathetic, beautiful Spanish woman with
great grace" (guapa
española de mucha gracia y altamente simpática).[14]Pujol wrote that "Concha had secondary roles in the same company" as her sister. Surveying Concepción's reviews in contemporary periodicals demonstrates
that she had some primary roles in zarzuelas and operettas. In November 1871
she sang the lead role of Catalina, the disguised queen of Portugal in
Francisco Asenjo Barbieri's Los diamante
de la corona. She also sang Wanda in Offenbach's La Gran Duquesa de Gerolstein, a major role.[15]
The reviewers speak of her grace, clarity, and skill. There are also
indications of a fiery temperament and a strong will. She caused a major
scandal that ended in a small riot at the Teatro Principal when she refused to
perform after a discussion with another singer named [possible Rosa] Flores.
The affair ended in court, where a judge fined both Concepción and the rioters.
The threat to expel her from Mexico was acknowledged as empty, given her
"intelligence" and "charms."[16]
Figure 3: Birth Registration of Luisa [Concepción?] Gomez
A short time
later Amalia would become a great star in Mexico, initially with her
performances in the title role in Jacques Offenbach's La Gran Duquesa de Gerolstein, and later by introducing the
scandalous French can-can to South American audiences.[17]
But her sister's career on the stage would be short. Her name disappeared from
the theatrical reviews by 1874. By that time Concepción had met and married
Luis Jacoby. According to the civil petition and the registration of her
marriage in Mexico City, as well as the church record (April 6, 1873),[18]
Concepción Gómez y Bataller was born in Valencia, the legitimate daughter of
Juan Bautista Gomez y Molina [sic, Molines] and Anna Maria Bataller y Fort. She
is listed as 23 years old (she was actually 25) at the time of her marriage to
Luis Jacoby, the son of Simon Jacoby and Guillermina Goldstein. Luis is given
as a 32-year-old native of Berlin, and a naturalized Mexican citizen.
It was probably
around 1867 when Luis purchased the Hacienda
Obrajuelo, near the city of Apaseo el Grande, in the state of Guanajuato,
Mexico (the Jacoby family would lose the Hacienda
Obrajuelo during the Revolution of 1914). He also acquired the plantation El Horizonte in Tumbador, Guatamala on
the line of the central railroad near the southern border of Mexico[19]
(see Figure 4). Along with his brother Martin Jacoby, Luis turned these
properties into modern and highly profitable farming, cattle and mining
concerns. In 1894 Luis and Werner Hagnauer purchased land in the Sierra Madres
to create the Argovia coffee plantation in the state of Chiapas, north of
Tapachula, Mexico.[20]
The surviving tokens used as payment in the Jacoby plantations are collectibles
today (see Figure 5). All of these properties are still operating.
Figure 4: The plantation of
Luis Jacoby [El Horizonte] in
Guatamala
Figure 5: Tokens from El Horizonte and Argovia plantations
Concepción's
marriage did not go unnoticed in the Spanish capital. One satiric periodical reported that:
"La Concha Gomez, that exemplary actress
(in terms of chorus girls), has married a capitalist from Mexico, in
Mexico. After this success, Arderius appears to have noticed the obvious desire
in his female masses to emigrate overseas." (La Concha Gomez aquella actriz ejemplar
(suripánticamente hablando), se ha casado con un capitalista de Méjico, en
Méjico. Despues de este suceso, parece que Arderius ha notado evidentes ánsias
de emigración ultramarine en sus masas femeniles.)[21]
A
Son
Pujol was inaccurate when stating that
after a year of marriage Concepción gave birth to her son. She was married in
1873. On November 15, 1877 the son of Luis and Concepción, named Luis
Maximiliano Jacoby, was born at their residence on the Calle de Presiados in
Madrid, Spain. We learn this from a birth certification registered in Mexico
City on February 25, 1895.[22]
The registration and the Spanish documentation was provided by Martin Jacoby,
the brother of Luis and uncle of Luis Maximiliano. The reason for this late
registration was perhaps to establish the Mexican citizenship of Luis
Maximiliano, facilitating the inheritance of his family's estate in case of his
father's death. The only known photograph of Concepción is from early 1878, at
the front of the Hacienda Obrajuelo
with her husband Luis, her baby, and her brother-in-law Martin (see Figure 6).
Figure 6: Photo of the
Jacobys at Hacienda Obrejuelo in
early 1878. Front four from the left: Luis Jacoby, Concepción with
her baby son Luis, unknown man, Martin Jacoby (with white coat and cigarette).
Reproduced with kind permission of Concepción's great grandsons, Jean-Eric
Schoettl and Christian Schoettl, who provided this photo.
Separation
and Divorce
We have no details of the relationship
before, during or after the wedding, but the marriage eventually ended. Around
1898 Concepción empowered the influential businessman Iñigo Noriega Laso (1853-1953) to be her
representative in the trial
separation of assets, part of the process of obtaining a divorce from Luis
Jacoby.[23]
Luis had become one of the most successful businessmen in Mexico by that time.
As Jacoby & Company expanded their financial
holdings, Luis became more influential in the economic and political life of
Mexico. The company would not be free of controversy and some financial
failures in 1908, reportedly due to misappropriation of funds by Martin Jacoby
in the cotton market. In any event, Luis was closely connected to President
Profio Diaz and his finance minister José Ives Limentour, hence Jacoby &
Company was protected.[24]
On November 4,
1871 Concepción stood as godmother to Amalia's first child, Maria Adriana
Padilla, born September 9 of that year. The baby died a few weeks later. In
1875 she was godmother to Amalia's first son, Raphael Carlos Padilla, born on
July 24, 1872 (she now adds the name Jacoby). A second son named Conrado
Francisco de Paula Padilla was born in 1873 (the church record is not available
at this time, but it is likely that Concepción was godmother). It seems that
Concepción served as godmother for her sister's only surviving daughter
Francisca De Paula Clara Padilla, since after the death of her sister in 1890,
Concepción brought Clara to live with her in Spain. On July 10, 1885 Concepción
stood as godmother to Amalia's last child, José Joaquin Padilla, born August 28, 1884.
Return
to Spain
It is clear from the fact that her son was
born in Madrid, and the subsequent photo at the Obrajuelo, that Concepción traveled back to Spain and maintained
her ties to her native country. She would eventually move back there, probably
in the period of separation and divorce from Luis Jacoby. As late as May 1887
Mexico City newspapers commented on her presence at significant social events
such as the grand ball at the Casino Español.[25]
Pujol names four
residences in Spain owned by Concepción. In Valencia she lived on the opulent,
fashionable Paseo de la Alameda. She also had a rustic house in the Cabañal
area of Valencia, close to the beach and the new spa. She had a splendid farm
in the surroundings of Alicante that she called La Cachupina. (A gapuchina is
a Mexican phrase for Spanish woman living in Mexico.) Finally, she had an
impressive villa in the Barcelona suburb of San Gervasio, on the calle de
Ballester at the foot of Puxtet hill.[26]
Pujol states
that Concepción's "five-year-old son Luisito lived with her, along with a
beautiful 16-year-old niece, called Clarita, only daughter of her sister; she
took her in when she became an orphan after the suicide of her sister." Again
the account is inaccurate. Her son Luis was born in 1877, while her niece Clara
was born in 1878.[27]
The eleven year error in age differential given by Pujol reinforces the
impression that he had little or no first-hand knowledge; he almost certainly
never met this family.
In Spain she
associated with (and patronized) writers and musicians. Pujol mentions her
friendship with Francisco Monleón (the son-in-law of the poet Teodoro Llorente)
and Maria Carbonell Sánchez (1857-1926), the Valencian author, professor,
feminist. The latter association is verified by contemporary publication.[28]
Amalia
Gómez
Concepción's sister Amalia Gómez (see
Figure 7) continued her career in Mexico City in the 1870s and 1880s,
performing with the Eduard Gonzalez Company and eventually forming her own
company, apparently with diminished success.[29]
She married a merchant named Epigmenio (also given sometimes as Epigenario)
Padilla (1821-1895) and had five children: Maria Adriana (b. 1871, died the
same year), Raphael Carlos (b. 1872), Conrado Francisco de Paula (b. 1873),
Clara (b. 1878), and José Joachim (b. 1884).
Amalia committed
suicide on October 28, 1890. The death register records a "death by tragic
gesture of Señora Amalia Gomez y Padilla of Valencia in España, 49 years old,
married to Epigmenio Padilla de Zamosa" (. . . falleció de gesto tragico la Senora Amalia Gomez y Padilla de Valencia
a España, de 49 cuarento y nueve años, casada con Epigmenio Padilla de Zamosa
. . ).[30]
The local newspapers provided more detail, for example:
Suicide: Under this epigraph, several of our
colleagues have brought to light the news that on Calle de Ortega number four,
a woman ended her life, dropping from the third-floor corridor. Better
informed, we assure to our readers that Mrs. Amalia Gomez (who is the alleged
suicide), lived in house number 34 on Ortega Street, and according to the
opinion of reliable sources (people of recognized standing), her ability to
reason was highly impaired.
On Wednesday night, when she was in an
attack of madness, she left his house and went to number 4 on the same street;
He entered the interior, and asked by the concierge where she was going, Mrs.
Gomez told him to a shop on an upper floor.
Mrs. Amalia Gomez ascended the first and
second stairs, and when already on the third floor she threw herself over the
railing into the patio of the aforementioned house, falling into a fountain of
water, from where a wall painter took her and moved her to her domicile.
The police were notified by the housekeeper
of number 4, and the inspector, Mr. Francisco Arrieta, accompanied by the
physician assigned to said office, attended to the situation.
Mrs. Gomez was already in her room, and
under her bed covers; Recognized by the attending physician, the latter stated
that Mrs. Gomez had no injury on the outside, and that therefore he expected
her to develop some symptoms from internal injuries that she did not show at
that time, except for her mental disturbance . . . Despite the fact that Mrs.
Gomez had no external injury, she died last night and it is inferred that it
was from the blow she received; because the fountain is too small and has a
division in the center, on which the aforementioned and unfortunate Amalia
fell.[31]
Hence Amalia's daughter Clara was 12 years
old when her mother died. Concepción brought her to Spain, to live in her
household. Pujol offers vignettes in which Tárrega becomes a part of Clara's
life, and the young woman and her husband Ramón Planiol look after the guitar
master in the difficult years before his death (see below).
Figure 7: Lithograph of
Amalia Gómez[32]
Fellow
Travelers
Pujol tells that in 1896 Concepción was a
student of Tárrega's close friend, the guitarist and artist Manuel Loscos[33]
in Valencia; she invited Tárrega (see Figure 8) to perform at her home on Paseo
de la Alameda, along with some prominent individuals including the writer María
Carbonell. That "she was like a sleep-walker and she fainted," and that doctors
had to revive her seems like more exaggeration on Pujol's part. (At the time
women wore corsets that could contribute to fainting.) In any event, her
relationship with the guitarist became a close one, and she became devoted to
Tárrega and to the guitar. He called her "Conchita," the affectionate
diminutive he wrote on two of the three pieces he dedicated to her. According
to Pujol, they were so close that Tárrega and his family moved into the tower
in Concepción's San Gervasio villa in 1897 and stayed there some two years,
while still maintaining their apartment on Valencia street.
Miguel Llobet
was studying with Tárrega in this period, making copies of a number of his
pieces that survive today in the archive of the Music Museum of Barcelona.[34]
Llobet almost certainly met Concepción at that time, likely visiting his
teacher at her villa.
Figure 8: Tárrega in 1896
In his entry on
Tárrega, Prat (1934), who studied with the guitarist in the period 1900-1904,
mentioned that Concepción toured with the guitarist in Spain and elsewhere.
Pujol states that not long after meeting Tárrega she and her niece Clara
accompanied Tárrega on a concert tour of Andalusia, visiting the Alhambra in
Granada, where one evening the composer was inspired to write the initial idea
for Recuerdos de la Alhambra. Since
our earliest source for this piece is the still rough "improvisation," dated
December 8, 1899, this account seems like speculation on Pujol's part. The
dedication and title "Improvisación"
indicate that the piece was a later memorialization of the visit, written
extemporaneously without being
pre-planned.
In his article,
"Tárrega as Teacher," Pujol states that in 1896 the Vicar of Picaña, don
Francisco Corell, musician, painter and a fine orator, one of Tárrega's best disciples
and friends, invited doña Concha Martinez [sic] de Jacobi, her brother [sic]
and sister [sic] Clarita, Ramon Planiol, don Antonio Tello and other friends of
the Maestro to a supper at Picaña. After the meal the good priest said grace.
Doña Concha could not repress a sob and a few tears. "why are you crying,
Conchita?" asked Tárrega. "Because," she said, "it is many years since I
prayed." Tárrega replied: "I am often praying, for he who works, and he who
studies, prays." This is apparently an inaccurate reading of a letter from
Corell that Pujol would transcribe accurately in his later biography of Tarrega
(p, 222). This transcription of the letter correctly states that Clarita was
Concepción's niece. Ramón (Clara's husband) is not mentioned, merely Tello and
"other friends" (otros amigos). Doña
Concha does not say "it is many years since I prayed," but that it has been
many years since she said the Pater Noster prayer (Padrenuestro). Picaña is a municipality on the outskirts of
Valencia. It seems plausible that Tárrega was staying at Concepción's residence
in Valencia at that time.
Our secure
information on Tárrega's travels comes mainly from his dated manuscripts and
those of his students. On June 16 he dedicates a Prelude in A minor (later
published as Preludio No. 2) to
Miguel Llobet in Barcelona. As for 1897, Tárrega composed his Mazurka in G in Barcelona on March 16,
1897, and his Vals !Sola¡ and Mazurka Conchita for Concepción were
written in Valencia on July 29, 1897. Again it is plausible that he was staying
at Concepción's residence in that city, and perhaps giving recitals there as
Pujol recounts.
Pujol states
that "in the Fall of 1897 Tárrega, Dona Concha, her son Luis and Don Martín
Jacoby, brother of the deceased husband of the señora, found themselves in
Paris, at the Grand Hôtel du Périgord [today the Lyric Hotel, 2 Rue de
Gramont]. On 25 November a concert was announced at the Nouveau Salle Pleyel on
the Rue Rochechouart, with the brothers Alfred and Jules Cottin with the
students La Lombarde y Fernandez."
Again Pujol is in error. Luis Jacoby was not dead in 1897, he was living in
Paris at No. 1 Avenue du Bois de Boulogne (now Avenue Foch).[35]
Three photos of Luis Jacoby at the Argovia
plantation have survived from the early 20th century (see Figure 9).
Tárrega was back
in Barcelona on August 15 1897, where he made a transcription of the popular
march from the opera Cádíz by Joaquín
Valverde Durán (1846-1910). According to a February 3, 1898 letter from Tárrega
to Alfred Cottin in Paris (reproduced in Pujol's biography) the guitarist is
still in Barcelona. In 1898 Daniel
Fortea became his student, and he probably visited his teacher at Concepción's
villa, like Llobet.
Figure 9: Luis
Jacoby at the Argovia coffee
plantation, ca. 1900-1908. Reproduced with kind permission of the Hagnauer
family, who provided this photo.
Clarita
According to Pujol (p.131), "Among the
friends that Tárrega had in Barcelona society was Don Ramón Planiol, a young
man from a great fortune who owned a magnificent estate in Sampol de Mar and
very valuable properties in Cuba. Introducing Clarita on one occasion, he was
captivated by her beauty and attractiveness, and asked after her at home to
Doña Concha. Although the girl initially resisted, Tárrega's reflections and
advice contributed to making her change her mind; The marriage was celebrated
in short order, and the master was named the best man at the wedding."
Tárrega's role in the life of Clara further reinforces an impression of an
intimate involvement in Concepción's family circle. Clara, who would come into
considerable wealth through her marriage to Rámon (Jose Joaquin) Planiol
Claramunt (1859-1935),[36]
was also a deeply religious Catholic, who committed her time and energy to
charitable activities.[37] Pujol (p. 201) tells that Rámon and Clara would continue to support Tárrega in
the years when Concepción no longer was his patron, actually supervising his
family's budget until Concepción would return to help support Tárrega in 1907,
when she accompanied the guitarist on a final tour.
Ramón and Clara
had interest in new modernist architecture that was captivating Barcelona at
that time, and they commissioned Ignasi Mas Morell to design two remarkable
modernist houses in Havana and in Ramón's birthplace, San Pol de Mar, Spain
(1910). They also commissioned the architect to design the main school in San
Pol de Mar, although they lived much of their lives in the modernist house in
Havana on the elegant Malecón esplanade. On October 27, 1920 they arrived with
their son Valentine in New York from Cherbourg on HMS Olympic. Clara listed her closest living relative as "Aunt Conchata
Jacobi, Alicante, Spain." Valentine and his daughter Isabel lived much of their
lives in the United States, eventually settling in Miami, Florida, where the
family line ended in 2011.
Paris
Concepción lived in a palatial mansion at
the corner of Avenues de Rapp and Bosquet in the Gros Caillou quartier of the 7th
Arrondissment (see figure 10). A visit to her house in the early 20th
century was recounted in print by Eusebio Blasco: "Of the artists that premiered or figured in the
company . . . Concha Gomez, one of those
two beautiful Valencian sisters who replaced la Checa [the Czech] and La
Hueto creators of Calypso and Venus, went to Mexico and there she
married the wealthy German banker, Jacoby, coming to settle and establish
herself in Paris ten years ago, where she invited me to dine with at her
magnificent house on the Avenue de Bosque [sic, Bosquet] number 1, where I found
her living like a grand rich lady."[38]
Today this mansion is the Bulgarian Embassy, with the
address 1 Avenue Rapp, at the
Place de Résistance.
Figure 10: Avenue de Bosquet,
No. 1, c. 1900
Pujol tells that
Concepción inherited two magnificent buildings on la Rue de Théodore de
Banville in Paris after the death of her husband. But these large Beaux Artes
style apartment buildings (Nos. 11, 13, 15, and 17) were projects of her son,
designed by the architect Franck Henry, and constructed in 1911, well after the
death of her ex-husband. At that time the Rue Théodore de Banville in the 17th
Arrondissement was a relatively new area of the city. Luis's descendants still
possess the family apartment in one of these buildings.
The
Break
Since Pujol only provides vague second- and
third-hand opinions on the reason for the break, concentrating on Concepción's
"dominant and fickle character" (carácter
dominante y voluble), we are left with only speculative explanations. The
more recent suggestion, that her romantic overtures to Tárrega were rejected,
cannot be dismissed out of hand. But other explanations are equally plausible,
perhaps even more so. An alternative explanation is that Pujol was accurate in
saying she was disloyal, but this was specifically referring to her patronage of
Tárrega, not her romantic intentions. By 1899 she apparently had launched the
career of the much younger and attractive Catalan guitarist-composer Miguel
Llobet, who was also more inclined to concertize than Tárrega, and to do so
internationally. Prat, (1934, p. 184-5) recounts that after meeting Llobet, Concepción took him to Malaga, and in 1900 to Paris, bringing him out of the Barcelona area for the first time and allowing him to begin an international concert career. Tárrega had referred to Concepción as his "eximious disciple."
Pujol presents her patronage of Llobet as an act of disloyalty, and Tárrega may
have seen it the same way. The mark of a true disciple is consistent loyalty,
and no disciple is more disappointing than a disloyal one.
Later
years
Pujol tells that Concepción reconciled with
Tárrega in 1907, after the guitarist's health had been steadily declining. She
went with him again on a final tour, as Pujol writes: "Should Tárrega give some
concerts in Alicante and Alcoy, Doña Concha decided to accompany him to the
first of these cities, where she owned, as already said, a beautiful country
estate called La Cachupina." The
short tour was delayed but eventually occurred.
Besides Pujol's
account of Concepcíón's rapprochement with Tárrega in 1907, and her subsequent
participation in his last concert tour, we have very little information of her
activities and interests after Tárrega's death in 1909, mainly a few requests
to restore and improve her properties in Barcelona. One of these petitions,
from 1906, bears her signature (see Figure 11) and does not yet refer to her as
widow (see note 27). The death of her ex-husband most likely occurred in June
1909. There is a record of the June 22, 1909 burial of one Louis Jacoby at Père
Lachaise cemetery in Paris.[39]
This coincides with a June 26, 1909 death notice in Le Nouveau Monde stating that Monsieur Jacoby died as a result of
an accident on his return to Paris from Chantilly.[40]
The last known signed letter from Luis Jacoby is dated May 9, 1907.[41]
The newspaper Diario de Alicante 6/1448 (January 2,
1912) [p. 1], reports in its "Notas de Sociedad" that Concepción was returning
to Barcelona. The "Noticias" in the journal El
primitivo Alicante obrero: diario de la tarde: defensor de las Sociedades
Obreras de Alicante 1/ 9 (July 7, 1916) [p. 2], reports the birth of
Concepción's first granddaughter, Maria Luisa, Concepción y Soledad.[42]
The Diario de Alicante 16/4007 (March
9, 1925) [p. 1], reports the death of
Concepción among the "Gente conocida" (prominent people). She is the
"distinguished Señora Concepción Gomis Bataller, widow Jacoby; we join his son Luis and other family
members in their just grief." (Ha fallecido en esta capital la distinguida señora Concepción Gomis
Bataller, viuda de Jacoby. A su hijo don Luis y demás familia, acompañamos, en
su justo dolor.) She was 76 years old at the time of her death.
Figure 11: The Signature of
Concepción Gómez de Jacoby
Information on
her son's activities were made public in various periodicals. These include the
exhibition of his paintings at the Grand Palais of the Exhibition Universelle
of 1900,[43]
his work as an engineer and competitive driver for Hispano Suiza automotive
company,[44]
and his business transactions in Mexico.
The
Patronage Continues
Concepción's son and daughter-in-law, María
Suelves de Jacoby (another beautiful actress, born in Zaragoza, c. 1888, see
Figure 12), continued patronizing artists and musicians. Their spacious
apartment in Paris served as a kind of salon, where painters such as the
married couple Louis-Théodore Dubé (Canadian, 1861-1943) and Martha Jane Thweatt (American, 1854-1944), and the
Catalonian Josep Mompou (1888-1968) would visit and even reside for extended
stays. Josep's brother, the composer Federico Mompou (1893-1987) lived with the
Jacoby family for long periods in Paris, and he even gave piano lessons to the
children.[45]
Mompou would dedicate his Dialogues
for piano to María Suelves de Jacoby in 1923.[46]
We don't know how the Catalonian composer met Luis and María, but it very well
might have been through Concepción in her villa on the outskirts of Barcelona.
Figure 12: Maria Suelves y
Solans de Jacoby. Reproduced with
kind permission of Jean-Eric Schoettl and Christian Schoettl, who provided this
photo.
The
Music Dedicated to Concepción
Tárrega dedicated at least three works to
Concepción. The earliest known pieces dedicated are !Sueño¡, Mazurka Conchita and Improvisación
!Sola¡, both dated June 29, 1897 in Valencia, Concepción's native city where
the she resided much of the year. These two pieces appear like many other
Tárrega autograph manuscripts, that is to say, each is a first (and probably
final) draft with a few corrections written into the score. They are written
clearly enough so as to be legible to the recipient, who was intended to play
them. Both pieces were part of the Miquel Llobet's music collection that was
dispersed after the death of his daughter Miguelina Llobet Aguilar in 1987. The
collection was later reassembled in part by Fernando Alonso Mercader (1945-).
It seems reasonable to assume that Concepción owned these two pieces and gave
them to Llobet when she helped to launch his career around 1900. Both pieces
are part of the large Fons Llobet, which was acquired by the Archive of the
Museu de la Música de Barcelona[47]
in 2015 from Alonso. The Archive gave the two pieces a common shelfmark (ES
AMDMB 4-469-7-1-FA123), having been a single unit with two works.
The use of the
term "Improvisación" in the title of
two of these three pieces written for Concepción (based on present knowledge
these seem to be the only two pieces by Tárrega with this word attached)
suggests a work that was written extemporaneously without being carefully planned, organized, or edited. Sometimes the
genre for this type of piece is called an impromptu,
a term also used for poems written on the spur of the moment. In comparing !A Granada¡ with Recuerdos de la Alhambra (see below for details) one has the impression
that the earlier version is based on a moment of compositional inspiration; it
is less refined at certain points, particularly in the harmonic dimension and
the ending. However, the manuscript itself seems the most carefully prepared
and inscribed that Tárrega ever produced.
Improvisación
!Sola¡
This languishing, sentimental waltz has the
title !Sola¡, meaning "alone."
Perhaps this is a reference to Concepción's state, as her divorce was probably
underway or completed at the time. A halting, rhapsodic character is created by
having the opening phrase in a simple waltz rhythm answered by a short
ascending motive marked ritenuto.
This limping quality is also indicated in the third sections of !Sola¡ with its tempo fluctuations.
This piece bears
the dedication "A mi ideal amiga di Sra. Da. C. Gomez." The locution "ideal
friend" here is of interest. She was also Tárrega's student at the time (on the
1899 manuscript !A Granada¡ the
dedicatee is an "eximious disciple"). On the one hand the locution "ideal
friend" may simply mean "exemplary friend," but on the other hand the word
"ideal" might suggest that Tárrega was referring to a platonic relationship. It
seems doubtful that the composer would be taking such an occasion to send a
message to the dedicatee that their relationship was platonic; if such a
meaning was intended it might reflect the acknowledgement of mutual feelings
about their relationship that had been discussed or observed. In any event we
cannot know if this was the intended meaning.
Pujol
specifically cites !Sola¡ as the
unique piece dedicated to Concepción. As is the case with all three pieces
originally dedicated to her, the association with her would be hidden in the
published versions. !Sola¡ would be
re-edited and published some 47 years after Tárrega's death with the title Paquito, the familiar diminutive name of
Tárrega's son Francisco, who is also credited as the "arranger" of the piece.[48]
Later publications of Paquito have
even more variants from the 1897 autograph manuscript !Sola¡. There is no evidence that any later version was a product
of Tárrega's doing.
!Sueño¡,
Mazurka Conchita
!Sueño¡ [meaning "Dream"] Mazurka Conchita bears no dedication on
the manuscript. Instead Concepción's diminutive familiar name is embedded in
the title, suggesting this is a musical portrait of the lady. If so, this
portrait certainly reflects the contradictory enigmatic woman described by
Pujol. The opening is a direct quote from another Mazurka, namely Op. 7, No. 1
by Frederic Chopin. Perhaps this was a favorite piece of Concepción or the
composer, who was a skilled pianist as well as a guitarist. This first section
(in a bright C major) has Chopin's triumphant ascending melodic sweep and
complimentary descent (with flourishes that is all Tárrega). One can easily
imagine that "lively spirit,
strong temperament and exalted fantasy" that Pujol described. Likewise, Pujol's
description of an "unrestrained contrast" is perhaps found in the second, harmonically unstable section, seeming almost like a different
piece. Starting in the relative minor, the key alternates with the modal median
minor. It leads to a final segment marked "misterioso," recalling Pujol's words
to describe Concepción's
personality: "a nebulous and indescribable enigma" The title "Dream" also contributes to
the impression that this piece is a kind of brief vision or reverie, with
seemingly incongruent elements in close proximity.
!Sueño¡ was published by
Ildefonso Alier as No. 10 in the series Obras
póstumas escogidas para guitarra, plate No. 5393. This first print includes
two minor modifications involving bass notes with harmonic implications: one
finds an F natural instead of the original F sharp on the final beat of bar 7
and a low E on the first beat of bar 8 instead of the original tonic C. Both
seem to be errors, as a missing sharp is not a rare in music printing and the
low E is impossible to play at the same time as the G a third higher. The
reason for the omission of name "Conchita" from the title remains a mystery.
Perhaps it is a vestige of the break, or if the family was involved in the
posthumous publication project by Ildefonso Alier, perhaps there remained some
resentment over perceived wrongs.
Improvisación
!A Granada¡ Cantiga Árabe,
Two and a half
years later, Tárrega composed another piece for Concepción while in Malaga. He
gave it the title Improvisación !A
Granada¡ Cantiga Árabe, but it was published as Recuerdos de la Alhambra a few years later. Spanish nationalist
composers at the time, particularly Isaac Albeniz, but also others, wrote
pieces about memorable Spanish places. But !A
Granada¡ is the only piece Tárrega ever composed about a place.[49]
This autograph
manuscript is a rarity in that it is a completely pristine fair copy that
Tárrega meticulously wrote, including a with a personal dedication and an
intimate inscription at the end. The manuscript is unique as it was a gift
presented to Concepción, commemorating the time they spent together in Granada,
admiring the Alhambra palace and fortress complex, hence its original title !A Granada¡. Based on our present
knowledge, there seems to be no other autograph score by Tárrega quite like
this one.[50]
No longer the
"ideal friend," in 1899 manuscript the
dedicatee is an "eximious disciple," and Tárrega is now the friend when he
writes "Maestro y Amigo" in the dedication. She is a "distinguished" or
"eminent" follower and student. The inscription at the end seems the most
personal and intimate Tárrega ever wrote on a piece of music. The piece is a
"little poetic impression felt by my soul before the grand marvel of the
Alhambra of Granada that we both admired together." Moreover, the piece is a
gift for Concepción's name-day, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The
religious significance of the day is yet another indication of the special
nature of this gift, and perhaps a reminder of the religious aspect the appears
in the only direct account of their conversation, held in the home of the vicar
of Picaña, Francisco Corell.
Like the other
two pieces connected to this lady, the provenance of the manuscript almost
certainly begins in Concepción's household. It remained in the Jacoby family in
Paris, and was given to their close friend, the composer Federico Mompou, who
lived with them in their spacious residence on the Rue Théodore de Banville
during much of his time in Paris.[51]
The composer's wife, the pianist Carmen Bravo Mompou (c. 1923-2007) exchanged
the manuscript with Fernando Alonso Mercader for Mompou's autograph score of the piano suite Impresiones íntimas (1914).[52]
* *
*
This piece is
not without precedents. Isaac Albéniz composed a set of seven pieces devoted to
memories of Spanish places, Recuerdos de
Viaje, Op. 71 (1886-87). No. 4 is entitled "En la Alhambra," and is also in
A minor. Furthermore, there exists an earlier tremolo study on the memory of a
beautiful Spanish locale. José Viñas (1823-1888) composed a capricho, Recuerdos de Palma, also in A minor with
an large A major conclusion using tremolo technique. Like the Alhambra in
Granada, Palma, the capital city of the island of Mallorca, has clear remnants
of its Moorish past.
The subtitle of !A Granada¡, Cantiga Árabe, indicates something of the vocal quality of this
"Arabian song," with its sustained cantilena created through tremolo technique.
But what exactly is "arabian" about the piece? The Spanish nationalist
composers also used words such as árabe, arabesca, moresca and similar terms to
suggest this particular form of exoticism.[53]
Tárrega hints at Moorish culture by inflecting the quivering, lyrical line with
rapid triplet ornaments at several key cadences, suggesting the "arabesque"
quality of "oriental" melody. Equally important is the use of the so-called
"dominant phrygian mode," associated with Arabic, Hebrew, flamenco and Indian
musical genres, among others. Here it is given in subtle hints during the minor
key segments, as when the E, F natural, G sharp and A are heard in close
proximity. These elements are even more pronounced in the two other original
"Moorish" compositions by Tárrega, the Capricho
Árabe and the Danza Mora.
The Romantic era
fascination with Andalusian 'flamenco' dance and guitar techniques should not
be dismissed when considering the rhythmic aspect of this style. The
repetitive, rapid-fire execution of tremolo technique creates not only a
sustained melodic line but an unmistakable rhythmic character reminiscent of
the feet, clapping, finger snaps and castanets of dancers.[54]
In regard to the
melody, just as the Mazurka Conchita starts
with a direct quotation from Chopin's Mazurka Op.7/1, !A Granada¡ may also begin quoting the work of another composer.
Wolf Moser seems to have been the first commentator to notice that the initial
phrase resembles the opening vocal line of Nadir's aria "Je crois entendre
encore" from George Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles. Is this
more than a coincidence? Another similarity noticed by Moser: Both pieces are about remembering something or someone that touched the soul.
Variants
One aspect of
the transformation of !A Granada¡
into Recuerdos de la Alhambra recalls the break in the relationship of
Tárrega and Concepción: the change of dedication to the Parisian guitarist
Alfred Cottin. It might be meaningful that the new dedicatee would be a person
whose acquaintance with Tárrega was facilitated by Concepción. Tárrega met
Cottin in Paris, on a visit in 1897 that Concepción sponsored. Pujol recounts
that she, along with her niece Clara and her brother-in-law Martin Jacoby
accompanied Tárrega on the trip where he performed in a concert on November 28
(the program is reproduced in Pujol 1960, p. 133 and Rius, p. 108).
There are number
of variants between the 1899 !A Granada¡
and the reading in the later Recuerdos de
la Alhambra published by Vidal Llimona y Boceta, almost certainly prepared
under the supervision of the composer. The autograph has the indication Andante
rather than Andantino found in the print. There are no dynamics in the
autograph at all until the last 6 bars (p,
pp, ppp y pendiendo). There are
only two indications of fingering and one indication of a left hand position.
In bar 4 the last note in lower line is E, not G (perhaps an error). In bars
9-10 the harmony is in D minor chord rather than F major. In bar 11 there is an
E dominant 7th chord rather than E major. In bar 14 the first note
is an open A in the bass, not C sharp. There are slightly different voicings in
the lower line, for example, in bar 17 the first note in lower line is F, not
D. The repeat of the initial minor section after the major section is not found
in the autograph, nor the additional major section that follows this repeat.
This shortened structure is the way most modern performers have played the
piece. The manuscript reading ends with a simple A major arpeggiated chord
rather than the broader arpeggio that leads to the final high-voiced chord in
the print.
An
Ex-Prisoner of The Devil's Tower (Un
ex-presidiario de la Torre del Diablo)
One more piece
by Tárrega may have a connection to Concepción. In Dr. Walter Leckie's "Red"
music book, Tárrega inscribed a Preludio
with the arcane subtitle "Una vision en la Torre del Diablo" (A Vision in the
Devil's Tower, see Figure 13), and dedicated it to Leckie in Algiers on March
9, 1900.[55]This strange and uniquely puzzling title has never been explained.
Figure 13: Title of Preludio: Una vision en la Torre del Diablo
Tárrega wrote
yet another piece with a related inscription in that same book, the Estudio sobre un Motivo de Wagner: "A mi
predilecto amigo el Sr. D. Vivianno de Zannoni / Un ex-presidiario de la Torre
del Diablo." Algiers, 14 April 1900.[56]
Zannoni is almost certainly a pseudonym for Leckie, his "best friend." "An
ex-prisoner of the Devil's Tower" appears below the dedicatory inscription,
where the name of Tárrega should have appeared (see Figure 14). What does he
mean by calling himself that? And why these strange code names shared by the
two friends?
Figure 14: Dedication of Estudio sobre un Motivo de Wagner
In his
biography, Pujol refers to a period before 1900, when Tárrega and his family
lived in the tower of Concepción's villa in San Gervasio, a wealthy and at the
time bucolic suburb of Barcelona. Pujol recounts stories of Tárrega's life at
that villa, situated at the base of Puxtet hill, and the admirers who came to
hear him play. Pujol also states that Tárrega had moved his family out of that
tower and back to their apartment in Barcelona in 1899, assuming this was
because of the break in relations between the guitarist and his patron. We have
already observed that the manuscript !A
Granada¡, dated December 8, 1899, contradicts Pujol's account of the break.
Yet Tárrega's reference to himself as an "ex-prisoner in the devil's tower"
suggests that he felt himself a prisoner in Concepción's villa, and that he
discussed that experience with Leckie. In fact, the English word "prisoner" is
written in pencil above the Spanish "ex-presidiario."
The
reasons for Tárrega's characterization cannot be discerned at this time, any
more than the reason for the rupture in their friendship. Perhaps it was
Concepción's romantic intentions that Tárrega rejected (or visa-versa). Or
perhaps it was Concepción who no longer wanted to have Tárrega and his family
in her home. Perhaps she had demanded direction over the guitarist's career,
and he rejected such a controlling patron. Perhaps Tárrega's wife had enough of
her husband's close relationship and travels with another woman. As for why
Tárrega felt a prisoner in the tower, perhaps he regarded Concepción as the
negative presence in early 1900. But this seems inconsistent or hypocritical
when viewed in the context of December 8, 1899, when he dedicated his precious
gift of !A Granada¡ to the patron who
had done so much for him and for his family at the very time Pujol claims that
the abrupt and unpleasant break occurred. Until he began to get transient
ischematic attacks with paralysis (followed by bouts of depression) Tárrega had
been traveling and performing in Spain and abroad. He was never accompanied by
his family; as early as 1893 Walter Leckie was a companion on the tours, and
after 1896, Concepción would travel with him. Living with his family into the
San Gervasio villa might well have felt like being trapped, being pulled in two
different directions by his family on the one hand and his patron on the other.
What is telling is that after leaving the villa, he did not return to live with
his family but spent the next six months with Leckie in Spain, Africa, and
Italy. This seems like the decision of a man who wants his freedom from the
demands of family and patron. And the subsequent erasure of any trace of
Concepción from Tárrega's posthumous legacy seems to suggest that the Tárrega
family wanted her presence in his life to be erased from memory.
Tárrega
edited his "Vision from the Devil's Tower" for publication as a "Preludio"
without the subtitle and it appeared in print some two years later. The
revisions seem telling: Instead of the original languid mui lento tempo, the revised version moves at more of a walking
pace, indicated by an andante sostenuto
tempo. There are some minor changes and the ending is substantially different.
The original ends with an ascending six-note subdominant minor chord, marked perdendosi, then resolving into a
sensual three octave tonic chord. The new version has a much grander ending, a
big crescendo over a tonic arpeggio, followed by a three-chord cadence with
final tonic note. The original seems a more sensual, heart-rending expression
of romantic loss, of hurt, and longing. Not the relief of a man freed from
imprisonment in a hellish tower. But any conclusion based on these revisions is
speculation. We can no longer know the reasons for the changes, for the broken
relationship or for the use of the term "prisoner," any more than we can know
the thoughts of the composer regarding these pieces. And although Pujol yielded
to rumors and assumptions of bad faith on Concepción's part, until there
appears substantial evidence, the mystery will remain, another enigma of this
most enigmatic woman.
I wish to thank Lucia Nieto Schuger for her
help with the Spanish texts. Luis Briso de Montiano, Jean-Eric Schoettl,
Christian Schoettl, and the Hagnauer family, generously provided information
and materials.
[1] Published in Barcelona by Vidal Llimona y
Boceta, No 13, plate #1102.
[2] In his biographical study of Tárrega's
music Wolf Moser first revealed the existence of the 1899 manuscript with the
dedication to la sra. Jacoby. See
Wolf Moser, Francisco Tarrega y la
Guitarra en Espana entre 1830 y 1960. Valencia, España : Piles
Editorial de Música (2009), p. 137-8. The first edition of this book was Francisco Tárrega: Werden und Wirken:
die Gitarre in Spanien zwischen 1830 und 1960 (s.l.: Saint-Georges, c1996).
The first Spanish translation was published as Francisco Tárrega: devenir y repercusión: la guitarra en
España entre 1830 y 1960 (Castellón de la Plana: Consejo
Municipal de Cultura, 2007). The manuscript is now in the archive of the Museu
de la Música de Barcelona, shelfmark ES AMDMB 4-469-7-1-FA124. The provenance will be discussed later in this
study.
[3] Tárrega refers to December 8 as Concha's
"saint's day,' but the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is not, strictly
speaking, a day in the sanctorale
(the annual cycle of feasts of various saints in the Liturgical calendar), but
in the temporale cycle, i.e., days
that celebrate events in the life of Jesus Christ.
[4] Domingo Prat, Diccionario biográfico–bibliográfico—histórico: crítico de guitarras
(instrumentos afines), guitarristas
(profesores–compositores–concertistas–lahudistas–amateurs), guitarreros
(luthiers). Danzas y cantos—terminología (Buenos Aires: Romero y
Fernández [1934]), p. 319, briefly mentions Concepción: "Neither will we
forget the great guitar enthusiast and protector of other guitarists, the
wealthy Valencian doña Concepción Jacoby, with whom he also made excursions to
the peninsula and other European countries" (Ne se olvidará tampoco a la gran enthusiasta de la guitarra y
protectora luego de otros guitarristas, la acaudalada valenciana doña
Concepción Jacoby, con quien también hizo excursiones por la peninsula y otros
paises de Europa.)
[5] Emilio Pujol, Tárrega. Ensayo biográfico (Lisboa: Talleres Gráficos de Ramos,
Afonso & Moita, L.D.A., 1960/ Valencia: Artes Gráficas Soler. S.A., 1978).
[6] Emilio Pujol, "Tárrega as Teacher," Guitar News 9 (1952), 2-3. This account
appears to be based on a letter from Francisco Corell, recounting an incident
with Tárrega, Doña Concha, and the lady's "sister and brother." She had no
sister or brother at the time, and the putative sister, Clarita, was actually
her niece. See below for more details. The letter is also discussed in
Adrián Rius [Espinós], Francisco Tárrega 1852-1909 Biography
(Valencia: Piles Editorial de Música S.A, 2006), p. 108.
[7] Inaccuracies concerning Dr. Walter Leckie in Pujol's Tárrega
biography are discussed in Louis de Swart's introduction to A Tárrega Collection (London: Ariel
Publications, 1980), 5-7.
[8] Pujol, Tárrega. 127: De
genio vivo, fuerte temperament y exaltada fantasia, extremaba sus sentimientos
desde de la más humilde ternura hasta la más imperiosa energía. Había en su
porte una extraña mexcla de plebeyez y señorío. Un distinción desembarazada
daba paso a una personalidad muy original e interesante, envuelta sin embargo,
en nebuloso e indescrirable enigma.)
[9] "al carácter dominante y voluble de dich
señora, orígen de tantas situationes comprometidas," Pujol, 1960, p. 140-1).
Rius (2006), p. 110, suggests that the break followed a rejection of Concha's
romantic advances, but cites no source for this claim.
[10] The Tárrega Leckie Guitar
Manuscripts; Lessons with the Maestro, edited by Brian Whitehouse
(Halesowen: ASG Music Limited, [2015]).
[11] Ajuntament de València, Servici de Patrimoni Històric i Artístic,
Arxiu Històric, Tècnics d´arxiu, Nacimientos 1848, April, No. So67. I wish to
thank Alicia Martínez Alonso for providing these sources. The baptismal records
of the San Martín church for this period were destroyed in political violence
of July 1936.
[12] El
Artista ii/13 (September 7, 1867), p. 991: "Primeras contraltos de
primissimo cartello. A perfecta
fraternidad, doña Amalia Gómez y doña Concepción Gómez." The same sentence
appears in Revista y Gaceta Musical
i/37 (September 13, 1867), p. 200.
[13] La Iberia v/1197 (2/26/71) p. 3.
[14] Enrique Olavarria y Ferrari, Reseña Histórica del Teatro en México,
1538–1911, vol. 2 (Mexico City: Edición Porrúa, 1961), p. 826. A number of
performances and reviews of Amalia are given in this source. Although Amalia would surpass her sister on the stage, it was Concepción that struck the critics of El Federalista and La Iberia as "an arrogant girl, but nicely turned out, lovely; in short, a beautiful theatrical figure, as only Spain or the Spanish Americas can produce. The zarzuela, already known and known by heart, had the novelty of being sung perfectly by Amalia Gomez and her young sister. Fresh and sweet voices, graceful statures, elegant clothing, and also, the attractions of the spring of life, giving birth to the sympathies of the spectators who applauded with sincere enthusiasm." El Federalista Periódico Político y Literario i/48 (2/24/71), p. 3: "una muchacha arrogante, hecha á torno, guapa; en fin, una bella figura teatral, como solo la puede producir España ó las Américas españolas. La zarzuela ya conocida y sabida de memoria, tuvo la novedad de ser cantada perfectamente por Amalia Gomez y su jóvan hermana. Una voz fresca y dulce, una estatura gallarda, un trage elegante, y además, los atractivos de la primavera de la vida, hicieron nacer las simpatias de los espectadores que aplaudieron con un sincere entusiasmo." La Iberia. Periódico de literatura, ciencias, artes, agricultura, comercio, industria y mejoras materiales v/1197 (2/26/71), p. 3, quotes El Federalista in its review.
[15] El
Siglo diez e Nueve, Sétima épocha. Año xxxi 11/26/71 Tomo 53 Numero 9819,
p. 1.
[16] El Federalista Periódico Político y
Literario i/169 (7/19/1871), p. 2; El
Ferrocarril iv/70 (3/24/71) p. [2-] 3; El Ferrocarril iv/165 (7/18/71), p. 3 iv/169 (7/22/71), p. 3.
[17] For details on Amalia's career see Anna
Agranoff Ochs, "Opera in Contention: Social Conflict in Late
Nineteenth-Century Mexico City," Ph.D. dissertation, the University of North
Carolina, 2011.
[18] Archivo de Registro Civil de Distrito Federal, Año de 1873 / Libro de copias de matrionios /juzgado del Estado Civil
de la Capital, 122v-123v, numero 158: Presentación del C.o
[Ciudadono] Luis Jacoby y Concepcion Gomez; 125v-126: numero 161: "Matrimono
del C.o Luis Jacoby con Concepcion Gomez." Asunción Sagrario Metropolitano, Matrimonios 1868-1891,
1873, Abril, 54v-55r. The marriage occurred at the Catedral Metropolitana
de la Asunción de la Santísima Virgen María a los cielos.
[19] This photograph of Luis Jacoby's estate on the Guatemala Central
American Railroad is found in Pan
American Magazine 7 (1898), p. 96.
[20] See Pan American magazine vi/6
(October 1908), p. 613-16.
[21] Gil
Blas - Periodico Satirico ix/6 (11 February, 1872), p 4: Francisco Arderius (1835-1886) was
an actor, musician and impresario who published the satirical weekly newspaper La
Correspondencia de los Bufos for several months in
1871. I wish to thank Luis
Briso de Montiano for supplying this reference.
[22] México, Distrito Federal, Registro Civil, Nacimientos, 1861–1934,
1895, No, 72, 28v-29r. Archivo Estatal de Distrito Federal Archivo Estatal de
Distrito Federal. Courtesy of the Academia Mexicana de Genealogia y Heraldica.
[23] "In the year of 1898 his [Iñigo Noriega
Laso] house in Mexico City was on Calle de Capuchinas Number 12, his offices
were on Calle de La Cadena number 16, at that time he was on the cusp, his
successes allowed him enormous influence and recognition among the richest in
society, he participated as attorney-in-fact for Doña Concepción Gómez de
Jacoby in the divorce trial of this woman, wife of Don Luis Jacoby, one of the
largest businessmen in Mexico, power obtained due to a trial separation of
property due to divorce, between the Jacoby spouses." (En el año de 1898 su [Iñigo Noriega Laso] casa en la ciudad de México
estaba en la calle de Capuchinas Número 12, sus oficinas se encontraban en la
calle de La Cadena número 16, en ese momento se encontraba en la cúspide, sus
éxitos le permitieron una enorme influencia y reconocimiento entre los más
ricos de la sociedad, participó como apoderado de Doña Concepción Gómez de
Jacoby en el juicio de divorcio de esta mujer, esposa de don Luis Jacoby, uno
de los mayores empresarios de México, el poder lo obtuvo debido a un juicio de
separación de bienes por causa de divorcio, entre los esposos Jacoby.) See
"Un indiano de leyenda. La Increíble Historia de Don Iñigo Noriega Laso" on the
blog:
https://elblogdeacebedo.blogspot.com/2012/12/inigo-noriega-laso-un-indiano-de-leyenda.html
[24] For a highly critical contemporary report on the scandal, see Carlo
de Fornaro, Diaz Czar of Mexico
(S.l., International Publishing Co., 1909), p. 107.
[25] El Diario del Hogar: Periodico de las Familias vi/ 197 (5/5/87), pp. 1-2 ("Ecos de la
semana"), notes the presence of "La Sra. Gómez de Jacoby was wrapped in salmon
brocade and plaid blue, and displayed magnificent diamonds. (La Sra. Gómez de
Jacoby staba envuelta en brocade salmon y azul plaido, y lució magníficos
brillantes)
[26] The Arxiu Municipal Contemporani de Barcelona has files for three
separate building and restoration requests for Concepción's property from 1906
(shelfmark Q127 FO 1779), 1913 (Q127 FO 743), and 1915 (Q127 FO 63). The villa
on Calle de Ballester (previously the Calle de Riego) consisted of two
buildings, Nos. 17 and 19 and a large garden. These buildings no longer exist.
[27] Francisca De Paula Clara Padilla Gomez was born 28 June 1878, and
baptized 3 January 1879 in Asunción Sagrario Metropolitano, Mexico, Distrito
Federal, Film 35215, Mexico, Select Baptisms, 1560-1950 [database
on-line].
[28] "D.a Concha Jacoby" is listed
among Carbonell's "profesores y admiradores" in the Homenaje á María Carbonell, Obras publicadas con motivo del homenaje
que le ofrecen sus admiradores (Valencia: Imprenta Hijo de Francisco Vives
Morr, 1915), p. 578.
[29] See Enrique Olavarria y Ferrari, Reseña Histórica del Teatro en México, 1538–1911, vol. 2 (Mexico
City: Edición Porrúa, 1961), p. 780, 784, 786, 794, 796, 811, 815-17, 819-20,
823, 826, 939, 947-8,
[30] The death was recorded on October 29, 1890
in the Registro Civil del Estado de Distrito Federal, México. 1889-1890, f.
225r. Courtesy
of the Academia Mexicana de Genealogia y Heraldica.
[31] Diario
del hogar x/41 (November 2, 1890), p. 3: Suicidio: Bajo este epigrafe, varios de nuestros colegas has dado a
luz la noticia de que en la calle de Ortega numero cuatro, una senora puso
termino a su vida, dejandose caer desde el corredor de tercer piso. Mejor
informados aseguiamos a nuestros lectores que la Sra. Amalia Gomez (que es la
presunta suicida), habitaba la casa numero treinta y cuarto de la calle de
Ortega, y segun opinion de personas de reconocido criterio, se hallaba
perturbada en alto grado su razon.
La noche del miercoles encontrandose en un acceso de
locura, salio de su casa y se dirigio a la casa numero cuarto de la misma
calle; penetro en el interior, y preguntada por la portera a donde iba, le dijo
la Sra. Gomez que a un negocio a los altos.
Effectivamente, la Sra. Amalia Gomez subió la escalora
primera y la secunda, y ya en e tercer piso se arrojó del barandal al patio de
la referida casa, cayendo en una fuente de agua, de donde la sacó un maestro
pintor y la trasladó a su domicilio.
Avisada la policia por la portera de casa numero
cuatro, si dió parte a la quinta demarcacion, y en el acto concurrió el
secretario de esa Inspeccion Sr. Franciso Arrieta accompañado del Medico
adscrito a dicha oficina.
La Sra. Gomez ya se hallaba en su habitacion, y bajo
las ropas de su lecho; reconocida por el medico que concurriera, declaró este
ultimo, que ninguna lesion tenía la Sra. Gomez esteriormente, y que por lo
tanto se esperase a que tuviera algunos sintomas de enfermedad que en esos
momentos no teniá, salvo su extravío mental . . . A pesar de no tenor la Sra. Gomez
ninguna lesion exterior, murió anoche y so infiere que del golpe que recibió;
pues la fuente es demasiado pequeña y tiene una division en el centro, sobre la
que cayó la referida y desgracia Amalia.
Other accounts include: La Patria illustrada viii/45 (November 10, 1890), 536-7. "Well, who
knows what dark storms agitated Amalia's soul, who knows what strange thoughts
crossed her imagination, silent as pain and cruel as misfortune!" (Pues bien,
quien sabe qué sombrias tempestades agítaban el alma de Amalia, quién sabe qué
extraños pensamientos cruzaban por su imaginacion, silenciosos como el dolor y
crueles como el infortunio!) And La patria xiv/4135 (November 10, 1890), p. 2: Amalia "ended her days, throwing
herself resolutely from the top of a house from Ortega street, to the patio of
the house, falling into the fountain, which was emptied, pouring out the water
to throw her back on the ground. It seems that in her last days, according to
our information, she did not have the very sane judgment as is said, and having
become ill and having been prescribed a scrubbing and a few tablespoons, but
she swallowed the entire quantity, causing her terrible pain, that made her
decide to end her life." (… puse fin á sus días, arrojándose resueltamente
desde lo alto de una vivienda del calle Ortega, al patio de la casa, cayendo en
la fuente, la cual se vació, airviéndole el agua para arrojarla de nuevo al
suelo. Parece que ella en sus últimos dias, según nuestras informaciones, no
tenía el juicio muy cabal que digamos, y habiendo enfermado y teniedo recetadas
una friega y unas cucharadas, ella lo tamó todo junto, ocasionándoole esto
terribles dolores, que la decidieron á poner fin á sus días.)
[33] Tárrega dedicated his study La
Mariposa to Loscos.
[34] These are: La mort d'Ase' de Grieg
arranjat per Francesc Tàrrega (shelfmark FA168), 'Copiado por M. Llobet,
Barcelona 1898;' Zarzuela. La Marcha de
Cádiz. Gavota de los Patos' arranjada per Francesc Tàrrega (FA 169),
'Copiado por M. Llobet, Barcelona 1898;' and four Tárrega Preludios (FA 177, 178, 180, and 181), all marked 'Copiado por M.
Llobet, Barcelona 1899.' There are two pieces copied in 1897: Romanza' de Schumann arranjada per a
guitarra per Francesc Tàrrega (FA 182), 'Copiado por M. Llobet Barcelona
1897, and Air de Ballet' de Massenet
arranjada per a guitarra per Francesc Tàrrega (FA 183), 'Copiado por M.
Llobet Marzo 1897.'
[35] A handwritten letter from Luis to finance minister José Ives
Limantour dated April 22, 1897, is preserved in the Centro de Estudios de
Historia de México Carso, Fondo CDLIV: Colección
José Y. Limantour 1880-1934, shelfmark 1a. 1883.27.7194.
[36] Established in
Havana at a very young age, Ramón was president of the company Asociación
Nacional y Unión Industrial y Comercial, a business of importing and exporting
construction materials and carpentry, with the "Fábrica de Mosaicos La Cubana."
This business expanded throughout the island during the early years of the
twentieth century. For his charitable work Ramón was awarded the Grand Cross of
Alfonso XII.
[37] Mrs. Clara Padilla de Planiol is mentioned
as one of the three women who guard the complements of Virgin (que tomaron possession del cargo de
Camaristas de la Virgen) during the procession in Gerona. See La Hormiga de ora. Ilastración Católica
34 (September 25, 1920), p. 516. The article also includes a blurred photograph
of Clara.
[38] Eusebio Blasco, "Recuerdos, Cambios, Fortuna
<<El Jovan Telémaco>>," in Alrededor
del Mundo ii/41 (March 15, 1900), p. 246: "De los artistas que la estrenaron
ó figuraban en la compañia . . . Concha Gómez, una de aquellas dos hermanas
valencianas tan hermosas que reemplazaron á la Checa y la Hueto creadoras de
Calipso y Ve. nus, se fué á Méjico y allí se casó con el rico banquero, alemán
Jacoby, viniendo á establecerse á Paris hará unos diez años, domde me invité á
comer en su magnifica casa de la Avenida del Bosque numeró 1, en la que la
encontré viviendo á lo gran señora rica."
[40] Nouveau monde et l'echo des
deux mondes réunis. Journal hebdomadaire. Politique et littéraire, industriel
et commercial 1078 (June 26, 1909), p. 2: "Échos et Nouvelles . . . Nous
apprenons avec le plus vive peine le décès de M. Jacoby, mort des suites d'un
accident survenus il y a quelques jours au retour de Chantilly. M. Jacoby avait
reside pendant de longues années au Mexique, où il s'et acquis de nombreuses
amitiés. Nous adressons à sa veuve et à toute sa famille l'expression de notre
douloureuse sympathie." The following month the Mexico City newspaper El Tiempo. Diaro Catolico xxvii/8613
(July 18, 1909), p. 2, also reported the death of M. Jacoby, although the
writer wonders if this might be Martin Jacoby.
[41] Two addresses appear on this handwritten,
signed letter from Paris: 7 rue Théodule-Ribot, which is cancelled, and 108,
Boulevard de Courcelles. The letter is addressed to the Mexican finance
minister José Ives Limantour, Jacoby congratulations him on his recent
admission to the French Academy of Political and Social Sciences. This letter
is part of the correspondence of Luis and Martin Jacoby with Limantour,
preserved in the Centro de Estudios de Historia de México Carso, Fondo CDLIV: Colección José Y. Limantour
1880-1934, shelfmark 2a. 1907.22.130. The
correspondence also includes typed but unsigned letters from 1908.
[42] Luis and Maria Suelves had a second daughter, Marguerite, born in
Barcelona, on November 25, 1918.
[43] See William Walton, Exhibition Universelle 1900. The
Chefs-d'oeuvre: Applied Art 6 (Philadelphia: G. Barrie & Son, 1900), p.
79. These three painting apparently were donated to the collection at the
Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City. See Eduardo Baez Macias, Guía del archivo de la antigua Academia de
San Carlos, 1867-1907, Vol. 1 (Mexico
City: National Autonomous University of Mexico, 1993), p. 580: 1. Soledad. Alrededores de Barcelona. 2. Fondeadero de Veleros en el Puerto de
Valencia (efecto de Marina) 3) Vista
de Vinaroz (Cataluna) Paris 14 de Octubre de [1898].
[44] In the Diario de Alicante
xvii/5297 (July 23, 1928 [p. 2]), Luis is described as an engineer living in
Palma de Mallorca, and staying at Reina Victoria Hotel in Alicante.
[45] In both the 1931 and 1936 Paris census, Federico Mompou is listed
as "ami et compositeur" residing in the Jacoby household. The 1931 census also
indicates that Dubé and Thweatt also
lived with the Jacoby family.
[46] The premiere of the Dialogues was given at the salon of Baron Robert de Rothschild in
Paris and published by Max Eschig in Paris in 1926. Mompou had achieved a great
deal of recognition in the French capital, and spent much of his life there.
[48]
"Arreglo de Francesco Tárrega (hijo)." This version is found in Francisco Tarrega Album No. 4. Cinco Obras
Originales para Guitarra (Madrid: Ediciones Musicales Madrid, 1956), p.
6-7. "Paquito Vals in Do" is the third piece in this collection, and it it is
the only one with the date of 1956 (the other pieces have earlier dates, 1929
and 1930). There are a number of variants, mostly in the expressive
indications, giving an impression of a more conventional danced waltz rather
than a dreamy vals lento.
[49]
For example, Isaac Albeniz wrote pieces such as Cadíz, Granada, Seville, Iberia, Cataluña, Mallorca, Aragón, Castilla, Cuba, Rumores de la Caleta,
Puerta de Tierra, Torre Bermeja
(the vermillion tower at the Alhambra palace), and Zaragoza. Enrique Granados wrote Andalucía and Rapsodía
aragonesa.
[50]
The many pieces that Tárrega dedicated to Walter Leckie and inscribed in the
Englishman's music books clearly show a close friendship, a familiar comradery,
and even "inside jokes (see below for an example). But these inscriptions are
less formal and personal than those in the pieces he composed for Concepción.
He never prepared a manuscript as a gift to Leckie, nor did he compose a
musical portrait of the man by adding his name to the title.
[52] Moser, op. cit., 137-8: "The manuscript was in the
possession of the family of the Spanish composer Federico Mompou and only since
the beginning of 1991 has it become accessible again." (El manuscrito se encontraba en posesión de la familia el compositor
Español Federico Mompou y sólo desde principios de 1991 ha vuelto a sea
accessible.)
[53] For example, Granados composed such pieces as Suite oriental (árabe) for orchestra, Arabesca
(1890), Canción arabe, and Moresque. There are many other pieces by
Spanish composers with these terms.
[54] For example, great Carmen
Amaya (1913-1963), who was filmed in the 1930s.
[55] The Tárrega Leckie Guitar Manuscripts;
Lessons with the Maestro, edited by Brian Whitehouse. (Halesowen: ASG Music
Limited, [2015], p. 223. This piece, with some emendations, would become the
fifth prelude published in under the composer's supervision by Antich y Tena in
Valencia, Spain (plate number 392) in 1902.
© Dr. David J. Buch 2020. All rights reserved.
