The conductor Benjamin Zander reportedly said in the 1970s: “I lump all you guitarists together. Williams and Bream commit musical atrocity and get away [with] it in a manner not tolerated on any other instrument.”
More guitar-scepticism: I came across a 1912 reference to the ‘cloying sweetness of the guitar, the music of which has been likened to a diet of molasses.’ (I sometimes wonder about a version of Slonimsky’s Lexicon of Musical Invective for the guitar…)
According to Alberto C. Obregon (1903), a lesson with Tárrega cost “one dollar” (presumably referring to one duro). AI informs me that this equates to approximately £30 in 2026 (corrections welcome). A bargain? But this was “considered a stiff price in Spain” at the time, says Obregon.
The cost of a guitar recital at the Wigmore hall in 1928. When I did a quick tot up, I got to approximately £7000 total in modern money. Nowadays, however, I believe it is no longer possible to hire the Wigmore Hall — it has become invitation only.
I came across this curiosity in a 1929 guitar magazine: the Diamenophone. Apparently it was capable of producing sustained notes. Alas, there seems to be no information about how it worked!
Found amongst some letters, this comic curiosity by Colin Cooper. (Guitar magazine ran from 1972-84, after which it became Guitar International until 1991, when its editor, George Clinton, died. Cooper was a co-founder of the magazine.)
A rare sight: Emilio Pujol playing an English guitar. From an advertisement for his 1914 concert at London’s Steinway Hall.
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