Recuerdos de la Alhambra facts for kids

Recuerdos de la Alhambra (which means Memories of the Alhambra) is a famous piece of music for the classical guitar. It was written by a Spanish composer and guitarist named Francisco Tárrega. He composed it in Málaga, Spain.

This piece is special because it uses a guitar technique called tremolo. This makes it sound like the same note is being played very quickly over and over again, creating a beautiful, flowing sound. Because of this, it's often played by guitarists who are very skilled.

Tárrega wrote this piece in 1899. He dedicated it to his friend and supporter, Concepción Gómez de Jacoby. It was written after they visited the amazing Alhambra palace and fortress in Granada, Spain. The music helps you imagine the beauty and history of that place.

The piece was first called Improvisación ¡A Granada! Cantiga Árabe. Later, it became well-known through a music book edited by Tárrega. This book was dedicated to a French guitarist named Alfred Cottin [fr].

Different Versions of the Song

Many musicians have played Recuerdos de la Alhambra in different ways.

• Ruggiero Ricci, a famous violinist, made a version for solo violin. He often played it as an extra song at the end of his concerts.
• Nana Mouskouri, a singer, performed a vocal version on her album Classical in 1989.
• Sarah Brightman, another singer, also sang a version on her album Classics.
• Chris Freeman and John Shaw recorded a version without singing for their album in 1981.
• Luiza Borac arranged the piece for solo piano on her 2014 CD "Chants Nostalgiques."
• Xavi Ganjam created a special version for the sitar, an instrument from India, on his EP 'Soham' in 2019.
• Alex Jacobowitz often plays Recuerdos de la Alhambra on his Marimba or Xylophone. He usually talks about people of different religions and countries living together peacefully before playing it, because the Alhambra was built by Muslims, Jews, and Christians working together. He has recorded it on several of his CDs.
• The Italian violist Marco Misciagna has published a version of this piece for solo viola.
• There are also versions of the song for choirs (groups of singers) and orchestras (large groups of instruments).

Where You Might Hear It

Recuerdos de la Alhambra has been used in many movies and TV shows:

• It was used in the movie Forbidden Games, played by Narciso Yepes.
• It appeared in The Killing Fields under the title Étude, performed by Mike Oldfield.
• You can hear it in the films Sideways and Margaret.
• Jonathon Coudrille performed and arranged it for the opening music of the British TV series Out of Town.
• A version played by Pepe Romero was used in an episode of The Sopranos called "Luxury Lounge."
• Gideon Coe on BBC Radio 6Music uses this tune as background music during his evening radio show.
• A sung version is featured in the Japanese animated film When Marnie Was There.
• It is also the main music for Philip II of Spain in the video game Civilization VI. The music starts with just a guitar and grows into a full orchestra as Spain progresses in the game.
• The song was part of the music and story for the 2018 Korean TV series Memories of the Alhambra, which was named after the song.

See also

In Spanish: Recuerdos de la Alhambra para niños