Francesco Tarrega

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Francisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea, (21 November 1852 — 15 December 1909) was an influential Spanish composer and guitarist. He is often considered to be the greatest guitarist of the 19th century. Tárrega was born on 21 November 1852, in Villarreal, Castellón, Spain. It is said that Francisco's father played flamenco and several other music styles in his guitar; when his father was away working as a watchman at the Convent of San Pascual the young, curious child would grab his father's guitar and attempt to make the beautiful sounds he heard. Francisco's nickname as a child was "Quiquet" When Tárrega's mother needed to take care of her hard-working husband due to a severe disease, the young Francisco was given to a nearby neighbor, friend of Tárrega's mother. When "Quiquet" as a young child caused his "nanny" to anger about something Tárrega did, she threw the youngster into a canal close to their house as punishment for what he had done. The story is not clear as to why she would have done such a thing. The water in the canal was not clear, which gave Tárrega an infection in his eyes which permanently impaired his eyesight. Partially due to this accident, the family moved to Castellón and enrolled him in music classes. Both his first music teachers, Eugeni Ruiz and Manuel Gonzalez, were blind. It is not clear when Tarrega's father died, but it appears that he lived until after Tarrega was 10 years old. In 1862, concert guitarist Julián Arcas, on tour in Castellón, heard

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