DESCRIPTION:
John Williams plays Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's guitar concerto No. 1 in D major, op. 99.
I. Allegretto
II. Andantino alla romanza 06:37
III. Ritmico e cavalleresco 14:08

Brief biography of the composer:

Born in Florence, Castelnuovo-Tedesco was descended from a prominent banking family that had lived in the city since the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492. He was first introduced to the piano by his mother and he composed his first pieces when he was just nine years old. After completing a degree in piano in 1914, he began studying composition under renowned Italian composer Ildebrando Pizzetti, and received a diploma in composition in 1918. He soon came to the attention of composer and pianist Alfredo Casella, who included the young Castelnuovo-Tedesco's work in his repertoire. Casella also ensured that Castelnuovo's works would be included in the repertoires of the Societa Nazionale di Musica, granting him exposure throughout Europe as one of Italy's up-and-coming young composers.

In 1926, Castelnuovo-Tedesco premiered his opera La Mandragola, based on a play by Niccolò Machiavelli. It was the first of his many works inspired by great literature, and which included interpretations of works by Aeschylus, Virgil, John Keats, Miguel de Cervantes, Federico García Lorca, and especially William Shakespeare.

At the 1932 festival of the International Society of Contemporary Music, held in Venice, Castelnuovo-Tedesco first met the Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia. The meeting inspired Castelnuovo-Tedesco to write his Guitar Concerto No. 1, one of the first of almost one hundred compositions for that instrument, which earned him a reputation as one of the foremost composers for the guitar in the twentieth century.

In 1938 the Italian government promulgated the Italian Racial Laws and Castelnuovo-Tedesco was banned from the radio while performances of his work were cancelled. The new racial laws, however, convinced him that he should leave Italy. He wrote to Arturo Toscanini, who left Italy in 1933, explaining his plight, and Toscanini responded by promising to sponsor him as an immigrant in the United States. Castelnuovo-Tedesco left Italy in 1939, shortly before the outbreak of World War II.

Like many artists who fled fascism, Castelnuovo-Tedesco ended up in Hollywood, where, with the help of Jascha Heifetz, he landed a contract with MGM as a film composer. Over the next fifteen years, he worked on scores for some 200 films there and at the other major film studios. Rita Hayworth hired him to write the music for The Loves of Carmen (1948).
He was a significant influence on other major film composers, including Henry Mancini, Nelson Riddle, Herman Stein and André Previn. Jerry Goldsmith, Marty Paich and John Williams are all his pupils. (Wikipedia)

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