“Huerta in America” Soundboard Vol. 50 Nos. 3 & 4

No hace mucho tiempo que refiriéndonos a periódicos extranjeros nos gloriábamos en cuanto a españoles, de nuestro compatriota Huerta, que con su guitarra ha asombrado los muchos países que ha recorrido, aventajándose a cuantos célebres músicos ha producido la España en aquel instrumento. El joven Huerta, el Paganini de la guitarra, como justísimamente le han apellidado los extranjeros, acaba de regresar a su patria y a Madrid, donde 74 hemos tenido recientemente el placer indefinible de oír su guitarra, si así puede llamarse el instrumento divino en que convierten sus dedos la suya; y el tiempo de observación suficiente para reconocer en todo su exterior al hombre de genio, independiente, cosmopolita. Una breve biografía de este eminente guitarrista no nos parece en este lugar inoportuna.

D. Trinitario Huerta i Caturla, nació en Orihuela el año de 1803, de una buena familia española. Desde sus primeros años manifestó que había nacido para la guitarra: su afición al arte de Euterpe, y sobre todo a ese árido y estéril instrumento, se manifestaba en todas sus acciones y pensamientos. Educado en Salamanca, aprendió en muy temprana edad la música en el colegio de San Pablo; su imaginación ardiente, y su cabeza verdaderamente música, se avenían mal con otros estudios graves y poco poéticos. Salióse del colegio a los 15 años, y hombre ya en su independencia, halló estrecho para su alma, ansiosa de ver y sobreponerse al vulgo, el círculo de su patria. Llegó a París, donde se vio animado y protegido por el famoso Manuel García; empero no habiendo contado nunca con más recursos que su habilidad, que era ya entonces extraordinaria y su voz, la guitarra fue su destino, fue su existencia, fue él mismo. Huerta, efectivamente, había llegado a saber lo que todos pueden aprender, y salvaba ya la línea que sólo es dado salvar a los hombres de genio. La melodía, la armonía, nacían a la par entre sus dedos. Su rapidísima ejecución y su manera de arpegiar le pusieron desde luego en primera línea. Después de haber dado algún concierto en París, pasó Huerta a los Estados Unidos, recorrió la Martinica, y hasta en el Canadá logró triunfos entre los indios estupefactos; si entre los pueblos civilizados debía pasar por el depositario de la lira de Euterpe, entre los hombres de la naturaleza era el mismo Dios de la música. En New York dio varios conciertos que le produjeron montones de plata, y aún cantó en el Barbero, con García, durante una enfermedad del bajo de la compañía italiana de aquella ciudad. Parece que la naturaleza se ofendía, sin embargo, de que quisiese repartir y subdividir el don con que tan pródigamente le había dotado. Una enfermedad de pecho le privó de la voz, y quedó desde entonces más identificado que nunca con su guitarra. Provisto de muy lisonjeras recomendaciones del general Lafayete, que le profesaba una amistad, homenaje a su mérito, recorrió los Estados Unidos, recogiendo por todas partes oro y aplausos. De los Estados Unidos pasó a la Habana, y su fiel guitarra le salvó en la travesía del furor de unos piratas que, habiendo saqueado su buque y ahorcado al capitán, maltrataron a todos los pasajeros, menos al moderno Orfeo.

Poco después se embarcó para Europa, y Londres le acogió en su seno. En aquella populosa capital no fueron menores sus triunfos: La Pasta, Lablache, Donzelli, Dragonetti, Devenniz, Curioni, Cramer, Mosheles, los principales artistas filarmónicos allí residentes a la sazón, se apresuraron a cooperar a sus conciertos; granjeóse la protección de las primeras personas de la corte: la princesa Victoria, la duquesa de Kent, el duque de Sussex, el de Devonshire y otros personajes, le proveyeron de enérgicas recomendaciones para sus viajes sucesivos.

De Londres pasó a Malta, y fue a hacer resonar la humilde guitarra española dentro de los muros de la antigua Bizancio, capital del decrépito imperio de Mahmoud: hízola conocer a los habitantes de Egipto en diversos puntos, y llegó a arrancar de ella sones armoniosos y cantos divinos al pié del mismo Gólgota, en la santa Jerusalén, más gigante que los cedros del Líbano, entre los cuales resonaban sus mágicos acentos, y hasta donde fue con Mad. Montefiori, hermana de la esposa del famoso Roschild, banquero de Londres.

De vuelta a París el año 30, se relacionó con Rossini, con Paganini, con las primeras notabilidades músicas de Europa: dio varios conciertos, y alguno de ellos en los teatros, a beneficio de los emigrados liberales de todas las naciones: rasgo que hace tanto honor a sus cualidades privadas como a su talento músico; y mereció, en fin, verse socio honorario y de número de todas las sociedades filarmónicas de Londres y París.

El año 33 pasó a San Sebastián con intención de ver una corrida de toros y renovar las ideas de su patria, si puede tener otra patria que el orbe un talento tan general. Allí tuvo el honor de presentarse a S. A. serenísima el señor infante D. Francisco de Paula, delante de quien tocó desde las nueve hasta las once de la noche. Volvió enseguida a París, dio su último concierto de despedida, y se puso en camino para España de nuevo por Tolosa y Perpiñán, trayendo consigo y a sus expensas algunos emigrados desprovistos de recursos. En Barcelona dio tres conciertos, dos en sala y el último en el teatro. Embarcóse y llegó a Valencia, después de haber naufragado en el golfo de San Jorge y de haberse salvado él con su guitarra, así como César con sus Comentarios. Oyéronle también los edetanos, desde cuya ciudad se trasladó a la Alcarria, con objeto principalmente de abrazar a su anciano padre después de tantos años de ausencia.

En el día le poseemos en esta corte, donde hemos tenido el placer de conocer con cuánta razón e inmortal 75 Rossini, al recomendarle al director de nuestro conservatorio de Música le dice que es un verdadero artista dramático que con su feliz organización música y sus efectos mágicos, ha hecho la delicia de los ingleses, y franceses, de esos dos pueblos adelantados en la civilización.

Como esperamos que acaso el señor Huerta no traerá consigo la intención de privar a sólo Madrid del placer que tan pródigamente ha dispensado al mundo entero, nos abstenemos de hacer, por ahora, un análisis de su modo de tocar y de su mérito artístico: ocasión tendremos de extendernos en este punto: nos contentaremos con dar una idea general: sus arpegios es lo que más le distingue del vulgo de los tocadores y la melodía con que hace cantar la cuerda, con que la hace hablar, suspirar, gemir. La guitarra en sus manos es otro instrumento no conocido, nunca oído. Nada podrá dar esta inexplicable verdad una idea más clara que la traducción de la siguiente carta de Víctor Hugo, escrita recientemente al Sr. Huerta, y los versos franceses con que concluiremos este artículo, improvisación de la célebre Mad. Girardin Delfingay, después de haberle oído:

“Puesto que da V. algún valor, señor de Huerta, a una opinión tan poco importante como la mía, me contemplo feliz al explicarle hasta qué punto me ha encantado su habilidad. La guitarra, ese instrumento tan circunscrito, no reconoce límites entre sus manos. V. le hace producir todos los sonidos, los acordes todos, todos los cantos. V. sabe sacar de esas pocas cuerdas las notas más variadas, las que hablan al alma, al entendimiento, al corazón. La guitarra de V. es una orquesta. Gusto mucho de la España y de los españoles, señor de Huerta, y por consiguiente de la guitarra, pero sobre todo en las manos de V.: en ellas no es ya solamente una cuerda que suspira; es una voz, una verdadera voz que canta, que habla y que llora; una de esas voces profundas que hacen pensar a los que son dichosos y que inclinan a la meditación a los que están tristes. Crea V., señor de Huerta, que tengo el mayor placer en comunicar mis ideas a V. en este particular, y acepte las seguridades del deseo que tengo de servirle. París 16 de Febrero de 1834.- Víctor Hugo”.

A M. Huerta, après l’avoir entendu sur la guitare: improvisation de Mad, E. de G…

Heureux pays d’Andalousie,

Garde ta joie et ta fierté;

Ta noble part, si bien choisie:

Honneur, amour et poésie,

Vaut mieux qu’argent et liberté!

L’avez-vous entendu, ce troubadour d’Espagne

Qu’un art mélodieux aux combats accompagne?

Sur sa guitare il chante et souspire á la fois;

Ses doigts ont un accent, ses cordes une voix;

Son chant est un poëme harmonieux sans rime;

Tout ce que l’on éprouve et l’on reve, il l’exprime.

Les coeurs à ses cordes se sentent rajeunir;

La beauté que l’écoute, heureuse en souvenir,

S’émeut, sourit et pleure, et croit encore entendre.

Sa guitare, en vibrant, vous parle tour à tour

Le langage d’esprit, le langage d’amour;

Chacun y reconnait l’instrument qui l’inspire:

Pour le compositeur c’est un orchestre entier,

C’est le tambour léger pour le Basque en délire,

C’est le clairon pour le guerrier,Pour le poëte c’est la lyre!

Not long ago, referring to foreign newspapers, we boasted about our compatriot Huerta, who with his guitar has astonished the many countries he has traveled to, surpassing all the famous musicians Spain has produced on that instrument. The young Huerta, the Paganini of the guitar, as foreigners have justly called him, has just returned to his homeland and to Madrid, where we have recently had the indefinable pleasure of hearing his guitar, if that is what you can call the divine instrument that his fingers turn his into; and enough time of observation to recognize in all its exterior the man of genius, independent, cosmopolitan. A brief biography of this eminent guitarist does not seem to us in this place inopportune.

D. Trinitario Huerta y Caturla, was born in Orihuela in 1803, from a good Spanish family. From his early years he stated that he was born for the guitar: his love for Euterpe’s art, and especially for that arid and sterile instrument, was manifested in all of his actions and thoughts. Educated in Salamanca, he learned music at a very early age at the San Pablo school; His ardent imagination, and his truly musical head, went poorly with other serious and unpoetic studies. He left school at the age of 15, and as an independent man, he found the circle of his homeland close to his soul, eager to see and overcome the masses. He arrived in Paris, where he found himself encouraged and protected by the famous Manuel García; However, having never had more resources than his ability, which was already extraordinary, and his voice, the guitar was his destiny, it was his existence, it was himself. Huerta, in fact, had come to know what everyone can learn, and he was already crossing the line that only men of genius can save. The melody, the harmony, were born at the same time between his fingers. His very fast execution and his way of arpeggiating certainly put him on the front line. After having given a concert in Paris, Huerta went to the United States, toured Martinique, and even in Canada he achieved triumphs among the stupefied Indians; If among civilized peoples he had to pass as the depositary of Euterpe’s lyre, among the men of nature he was the God of music himself. In New York he gave several concerts that made him lots of money, and he even sang at the Barbier, with García, during an illness of the bassist of the Italian company in that city. It seems that nature was offended, however, that he wanted to distribute and subdivide the gift with which he had so lavishly endowed her. A chest illness deprived him of his voice, and from then on he remained more identified than ever with his guitar. Armed with very flattering recommendations from General Lafayete, who professed friendship with him, a tribute to his merit, he toured the United States, collecting gold and applause everywhere. From the United States he went to Havana, and his faithful guitar saved him on the voyage from the fury of some pirates who, having plundered his ship and hanged the captain, mistreated all the passengers, except the modern Orpheus.

Shortly afterward he embarked for Europe, and London welcomed him into its fold. In that populous capital his triumphs were no less: La Pasta, Lablache, Donzelli, Dragonetti, Devenniz, Curioni, Cramer, Mosheles, the main philharmonic artists residing there at the time, rushed to cooperate with his concerts; He gained the protection of the first people of the court: Princess Victoria, the Duchess of Kent, the Duke of Sussex, the Duke of Devonshire and other figures, who provided him with strong recommendations for his subsequent travels.

From London he went to Malta, and went to make the humble Spanish guitar resonate within the walls of ancient Byzantium, capital of the decrepit empire of Mahmoud: he made it known to the inhabitants of Egypt in various places, and managed to extract harmonious sounds from it and divine songs at the foot of Golgotha itself, in holy Jerusalem, more gigantic than the cedars of Lebanon, among which their magical accents resonated, and as far as he went with Mad. Montefiori, sister of the wife of the famous Roschild, London banker.

Returning to Paris in the year 30, he interacted with Rossini, with Paganini, with the first musical notables of Europe: he gave several concerts, and some of them in theaters, for the benefit of liberal emigrants from all nations: a trait that makes as much honor to his private qualities as to his musical talent; and he deserved, finally, to be an honorary and full member of all the philharmonic societies of London and Paris.

In the year 33 he went to San Sebastián with the intention of seeing a bullfight and renewing his ideas about his homeland, if he could have another homeland than the world such a general talent. There he had the honor of presenting himself to Her Majesty the Serene Infante D. Francisco de Paula, in front of whom he played from nine to eleven at night. He immediately returned to Paris, gave his last farewell concert, and set out for Spain again through Toulouse and Perpignan, bringing with him and at his expense some emigrants deprived of resources. In Barcelona he gave three concerts, two in the hall and the last in the theater. He embarked and arrived in Valencia, after having been shipwrecked in the Gulf of San Jorge and having saved himself with his guitar, as well as César with his Commentaries. The Edetanos also heard him, from whose city he moved to Alcarria, with the main purpose of embracing his elderly father after so many years of absence.

Today we have him in this court, where we have had the pleasure of knowing how rightly and immortally 75 Rossini, when recommending him to the director of our Music Conservatory, tells him that he is a true dramatic artist who, with his happy organization, music and its effects magical, has delighted the English and the French, those two advanced peoples in civilization.

As we hope that perhaps Mr. Huerta will not bring with him the intention of depriving only Madrid of the pleasure that he has so lavishly given to the entire world, we refrain from making, for now, an analysis of his way of playing and his artistic merit: occasion We will have to expand on this point: we will content ourselves with giving a general idea: his arpeggios are what most distinguishes him from the masses of players and the melody with which he makes the string sing, with which he makes it speak, sigh, moan. The guitar in his hands is another unknown, never heard instrument. Nothing can give this inexplicable truth a clearer idea than the translation of the following letter from Victor Hugo, recently written to Mr. Huerta, and the French verses with which we will conclude this article, an improvisation by the famous Mad. Girardin Delfiningay, after having heard him:

“Since you attach any value, Mr. Huerta, to an opinion as unimportant as mine, I consider myself happy to explain to you how much your skill has delighted me. The guitar, that very circumscribed instrument, recognizes no limits in your hands. You make it produce all the sounds, all the chords, all the songs. You know how to draw from those few strings the most varied notes, those that speak to the soul, to the understanding, to the heart. Your guitar is an orchestra. I like Spain and the Spaniards very much, Mr. Huerta, and consequently the guitar, but above all in your hands: in them it is no longer just a sighing string; it is a voice, a true voice that sings, that speaks and that cries; one of those deep voices that make those who are happy think and that incline those who are sad to meditation. Believe, Mr. Huerta, that I have the greatest pleasure in communicating my ideas to you in this particular matter, and accept the assurances of the desire that I have to serve you. Paris, February 16, 1834.- Victor Hugo”.

[Ed. Javier Suárez-Pajares suggests “V.” should be translated as “Usted”]

To Mr. Huerta, after hearing him on the guitar: improvisation by Mad, E. de G…

Happy land of Andalusia,

Keep your joy and pride;

Your noble share, so well chosen:

Honor, love and poetry,

Is better than money and freedom!

Have you heard him, this troubadour of Spain

Whose melodious art accompanies battle?

On his guitar he sings and sighs at the same time;

His fingers have an accent, his strings a voice;

His song is a harmonious poem without rhyme;

All that we feel and dream, he expresses.

Hearts feel rejuvenated by its strings;

The beauty that listens, happy in memory,

Is moved, smiles and cries, and still believes to hear.

His guitar, vibrating, speaks to you in turn

The language of spirit, the language of love;

Everyone recognizes the instrument that inspires them:

For the composer it’s an entire orchestra,

It’s the light drum for the delirious Basque,

It’s the bugle for the warrior,For the poet it’s the lyre!

D. Trinidad Huerta, natural de Orihuela, debe su habilidad a su ingenio. La prensa periódica ha hecho el apoteosis de este tocador de guitarra, que habiendo recorrido gran parte de Europa, y lucido delante de príncipes y Reyes, la que es de España, Isabel II, le condecoró, en premio de su mérito, con la cruz de caballero de la Orden de Carlos III. El principal mérito de Huerta consiste en la dulzura de los sonidos que produce cantando sobre una cuerda. Hace con primor las terceras, y un arpegio sumamente complicado, que se debe a su invento. Su música se resiente de falta de conocimientos armónicos. Con sus pasos más delicados mezcla continuamente una especie de rasgueo, a que da el nombre de “Tutis”, con los cuales apaga la ilusión que inflama cuando pulsa las cuerdas con halago. Este contraste de bueno y malo fue causa de que Sors le definiese con el nombre de “sublime barbero”, y que Aguado dijese que ultrajaba el instrumento. Si Huerta aventase su música como el labrador aventa su mies trillada para dar el grano a los racionales y la paja a las bestias, no cabe duda de que sería admirado por los profesores más severos, porque cuando canta encanta.

D. Trinidad Huerta, native of Orihuela, owes his ability to his wit. The periodical press has made the apotheosis of this guitar player, who having toured much of Europe, and shone in front of princes and Kings, the one of Spain, Isabel II, decorated him, in reward of his merit, with the cross of knight of the Order of Carlos III. Huerta’s main merit consists in the sweetness of the sounds he produces when singing on a string. He does the thirds with excellence, and an extremely complicated arpeggio, which is due to his invention. His music suffers from a lack of harmonic knowledge. With his most delicate steps he continually mixes a kind of strumming, to which he gives the name of “Tutis”, with which he extinguishes the illusion that he inflames when he plucks the strings with flattery. This contrast of good and bad was the reason why Sors defined him with the name of “sublime barbero”, and Aguado said that he outraged the instrument. If Huerta were to winnow his music as the farmer winnows his threshed harvest to give the grain to the rational and the chaff to the beasts, there is no doubt that he would be admired by the most severe professors, because when he sings he enchants.

Très-curieuse figure d’artiste, musicien et compositeur de talent, guitariste de la reine Isabelle II, chevalier de l’ordre de Grégoire-le-Grand e d’un grand nombre d’autres ordres, — Huerta est né en 1805, à Orihuéla, ville importante du royaume de Valence, d’une famille noble. Une vocation irrésistible l’entraînant vers la musique, on l’avait placé dans un collège spécial ; vers sa quatorzième année, il se faisait déjà distinguer de tous les internes de l’établissement par son aptitude à saisir les premiers secrets de son art. Très-peu de temps après, faisant partie d’un régiment de cadets, il s’en échappait et arrivait à Madrid, qui était alors le principal foyer patriotique de l’Espagne. On sait que l’héroïque général Riego et les hommes le plus éminents du jour y défendaient, même à main armée, la constitution contre les amis du passé. Tout brûlant d’amour pour la liberté, Huerta s’y associa à un poète-soldat déjà célèbre, au colonel Evariste de San Miguel, qui est aujourd’hui capitaine général des hallebardiers de Saint- Ildefonse, grade qui correspond à celui de commandant du palais. De leur collaboration il résulta bientôt le fameux hymne qui a pour titre: la Marche de Riego et qui passe pour être la Marselleise des Espagnols. En moins d’une semaine, la Péninsule tout entière apprenait et chantait cette cantate, qui a eu depuis lors un succès européen.

Nous ne dirons pas comment le mouvement libéral fut étouffé en Espagne, c’est une page qui touche à notre propre histoire et que tout le monde se rappelle. Tous ceux qui avaient donné la main à Riego devaient prendre la route de l’exil ou mourir comme lui; Huerta se réfugia en France ainsi que la plupart de personnages du temps; mais, dès ce moment, il renferma son existence dans l’exercice de l’art, ne se rappelant ses sentiments politiques que pour ouvrir sa bourse à ses anciens amis proscrits. Musicien de premier ordre, il ne pouvait manquer d’être recherché par l’élite de la société parisienne. Jeune, plein de ferveur pour sa profession, il donnait des leçons de chant en compagnie de Garcia, le père, de la Malibran, et d’Adolphe Nourrit. En témoignage de sa vive amitié pour ce dernier, il a publié un fort beau morceau qui porte comme dédicace le nom du célèbre et malheureux ténor.

Mais en artiste ami du caprice, Huerta obéissait sans calcul à tous les mouvements de sa pensée. Dans ce temps-là, on l’appelle au Havre, où il doit donner un concert. En allant de Paris à Rouen pour se rendre à sa destination, le musicien rencontre des négociants espagnols qui prennent la route du nouveau monde. « A quoi bon donner un concert au Havre? lui dirent-ils ; suivez-nous en Amérique; vous y gagnerez votre pesant d’or. » Tout en riant, Huerta monte sur leur navire et il part pour New York au moment où le public havrais entrait dans la salle du théâtre, afin d’aller l’entendre.

Aux Etats-Unis, l’artiste nomade devait avoir toute une série d’aventures. Nous ne citerons qu’un trait. Chanteur et instrumentiste, il gagnait ce qu’il voulait. Le hasard le fit s’associer à un peintre qui ressemblait un peu trop aux héros picaresques de Gil-Blas. Tous deux devaient exercer leur métier sur cette terre vierge, et faire du produit de leur talent une masse commune; Huerta seul alimentait le trésor, dont le total s’élevait déjà à la somme ronde de dix mille piastres. Un matin, en s’éveillant, Huerta découvre que son loyal ami s’est enfui en emportant toute leur petite fortune, et qu’il le laisse dans une auberge. Pour comble de déconvenue, il perd en une nuit sa voix, fraîche et vibrante, qui était son principal gagne-pain. Que faire dans ce pays où il n’avait pas d’autre industrie que le chant? En homme de coeur, il ne se décourage pas. Huerta se rase les cheveux, les sourcils et la barbe d’une moitié de la figure, afin de se forcer à garder la chambre ; il étudie la guitare, et jure qu’il ne reparaîtra en public que lorsque sa barbe, ses sourcils et ses cheveux auront repoussé, c’est-à-dire après qu’il aura eu le temps d’être sur son instrument favori un exécutant hors ligne. En effet, au bout de trois mois d’efforts héroïques, Huerta se révélait comme le premier guitariste du monde musical.

De sa guitare, notre artiste fait dix instruments divers, qui enchantent également l’oreille. Toute l’Europe l’a entendu et applaudi cent fois. À son retour d’Amérique, notre Orphée a séjourné à Londres, vivant au milieu des artistes les plus distingués, La Pasta, Galli, Donzelli, Lablache, Rubini et plusieurs autres. Il y est resté jusqu’en 1830, donnant des concerts toujours très-fructueux, mais dont il consacrait sans cesse le produit à calmer l’infortune des réfugiés espagnols. En 1832, Paris le revoyait, toujours sa guitare à la main. Là aussi, Huerta était accueilli avec le plus honorable empressement par les célébrités de la politique, des arts et de la littérature. Madame Émile de Girardin lui adressait des vers, MM. de Lamartine et Victor Hugo lui prodiguaient des encouragements; Armand Marrast préconisait ses concerts, et notre ami Ch. Philipon, qui sait bien deviner et aimer les organisations d’élite, lui vouait cette vive affection dont il lui a donné tour récenment un nouveau témoignage, lorsqu’il l’a rappelé au public par un grand dessin et un article du Journal Amusant.L’espace nous manque pour donner à cette Notice biographique toute l’ampleur que le sujet exigerait. Bornonsnous à dire que, dans le grand monde officiel, Huerta n’est pas moins populaire que chez les artistes et les gens du monde. Presque tous les souverains de l ‘Europe l’ont nommé chevalier de leurs ordres ; la reine d’Espagne a voulu l’investir d’une charge dans ses palais. À l’étranger et en France, son nom est de ceux que la haute société aime le plus. Comme couronnement à tant de sympathies, un homme qui a toute la majesté d’un prince, Rossini ; honore notre artiste de l’attachement le plus affectueux.

A very curious artist, talented musician and composer, guitarist to Queen Isabella II, knight of the Order of Gregory the Great and many other orders, Huerta was born in 1805 in Orihuéla, an important town in the Kingdom of Valencia, into a noble family. An irresistible vocation led him to music, and he was placed in a special college. By his fourteenth year, he was already distinguishing himself from all the other boarders by his ability to grasp the first secrets of his art. Shortly afterwards, as part of a cadet regiment, he escaped and arrived in Madrid, then Spain’s main patriotic hotbed. It is well known that the heroic General Riego and the most eminent men of the day were defending the constitution against the friends of the past, even with their weapons. Burning with love for freedom, Huerta teamed up with an already famous soldier-poet, Colonel Evariste de San Miguel, who is now Captain General of the Halberdiers of Saint Ildefonse, a rank that corresponds to that of commander of the palace. Their collaboration soon resulted in the famous hymn entitled La marche de Riego, considered to be the Marselleise of the Spaniards. In less than a week, the entire Peninsula was learning and singing this cantata, which has been a European success ever since.

We won’t go into how the liberal movement was stifled in Spain, as this is a page from our own history that everyone remembers. Huerta took refuge in France, as did most of the leading figures of the time; but from that moment on, he confined his existence to the practice of art, remembering his political feelings only to open his purse to his former proscribed friends. A first-rate musician, he was bound to be sought after by the elite of Parisian society. As a young man, full of fervor for his profession, he gave singing lessons in the company of Garcia, the father of the Malibran, and Adolphe Nourrit. As a token of his close friendship with the latter, he published a beautiful piece dedicated to the famous and ill-fated tenor.

But as an artist who loved whim, Huerta obeyed his every thought without calculation. At that time, he was called to Le Havre, where he was to give a concert. On his way from Paris to Rouen to reach his destination, the musician met a group of Spanish merchants on their way to the New World. “What’s the point of giving a concert in Le Havre?” they told him, ”follow us to America; you’ll earn your weight in gold there.” Laughing, Huerta boarded their ship and sailed for New York just as the Le Havre audience was entering the theater to hear him.

In the United States, the nomadic artist had a whole series of adventures. We’ll mention just one. As a singer and instrumentalist, he earned whatever he wanted. Chance brought him into partnership with a painter who was a little too much like the picaresque heroes of Gil-Blas. The two of them were to ply their trade in this virgin land, and turn the product of their talent into a common fund; Huerta alone fed the treasury, the total of which already amounted to the round sum of ten thousand piastres. One morning, upon awakening, Huerta discovered that his loyal friend had run off with their entire fortune, leaving him in an inn. To make matters worse, he loses overnight his fresh, vibrant voice, which was his main source of income. What could he do in a country where singing was his only industry? As a kind-hearted man, he doesn’t give up. Huerta shaved off the hair, eyebrows and beard on half his face, in order to force himself to remain in the room; he studied the guitar, and swore that he would not appear in public again until his beard, eyebrows and hair had grown back, i.e. after he had had time to become an outstanding performer on his favorite instrument. Indeed, after three months of heroic effort, Huerta revealed himself to be the first guitarist in the musical world.

From his guitar, our artist makes ten different instruments, which also enchant the ear. All Europe has heard and applauded him a hundred times. On his return from America, our Orpheus stayed in London, living among the most distinguished artists, La Pasta, Galli, Donzelli, Lablache, Rubini and many others. He remained there until 1830, giving concerts that were always highly profitable, but whose proceeds he constantly devoted to soothing the misfortunes of Spanish refugees. In 1832, Paris saw him again, still with his guitar in hand. Here too, Huerta was greeted with the most honorable eagerness by celebrities from politics, the arts and literature. Madame Émile de Girardin wrote verses for him, Messrs de Lamartine and Victor Hugo lavished encouragement on him; Armand Marrast recommended his concerts, and our friend Ch. Philipon, who knows well how to guess and love elite organizations, devoted to him that lively affection of which he gave new testimony when he reminded the public of him by a large drawing and an article in the Journal Amusant.Space does not permit us to give this Biographical Note the full scope that the subject demands. Suffice it to say that, in the official world, Huerta is no less popular than among artists and people of the world. Almost all the sovereigns of Europe have made him a knight of their orders; the Queen of Spain wanted to invest him with an office in her palaces. Abroad and in France, his name is among those most loved by high society. As a crowning touch to so many sympathies, a man with all the majesty of a prince, Rossini, honors our artist with the most affectionate attachment.

Eh bien, ni le bruit que fait le Tannhauser, ni le tumulte qui se fait autour de lui n’ont eu le don d’arracher un moment à leurs haines les puritains du catholicisme. Au beau concert de Huerta, qui aura eu lieu lorsque yous me lirez, rien non plus de ces forcenés catholiques! Cependant, le concert serait, fait pour eux, s’il est vrai que la musique adoucit les moeurs. Mais Huerta n’a pas eu besoin d’eux pour remplir le foyer des Italiens qu’il avait choisi comme salle. A l’heure où j’écris, voila déjà longtemps qu’il ne reste plus un billet à placer. La société espagnole, amie tout entière de son merveilleux guitariste, les avait tous retenus, et ils faisaient prime avant l’émission.

J’ai raconté, l’autre jour, comment Huerta était un revenant que, pendant dix ans, l’on avait cru mort. J’apprendrai aujourd’hui à ceux qui ne le savent pas à quel propos il est devenu le roi de la guitare.

C’était aux Etats-Unis, en…. (la date ne fait rien à l’affaire), Huerta alors chanteur de son métier, voyagcait en compaguie d’un autre troubadour. On allait de ville en ville, moissonnant des applaudissements et des dollars. Il parait que la récolte avait été assez bonne. Huerta laissait a son associe la garde du tresor commun qui grossissait chaque jour. On commençait à faire de beaux projets: on achèterait ceci, on ferait cela… Toujours la fable de Perrette et le Pot au lait?

Un beau matin, l’associé disparut en emportant la caisse.Huerta seul, Huerta abandonné de son accompagnateur, Huerta ruiné, volé, désolé et sentant sa voix se troubler dans son gosier, résolut de faire violence à la fortunes par son énergie. Il se rasa un còté de la barbe et la moitié de sa cheyelure. Il s’enferma, il jura qu’il ne sortirait pas de chez lui avant de setre appris a jouer de la guitare assez bien pour attendrir les pierres et attrouper les arbres autour de lui, comme feu Orphée. Vous savez s’il s’est tenu parole !

Well, neither the noise made by the Tannhauser, nor the uproar around it, have been able to shake the puritanical Catholics out of their hatred for a moment. At Huerta’s beautiful concert, which will have taken place by the time you read this, there’ll be nothing from these Catholic hardliners either! However, the concert was made for them, if it’s true that music softens morals. But Huerta didn’t need them to fill the foyer des Italiens, which he had chosen as his venue. As I write, there is not a single ticket left to place. The Spanish company, all friends of its wonderful guitarist, had held them all back, and they were doing a prime before the show.

The other day, I recounted how Huerta was a returnee who, for ten years, had been thought dead. Today, for those who don’t know, I’ll tell them how he became the king of the guitar.

It was in the United States, in …. (the date doesn’t help), Huerta, then a singer by trade, was traveling in the company of another troubadour. We went from town to town, reaping applause and dollars. Apparently, the harvest was quite good. Huerta left his partner in charge of the common treasury, which was growing daily. We began to make plans: we’d buy this, we’d do that… Still the fable of the milkmaid and her pail?

One morning, the partner disappeared, taking the cash register with him.Huerta alone, Huerta abandoned by his companion, Huerta ruined, robbed, desolate and feeling his voice grow troubled in his throat, resolved to do violence to fortune with his energy. He shaved off one side of his beard and half his hair. He locked himself in and swore he wouldn’t leave home until he’d learned to play the guitar well enough to soften stones and gather trees around him, like the late Orpheus. You know he kept his word!

(=) Dia 8, 1804. Nace en Orihuela el afamado guitarrista D. Trinidad Huerta y Catauela. Copiaremos algunos párrafos de la biografía que de este músico publicó el Boletin Oficial de la provincia de Málaga del juéves 24 de Setiembre de 1835: « D. Trinitario Huerta y Catauela nació en Orihuela el año de 1803, de una buena familia española. Desde sus primeros años manifestó que babia nacido para la guitarra: su aficion al arte de Euterpe, y sobre todo á ese árido y estéril instrumento, se manifestaba en todas sus acciones y pensamientos. Educado en Salamanca, aprendió en muy temprana edad la música’ en el colegio de San Pablo : su imaginacion ardiente, y su cabeza verdaderamente música, se avenian mal con otros estudios graves y poco poéticos. Salióse del colegio á los quince años, y hombre ya, en su independencia halló estrecho para su alma, ansiosa de ver y sobreponerse al vulgo, el círculo de su pátria. Llegó á París, donde se vió animado y protegido por el famoso Manuel García; empero no habiendo contado nunca con más recursos que su habilidad, que era ya entónces extraordinaria, y su voz, la guitarra fué su destino, fué su existencia, fué él mismo. Huerta, efectivamente, babia llegado á saber lo que todos pueden aprender, y salvaba ya la línea que sólo es dado salvar á los hombres de genio. La melodía, la armonía, nacian á la par entre sus dedos. Su rapidísima ejecucion y su manera de arpe giar le pusieron desde luégo en primera línea. Despues de haber dado algun concierto en París, pasó Huerta á los Estados Unidos, recorrió la Martinica, y hasta en el Canadá logró triunfos entre los indios estupefactos: si entre los pueblds civilizadosdebia pasar por el depositario de· la lira de Euterpe, entre los hombres de la naturaleza era el mismo dios de la música. En Nueva York dió vários conciertos que le produjeron montones de plata, y áun cantó en El Barbero, con García, durante una enfermedad del bajo de la compañía italiana de aquella ciudad.

» Parece que la’naturaleza se ofendia, sin embargo, de que quisiese repartir y subdividir el don con que tan pródigamente le babia dotado. Una enfermedad de pecho le privó de la voz , y quedó desde entónces más identificado que nunca con su guitarra. Provisto de muy lisonjeras recomendaciones del general Lafayette, que le profesaba gran amistad, homenaje á su mérito, recorrió los Estados Unidos, recogiendo por todas partes oro y aplausos. De los Estados’ Unidos pasó á’la Habana, y su fiel guitarra le salvó en la travesía del furor de unos pira tas que, habiendo saqueado su buque y ahorcado al capitan, maltrataron á todos los pasajeros, ménos al moderno Orfeo.

» Poco despues se embarcó para Europa, y Lóndres le acogió en su seno. En aquella populosa capital no fueron menores sus triunfos: La Pasta, Lablache, Donzelli, Dragonetti, Devenniz, Curioni, Crammer, Mosheles, los principales artistas filarmónicos allí residentes á la sazon, se apresuraron á cooperará sus conciertos: granjeóse la proteccion de las primeras personas de la córte: la princesa Victdria, la duquesa de Kent, el duque de Sussex, el de Devonshire y otros personajes, le proveyeron de enérgicas recomendaciones para sus viajes sucesivos.

» De Lóndres pasó á Malta, y fué á hacer resonar la humilde guitarra española dentro de los muros de la antigua Bizancio, capital del decrépito imperio de Mahmoud: hízola conocerá los habitantes del’Egipto en diversos puntos, y llegó á arrancar de ella sones armoniosos y cantos divinos al pié del mismo Gólgota, en la santa Jerusalen, más gigante que los cedros del Líbano , entre los cuales resonaban sus mágicos acentos, y hasta donde fué con Mad. Montefiori, hermana de la esposa del famoso Rostchild, banquero de Lóndres.

» De vuelta á París el año 30, se relacionó con: Rossini, con Paganini, con las primeras notabilidades músicas de Europa: dió vários conciertos, y alguno de ellos en los teatros, á beneficio de los emigrados liberales de todas naciones: rasgo que hace tanto honor á sus cualidades privadas como á su talento músico; y mereció, en fin, verse sócio honorario y de número de todas las sociedades filarmónicas de Lóndres y París.

» El año 33 pasó á San Sebastian con intencion de ver una corrida de toros y renovar las ideas de su pátria, si puede tener otra pátria que el orbe un talento tan general. Allí tuvo el honor de presentarse á S. A. serenísima el señor infante D. Francisco de Paula, delante de quieri. tocó desde las nueve hasta las once de la noche. Volvió en seguida á París, dió su último concierto de despedida, y se puso en camino para España de nuevo por Tolosa y Perpiñan, trayendo consigo y á sus expensas algunos emigrados desprovistos de recursos. En Barcelona dió tres conciertos\ dos en una sala y el último en el teatro. Embarcóse y llegó á Valencia, despues de haber naufragado en el golfo de San Jorge y de haberse salvado él con su guitarra, así como César con sus Comentarios: Oyéronle tambien los edetanos, desde cuya ciudad se trasladó á la Alcarria, con objeto principalmente de abrazará su anciano padre despues de tantos años de ausencia.

» La guitarra en sus manos es otro instrumento no conocido, nunca oido. Nada podrá dar de esta inexplicable verdad una idea más clara que la traduccion de la siguiente carta de Víctor Hugo, escrita recientemente al Sr. Huerta, y los versos franceses con que concluiremos este artículo , improvisacion de la célebre Mad. Girardin Delfingay, despues de haberle oido:

« Puestoq ue da V. algun valor, señor de Huerta, á una opinion tan poco importante como lamia, me contemplo feliz al explicarle hasta qué punto me ha encantado su habilidad. La guitarra, ese instrumento tan circunscrito, no reconoce límites entre sus manos. Usted le hace producir todos los sonidos, los acordes todos, todos los cantos. Usted sabe sacar de esas pocas cuerdas las notas más variadas, las que hablan al alma, al entendimiento, al corazon. La guitarra de V. es una orquesta. Gusto mucho de la España y de los españoles, señor de Huerta, y por consiguiente de la guitarra; pero sobre todo en las manos de V. : en ellas no es ya solamente una cuerda que suspira; es una voz, una verdadera voz que canta, que habla y que llora: una de esas voces profundas que hacen pensar á los que son dichosos y que inclinan á la meditacion á los que están tristes. Crea V., señor de Huerta, que tengo el mayor placer en comunicar mis ideas á V. en este particular, y acepte las seguridades del deseo que tengo de servirle. París 16 de Febrero de 1834. — Víctor Hugo. » 

A M. HUERTA

APRÉS L’AVOIR ENTENDU SUR LA GUITARE;

improvisation de Mad. E. de G …..

Heureux pays d’ Andalousie,

Garde ta joie et ta fierté,

Ta noble part si bien choisie;

Honneur, amour et poésie,

Vaut mieux qu’argent et liberté!

L’ avez-vous entendu, ce troubadour d’Espagne

Qu’un art mélodieux aux combats acompagne?

Sur sa guitare il chante et soupire à la fois;

Ses doigts ont un accent, ses cordes une voix:

Son chant est un poeme harmonieux sans rime,

Tout ce qui l’on éprouve, qu’on réve ce qu’il !’exprime:

Les creurs a ses accords se sentent rajeftnir;

La beauté qui l’écoute, heureuse en souvenir,

S’émeut, sourit, et pleure et croit entendre

Ce qu’on lui dit jamais de plus doux, de plus tendre,

Sa guitare, en vibrant, vous parle tour a tour,

Le langage d’esprit, le langage d’amour;

Chacun y reconnait l’instrument qui l’inspire;

Pour le compositeur c’est un orchestre entier

C’est le tambour léger pour le Basque en délire;

C’est le clairon pour le guerrier,

Pour le poete, c’est la lyre! »

Veamos ahora lo que dice el Sr. Soriano Fuertes del guitarrista Huerta en su Historia de la música española, tomo IV, pág. 214, año de 1851: «D. Trinidad Huerta, natural de Orihuela, debe su habilidad á su ingenio. La prensa periódica ha hecho el apoteósis de este tocador de guitarra, que habiendo corrido gran parte de Europa, y lucido delante de príncipes y Reyes, la que lo es de España, Isabel II, le condecoró, en premio de su márito, con la cruz de caballero de la Órden de Cárlos III.El principal mérito de Huerta consiste en la dulzura de los sonidos que produce cantando sobre una cuerda. Hace con primor las terceras, y un arpegio sumamente complicado, que se debe á su invento. Su música se resiente de falta de conocimientos armónicos. Con sus pasos más delicados mezcla contínuamente una especie de rasgueo, á que da el nombre de Tutis, con los cuales apaga la ilusion que inflama cuando pulsa las cuerdas con halago. Este contraste de bueno y malo fué causa de que Sors le definiese con el nombr de sublime barbero, y de que Aguado dijese que ultrajaba el instrumento. Si Huerta aventase su música como el labrador aventa su mies trillada para dar el grano á los racionales y la paja ll las bestias , no cabe duda de que sería admirado de los profesores más severos, porque cuando canta, encanta. »

(=) Day 8, 1804. The famous guitarist D. Trinidad Huerta y Catauela is born in Orihuela. We will copy some paragraphs from the biography of this musician published in the Official Bulletin of the province of Malaga on Thursday, September 24, 1835: “D. Trinitario Huerta y Catauela was born in Orihuela in 1803, from a good Spanish family. From his earliest years he manifested that he was born for the guitar: his fondness for the art of Euterpe, and above all for that arid and sterile instrument, was manifested in all his actions and thoughts. Educated in Salamanca, he learned music at a very early age at the college of San Pablo: his ardent imagination, and his truly musical head, did not agree well with other serious and not very poetic studies. He left the school at the age of fifteen, and as a man, in his independence he found the circle of his country narrow for his soul, anxious to see and overcome the vulgar. He arrived in Paris, where he was encouraged and protected by the famous Manuel García; however, never having had more resources than his ability, which was already extraordinary at that time, and his voice, the guitar was his destiny, his existence, he was himself. Huerta, in fact, had come to know what everyone can learn, and he had already crossed the line that only men of genius can cross. The melody, the harmony, were born at the same time between his fingers. His very rapid execution and his way of performing put him from then on in the front line. After giving some concerts in Paris, Huerta went on to the United States, toured Martinique, and even in Canada he achieved triumphs among the astonished Indians: if among the civilized peoples he was to be considered the depositary of the lyre of Euterpe, among the men of nature he was the god of music himself. In New York he gave several concerts that brought him piles of money, and even sang in The Barber, with Garcia, during an illness of the bass of the Italian company of that city.

“It seems that nature was offended, however, that he wanted to divide and subdivide the gift with which he had been so lavishly endowed. A chest disease deprived him of his voice, and from then on he was more identified than ever with his guitar. With the flattering recommendations of General Lafayette, who was a great friend and a tribute to his merit, he toured the United States, collecting gold and applause everywhere. From the United States he went to Havana, and his faithful guitar saved him during the voyage from the fury of some pirates who, having plundered his ship and hanged the captain, mistreated all the passengers, except the modern Orpheus.

“Shortly after, he embarked for Europe, and London welcomed him to its bosom. In that populous capital his triumphs were not lesser: La Pasta, Lablache, Donzelli, Dragonetti, Devenniz, Curioni, Crammer, Mosheles, the principal philharmonic artists resident there at the time, hastened to cooperate with his concerts: he won the protection of the first persons of the city: Princess Victoria, the Duchess of Kent, the Duke of Sussex, the Duke of Devonshire and other personages, provided him with energetic recommendations for his successive travels.

“From London he went to Malta, and went to make the humble Spanish guitar resound within the walls of the ancient Byzantium, capital of the decrepit empire of Mahmoud: he made it known to the inhabitants of Egypt at various points, and got to draw from it harmonious sounds and divine songs at the foot of Golgotha itself, in the holy Jerusalem, more gigantic than the cedars of Lebanon, among which its magical accents resounded, and to where he went with Madame Montefiori, sister of the wife of the famous Rostchild, banker of London. Montefiori, sister of the wife of the famous Rothschild, banker of London.

“On his return to Paris in the year 30, he was in contact with Rossini, with Paganini, with the first musical notabilities of Europe: Rossini, with Paganini, with the first musical notabilities of Europe: he gave several concerts, and some of them in theaters, for the benefit of liberal emigrants of all nations: a trait that does as much honor to his private qualities as to his musical talent; and he deserved, finally, to be made honorary and numbered partner of all the philharmonic societies of London and Paris.

“The year 33 went to San Sebastian with the intention of seeing a bullfight and renew the ideas of his country, if you can have another country that the world such a general talent. There he had the honor of presenting himself to His Serene Highness the Infante D. Francisco de Paula, in front of whom he played from nine o’clock until eleven o’clock at night. He then returned to Paris, gave his last farewell concert, and set out for Spain again via Toulouse and Perpignan, bringing with him and at his own expense some emigrants without resources. In Barcelona he gave three concerts, two in a hall and the last one in the theater. He embarked and arrived in Valencia, after being shipwrecked in the Gulf of San Jorge and having saved himself and his guitar, as well as César with his Comentarios: He was also heard by the Edetanos, from whose city he moved to the Alcarria, with the main purpose of embracing his old father after so many years of absence.

“The guitar in his hands is another unknown instrument, never heard. Nothing can give a clearer idea of this inexplicable truth than the translation of the following letter of Victor Hugo, written recently to Mr. Huerta, and the French verses with which we will conclude this article, an improvisation of the famous Mad. Girardin Delfingay, after having heard him:

“Since you give some value, Mr. de Huerta, to an opinion as unimportant as this, I am happy to explain to you to what extent I have been enchanted by your skill. The guitar, that instrument so circumscribed, recognizes no limits between your hands. You make it produce all the sounds, all the chords, all the songs. You know how to draw from those few strings the most varied notes, those that speak to the soul, to the understanding, to the heart. V.’s guitar is an orchestra. I like Spain and the Spaniards very much, Mr. de Huerta, and therefore the guitar; but especially in your hands: in them it is no longer just an orchestra. In them it is no longer only a string that sighs; it is a voice, a true voice that sings, that speaks and cries: one of those deep voices that make those who are happy think and that incline those who are sad to meditation. Please believe, Mr. de Huerta, that I have the greatest pleasure in communicating my ideas to you in this matter, and accept the assurances of the desire I have to serve you. Paris, February 16, 1834. – Victor Hugo. “

TO MR HUERTA

AFTER HEARING HIM ON THE GUITAR;

improvisation by Mad. E. de G …..

Happy land of Andalusia,

Keep your joy and your pride,

Your noble share so well chosen;

Honor, love and poetry,

Is better than money and freedom!

Have you heard him, this troubadour of Spain

Whose melodious art accompanies him to battle?

On his guitar he sings and sighs at the same time;

His fingers have an accent, his strings a voice:

His song is a harmonious poem without rhyme,

All that we feel, that we dream what he expresses!

Les creurs a ses accords se sentent rajeftnir;

The beauty that listens, happy in memory,

Is moved, smiles, cries and thinks she hears

The sweetest, most tender things ever said to her,

Her guitar, vibrating, speaks to you in turn,

The language of spirit, the language of love;

Everyone recognizes the instrument that inspires them;

For the composer it’s an entire orchestra

It’s the light drum for the delirious Basque;

It’s the bugle for the warrior,

For the poet, it’s the lyre!”

Let’s see now what Mr. Soriano Fuertes says about the guitarist Huerta in his Historia de la música española, volume IV, page 214, year 1851: “D. Trinidad Huerta, native of Orihuela, owes his ability to his wit. The periodical press has made the apotheosis of this guitar player, who having traveled much of Europe, and shone before princes and kings, the queen of Spain, Isabel II, decorated him, as a reward for his merit, with the cross of knight of the Order of Charles III. He does the thirds with excellence, and an extremely complicated arpeggio, which is due to his invention. His music suffers from a lack of harmonic knowledge. With his more delicate steps he continually mixes a kind of strumming, to which he gives the name of Tutis, with which he extinguishes the illusion that he inflames when he plucks the strings with flattery. This contrast of good and bad was the reason that Sors defined him with the name of sublime barber, and Aguado said that he outraged the instrument. If Huerta were to winnow his music as the farmer throws his threshed harvest to give the grain to the rational and the chaff to the beasts, there is no doubt that he would be admired by the most severe professors, because when he sings, he enchants. “

1914 First Edition

Huerta, y Katurla Don A. F., born in Orihuela, a town of someimportance in Valencia, Spain, in 1805, was given the advantage of athorough and early education, his parents being of some position. An inclination, which he could not resist drew him to the study ofmusic, and at the age of fourteen he was placed in a music schoolfor the purpose of devoting himself solely to the art. His aptitudefor study, and his natural ability soon gained him distinction in his special subjects, singing and guitar playing, and he continued his vocal training and study of the guitar later, under the renowned Garcia. The unsettled state of the country interrupted his studies for a period —Spain was in the throes of the Peninsular war—and Huerta was pressed in the military service, in a regiment of cadets ; but he contrived to escape a few weeks later and fled to Madrid, then the principal patriotic focus of Spain. In this city his sympathies were enlisted in the cause of General Riego, and Huerta served under him when the enemies of the constitution were defeated. Being now enthusiastic in his love of liberty and martial glory, Huerta threw himself heartily in this new vocation, and made the acquaintanceof the poet-soldier, Colonel Evaristo de San Miguel, a Captain-General of the Halberdiers of St. Ildefonso, and from this friendship resulted the famous national hymn (the Marseillaise of Spain), The march of Riego, or Riego’s hymn. Huerta composed the music to the poet-soldier’s words, and it became of national importance, for in less than a week the whole Spanish peninsula was singing this song, which also became celebrated through Europe. It was originally published throughout Spain with guitar accompaniment, and Ricordi, Milan, also issue it with guitar. It is not necessary to recall the ultimate defeat of Riego, his supporters were forced to flee, or share the fate of their leader, many took refuge in France and England, and thus their national instrument, the guitar, was brought more prominently before the people of these two countries.

Huerta, with many other of his countrymen fled to France, and after these exciting experiences, devoted himself entirely to music,and as vocalist and guitarist, he was soon sought by Parisian society. Young, and full of ardour for his profession, he gave singing lessons with his former teacher, Garcia senior, Malibran,and Adolphe Nourrit, and as a proof of the great friendship existing between himself and the last named, Huerta composed a beautiful work which he dedicated to the celebrated, but unfortunate tenor. Like a capricious artist, Huerta acted according to impulse without calculating the consequences, as the following incident shows. He had been engaged to perform at Havre, and travelled from Paris to Rouen in the company of several business men who were about to sail for America. “What is the use of you giving a concert in Havre ?” they said, “come with us to America, you will be worth your weight in gold there,” and without further consideration, Huerta embarked with them, when the people of Havre were entering the theatre expecting to hear him. In the United States, the wandering minstrel met with a lengthy series of adventures, and as vocalist and guitarist, he gained his great desire ; but he associated with an artist painter who resembled the heroes of Gil Blas. Both had gone to pursue their professions on this virgin soil, and they shared everything in common until Huerta was surprised to discover that his erstwhile friend had departed, taking with him Huerta’s possessions and life-savings, amounting to about £400. To add to his discomfiture, Huerta now suffered the serious misfortune of losing his voice, which had been his principal means of support. He was not discouraged, but resolved to apply himself with renewed energy to the guitar, and for this purpose he shaved his head, his eyebrows, and half his beard, and vowed he would not quit his rooms until his hair was restored — when he had made himself incomparable on his instrument. After three months’ persistent study, Huerta was acknowledged the first guitarist in America, for he so manipulated his instrument that it appeared as enchanting as a minature orchestra. On his return from America he resided in London, where he was immediately recognised as one of the foremost guitar teachers, and he associated with the most distinguished musicians, living in the companionship of La Pasta, Donzelli, and Lablache. On May 18, 1827, he was performing as guitarist at a brilliant concert, in the company of Moscheles and Mori. On June 22, following, he appeared as guitar soloist at a concert given under the patronage of the Duchess of Gloucester, when De Beriot was violinist, Moscheles pianist, Labarre harpist, and Mdm. Pasta vocalist. On the 29th of the same month, Huerta played sonatas on the guitar in the mansion of the Duke of St. Albans, when Mdms. Pasta and Stockhausen were the vocalists, and on June 6, 1828, he was guitar soloist at the Royal Argyle Rooms.Huerta remained in London until 1830, giving concerts which were invariably successful, both artistically and financially, and he also gave his services on behalf of those Spanish refugees, the less fortunate of his countrymen, and while residing in London he married his pupil, Miss Angiolina Panormo, daughter of Louis Panormo, the celebrated guitar maker. In 1832, Huerta visited Paris once more and received an honourable welcome from men famous in politics, literature and art. Mdm. Emile de Girardin dedicated to him some verses, Lamartine and Victor Hugo lavishly praised him, while Armand Marrast extolled his guitar recitals. Fetis mentions his guitar playing in the Revue Musicale, saying, ” the marvellous power and agility of his fingers is prodigious ; he executes with his left hand alone, themes with intricate variations, and he has raised the guitar to the sublime height that Paganini did the violin.” Huerta was appointed guitarist to Isabella II of Spain, and was offered a position in her palace; but this ” restless child of wild Spanish nature ” as his contemporary, Mdm. Sidney Pratten described him, declined. He performed before most of the Sovereigns of Europe, and was Knight of the Order of Gregory the Great ; but above all these honours he esteemed the friendship of Rossini. Huerta performed on a Louis Panormo guitar, of concert or large size, and his portrait which is reproduced, depicts him with this instrument. He was not a prolific composer, and his early compositions were issued in Paris. Op. 2, Six waltzes for the guitar, published by Meissonnier; Six waltzes for guitar, dedicated to the Hon. Miss Fox, published in London, 1828; Five waltzes, being the second set, dedicated to Miss Howley; Three divertimentos, dedicated to Miss L. Hatton; Overture to ‘Semiramide’ and a Fantasia on ‘Semiramide ,’Chappell, London; Four divertimentos, composed and dedicated to his pupil, Miss Angiolina Panormo, published by her father, L. Panormo, and Grand waltz, Willis & Co., London. His wife was the author of several songs with guitar accompaniment, which appeared in London.

1954 Second Edition

Huerta, y Katurla Don A. F., born at Orihuela, Valencia, Spa.in, June 6, 1804, and died in Paris 1875. His parents were in a comfortable position and he was given a classic education ; but an inclination which he could not resist drew him to the study of music. He was a student in the San Pablo College at Salamanca from the age of fourteen and made a special study of music. His aptitude for study, combined with his natural ability soon gained him distinction in his special subjects, singing and guitar playing and he continued his vocal training and the higher study of the guitar subsequently under the renowned Garcia. The unsettled state of the country at this period interrupted his studies—Spain was in the throes of the Peninsular war—and Huerta, pressed in the military service, in a regiment of cadets, contrived to make his escape after a few weeks, and fled to Madrid, then the patriotic focus of Spain. Here his sympathies were enlisted in the cause ot General Riego, and Huerta served under him when the enemies of the constitution were clef eated. Being now enthusiastic in his love ot liberty and martial glory, Huerta threw himself heartily in this new vocation, and made the acquaintance of the poet-soldier, Colonel Evaristo de San Miguel, a Captain-General of the Halberdiers of St. Ildefonso, and from this friendship resulted the famous national hymn (the Marseillaise of Spain) The March of Riego, or Riego’ s hymn. Huerta composed the music to the poet-soldier’s words; in less than a week the whole Spanish peninsula was singing it and eventually became known through Europe. It was originally published in Spain with guitar accompaniment and Ricordi of Milan also issued it with guitar. It is unnecessary to recall the ultimate defeat of Riego, how his supporters were forced to flee or share the fate of their leader ; many took refuge in France and England, and their national instrument, the guitar, was brought more prominently before the people of these two countries. Huerta, with many compatriots fled to France and after his exciting experiences gave himself entirely to music, and as vocalist and guitarist his services were in frequent request by Parisian society. Young and full of ardour for his profession, he gave singing instruction with his former teacher, Garcia senior, Malibran, and Adolphe Nourrit, the celebrated, but unfortunate tenor, and as proof of the sincere friendship existing between Nourrit and himself, dedicated a composition to him. Huerta was a capricious artist and acted according to impulse without calculating the consequences. He had been engaged to perform in Havre and travelled from Paris to Rouen in the company of several business men about to sail for America. “What is the use of you giving a concert in Havre?” they said, “come with us to America, you will be worth your weight in gold there,” and without further consideration he embarked with them when the people of Havre were assembling at the theatre. After a time of singing and guitar playing in the United States, he visited Martinique and Cuba with the renowned Garcia and his opera company. The wandering minstrel encountered a series of misadventures, however, as a vocalist and guitarist, he obtained his intense desire. He associated in his travels with an artist painter both of whom had gone to pursue their professions on this virgin soil, sharing everything in common, until Huerta discovered his erstwhile friend had absconded with all Huerta’s life savings, about four hundred pounds. To add to his discomfiture, he lost his voice, a principal means of support, but undaunted he applied himself with increased energy to the guitar, shaving his head, his eyebrows and half his beard and remaining in his room until he had made himself incomparable on his guitar. After three month’s concentrated study he appeared again in public and was acknowledged the foremost guitarist in America ; the press stated that he had such mastery and control over the instrument that it responded like a miniature orchestra. When he returned to Europe he resided in London and associated in his concerts with the most distinguished musicians, La Pasta, Donizelli and Lablache. On May 18, 1827 he was soloist at a brilliant concert with Moscheles and Mori, and on the 22nd of the following month was soloist at a concert under the patronage of the Duchess of Gloucester with De Beriot, violinist, Moscheles pianist, Labarre, harpist and Mme. Pasta, vocalise. On the 29th of the same month he played sonatas on the guitar in the mansion of the Duke of St. Albans with Mmes. Pasta and Stockhausen and on June 6, 1828, was soloist at the Royal Argyle Rooms. Huerta resided in London until 1830, appearing in concerts which were successful artistically and financially and his services were freely bestowed on behalf of the Spanish refugees, in less fortunate circumstances. During his residence in London he married his pupil, Miss Angiolina Panormo, one of ” the roguish dark-eyed daughters ” of the celebrated guitar maker, Louis Panormo. Huerta visited Paris again and was the recipient of honourable welcome from men famous in politics, literature and art. Mme. Emile de Girardin dedicated some verses to him, Lamartine and Victor Hugo lavishly praised him, while Armand Marrast extolled his guitar recitals. Fetis praises his guitar playing in the Revue Musicale of 1830, saying: “the marvellous power and agility of his fingers is prodigious ; he executes, with his left hand alone, themes with intricate variations, and he has raised the guitar to the sublime height that Paganini did the violin.” From Paris Huerta visited his native land, in 1833, where he gave recitals, embarking from Valencia to tour the east, visiting Malta, Constantinople, Egypt and the Holy Land. A detailed account of Huerta’s genius appears in Historia de la Musica Espanol, fourth volume, 1855-59 by Soriano Fuertes, who states that the chief characteristic of Huerta’s playing was his ability to produce a sustained, singing tone, of exceptional duration and beauty. Huerta was guitarist to Isabel II of Spain and was offered a position at Court, which “the restless child of wild Spanish nature,” as the contemporary guitarist, Mme. Sidney Pratten, described him, declined. He performed before most of the Sovereigns of Europe, was Knight of the Order of Gregory the Great and of the order of Carlos III ; but above all his honours he valued the intimate friendship of Rossini. Huerta’s favourite guitar was a concert, or full-sized instrument constructed by his father-in-law, Louis Panormo of London. He was not a prolific composer and his first compositions were issued in Paris. Op. 2, Six Waltzes for the guitar, Meissonnier, Paris; Six Waltzes dedicated to the Hon. Miss Fox, published in London in 1828 ; Five Waltzes, being the second set, dedicated to Miss Howley; Three Divertimentos, dedicated to Miss L. Hatton ; Overture to ‘Semiramide,’ and a Fantasia on ‘Semiramide,’ Chappell, London ; Four Divertimentos, composed for and dedicated to his pupil, Miss Angiolina Panormo and published by her father, L. Panormo ; Souvenir of Mairena fair, a Mazurka with variations for the guitar and a Spanish national cachucha, originally composed for eight guitars, arranged for one, were published by Panormo, London. These last compositions are in the library of the Royal College of Music, London, also Grand Waltz, published by Willis & Co., London. His wife was the composer of several songs with guitar which appeared in London.

HUERTA CATAHUELA, Trinitario.—Eximio concertista de guitarra. Nació en Orihuela, importante pueblo de la provincia ele Alicante, España, el 6 de Junio del año 1804. Nos concretaremos a dar algunas notas biográficas publicadas por reputadas firmas. El “Boletín Oficial” de la provincia de Málaga, del 21 de Septiembre de 1835: “D. Trinitario Huerta y Catahuela nació en Orihuela el año 1803 (?) de buena familia española. Desde sus primeros años manifestó haber nacido para la guitarra: su afición al arte de Euterpe, y sobre todo a ese árido y estéril instrumento, se manifestaba en todas sus acciones y pensamientos. Educado en Salamanca, aprendió en muy temprana edad la música en el Colegio de San Pablo: su imaginación ardiente se avenía mal con otros estudios graves y poco poéticos. Salióse del colegio a los 15 años, y, hombre ya, en su independencia halló estrecho para su alma (ansiosa de ver y sobreponerse al vulgo) el círculo de su patria. Llegó a París, donde se vió animado y protegido por el famoso Manuel García; empero, no habiendo contado nunca con más recursos que su habilidad, que era ya entonces extraordinaria, y su voz, la guitarra fué su destino, fué su existencia, fué él mismo. Huerta, efectivamente, había llegado a saber lo que todos pueden aprender y salvaba ya la línea que sólo es dado salvar a los hombres de genio. La melodía y la armonía nacían a la par entre sus dedos. Su rapidísima ejecución y su manera de arpegiar le pusieron, desde luego, en primera línea. Despues de haber dado algún concierto en París, pasó Huerta a los Estados Unidos, recorrió la Martinica, y hasta en el Canadá logró triunfar entre los indios estupefactos: si entre los pueblos civilizados debía pasar por el depositario de la lira de Euterpe, entre los hombres se misalvajes era el mismo dios de la música. En Nueva York dió varios conciertos que le produjeron montones de dinero, y aun cantó “El Barbero”. con García, durante una enfermedad del bajo de la compañía italiana de aquella ciudad. 

“Parece que la naturaleza se ofendía, sin embargo, de que quisiese repartir y subdividir el don con que tan pródigamentr le había dotado. Una enfermedad de pecho le privó de la voz, y quedó desde entonces más identificado que nunca con su guitarra. Provisto de muy lisonjeras recomendaciones del general Lafayette, que le profesaba gran amistad, homenaje a su mérito, recorrió los Estados Unidos, recogiendo por todas partes oro y aplausos. De los Estados Unidos pasó a La Habana, y su fiel guitarra le salvó en la travesía del furor de unos piratas que, habiendo saqueado su buque y ahorcad,) al capitán, maltrataron a todos los pasajeros, menos al moderno Orfeo.

“Poco después se embarcó para Europa y Londres le acogió en su seno. En aquella populosa capital no fueron menores sus triunfos: La Pasta, Lablache, Donzelli, Dragonetti, Devenniz, Curioni, Crammer, Moscheles, los principales artistas filarmónicos allí residentes a la sazón, se apresuraron a cooperar en sus conciertos; granjeóse la protección de las primeras personas de la Corte: la princesa Victoria, la duquesa de Kent, el duque de Sussex, el de Devonshire y otros personajes le proveyeron de enérgicas recomendaciones para sus viajes sucesivos.

“De Londres pasó a Malta, y fué a hacer resonar la humilde guitarra española dentro de los muros de la antigua Bizancio, capital del decrépito imperio de Mahmoud: hízola conocer a los habitantes del Egipto en diversos puntos, y llegó a arrancar de ella sones armoniosos y cantos divinos al pie del mismo Golgota, en la santa Jerusalén, más gigante que los cedros del Líbano, entre los cuales resonaban sus mágicos acentos, y hasta donde fué con Mme. Montefiori, hermana de la esposa del famoso Rostchild, banquero de Londres.

“De vuelta a París el año 30, se relacionó con Rossini, con Paganini, con las primeras notabilidades musicas de Europa: dió varios conciertos, y algunos de ellos en los teatrós a beneficio de los emigrados liberales de todas las naciones, rasgo que hace tanto honor a sus cualidades privadas como a su talento músico; y mereció, en fin, verse socio honorario y de número de todas las sociedades filarmónicas de Londres y París.

“El año 33 pasó a San Sebastián, con intención de ver una corrida de toros y sentir el calor del aire patrio, si puede tener otra patria que el orbe un talento tan universal. Allí, tuvo el honór de presentarse a S. A. Serenísima, el señor infante D. Francisco de Paula, delante de quien tocó desde las nueve hasta las once de la noche. Volvió, en seguida, a París; dió su último concierto de despedida y se puso en camino para España de nuevo, por Tolosa y Perpiñán, trayendo consigo y a sus expensas algunos emigrados desprovistos de recursos. En Barcelona dió tres conciertos, dos en una sala y el último en el teatro. Embarcóse y llegó a Valencia: despues de haber naufragado en el golfo de San Jorge y de haberse salvado él con su guitarra, como César con sus comentarios. Oyéronle también los edetanos, desde cuya ciudad se trasladó a la Alcarria, con objeto principalmente de abrazar a su anciano padre despues de tantos años de ausencia.

“La guitarra en sus manos era otro instrumento no conocido, nunca oído. Nada podrá dar de esta inexplicable verdad una idea más clara que la traducción de la siguiente carta de Víctor Hugo, escrita recientemente al señor Huerta, y los versos franceses con que concluiremos este artículo, improvisación de la célebre Mad. Girardin Delfingay, despues de haberlo oído.

“Puesto que da usted algún valor, Sr. de Huerta, a una opinión tan poco importante como la mía, me siento feliz al explicarle hasta qué punto me ha encantado su habilidad. La guitarra, ese instrumento tan circunscripto, no reconoce límites entre sus manos. Usted le hace producir todos los sonidos; los acordes todos, todos los. cantos. usted sabe sacar de esas pocas cuerdaslas notas más variadas, las que hablan al alma, al entendimiento, al corazón. La guitarra de usted es una orquesta. Gusto mucho de España y de los españoles, Sr. de Huerta; y, por consiguiente, de la guitarra, pero, sobre todo, en manos de usted: en ellas no es ya solamente una cuerda que suspira; es una voz, una verdadera voz que canta, que habla y que llora; una de esas voces profundas que hacen pensar a los que son dichosos y que inclinan a la meditación a los que están tristes. Crea usted, Sr. de Huerta, que tengo el mayor placer en comunicarle mis convicciones sobre este particular, y acepte las seguridades del deseo que tengo de servirle. París, 16 de Febrero de 1831. Víctor Hugo:” A Mr. Huerta, después de haberlo oído en la guitarra: 

(Improvisación de la Sra. E. de . G.)

Feliz país de Andalucía,

Conserva tu alegría y tu fiereza,

Tu suelo tan bien elegido;

Honor, amor y poesía

Valen más que oro y libertad.

¿Habeis vosotros escuchado, ese trovador de España

Que con un arte melodioso a los combates se acompaña?

Sobre su guitarra él canta y suspira a la vez;

Sus dedos son un acento, sus .cuerdas una voz;

Su canto es un poema armonioso sin rima,

Todo lo que se siente y sueña, ella lo expresa.

Los corazones a sus acordes se sienten rejuvenecer;

La belleza que le escucha, dichosa de recordar,

Se conmueve, sonríe y llora, y cree oír

Lo que jamás se le dice de más dulce y tierno,

La guitarra vibrando, recuerda siempre

El lenguaje del espíritu, el lenguaje del amor;

Cada uno reconoce el instrumento que lo inspira;

Para el compositor es una orquesta entera,

Es el tambor ligero para la Vascuña en delirio,

Es el clarín para el guerrero, Para el poeta es la lira!

(Traducción del francés).

Bueno y mucho llevamos dicho de Huerta y no queremos cerrar estos apuntes sin antes recordar lo que dice Soriano Fuertes en su Historia, T. IV, pág. 211 , año 1859: ” . . . L a prensa periódica ha hecho la apoteosis de este tocador de guitarra, que habiendo corrido gran parte de Europa, y lucido delante de príncipes y reyes la que lo es de España, Isabel II, le condecoró, en premio de su mérito, con la cruz de caballero de la Orden de Carlos III. El principal mérito de Huerta consiste en la dulzura de los sonidos que produce, cantando sobre una cuerda. Hace con primor las terceras y un arpegio sumamente complicado, que se debe a su invento. Su música se resiente de falta de conocimientos armónicos. Con sus pasos más delicados mezcla continuamente una especie de rasgueo, a que da el nombre de Tutis, con los cuales apaga la ilusión que inflama cuando pulsa las cuerdas con halago. Este contraste de bueno y malo fué causa de que Sors le definiese con el nombre de sublime barbero, y de que Aguado dijese que ultrabaja el instrumento. Si Huerta aventase su música como el labrador aventa su mies trillada, para dar el grano a los racionales y la paja a las bestias, no cabe duda de que sería admirado de los profesores más severos; porque, cuando canta, encanta”.

Por fin veamos lo que dijo Fetis en la “Revue Musicale”, en el año 1830: “En verdad el señor Huerta es un hombre extraordinario: las dificultades que él desarrolla en la guitarra son prodigiosas. Nadie podrá dar una idea de la maravillosa agilidad de sus dedos”. Esto escribió el gran docto en arte, cuando Huerta contaba 26 años escasos, y es de imaginar lo grande que sería, según los testimonios a que nos hemos atenido.Recordamos que este gran virtuoso se casó en Londres con una hija del famoso Luthier G. L. Panormo, de nombre Angiolina. Según algunos autores, falleció en Londres y, según otros, en París, en el año 1875.

HUERTA CATAHUELA, Trinitario— Outstanding concert guitarist. He was born in Orihuela, an important town in the province of Alicante, Spain, on June 6, 1804. We will give some biographical notes published by reputable firms. The “Official Bulletin” of the province of Malaga, September 21, 1835: “D. Trinitario Huerta y Catahuela was born in Orihuela in 1803 (?) of a good Spanish family. From his earliest years he manifested that he was born for the guitar: his fondness for the art of Euterpe, and above all for that arid and sterile instrument, was manifested in all his actions and thoughts. Educated in Salamanca, he learned music at a very early age at the Colegio de San Pablo: his ardent imagination did not agree well with other serious and unpoetic studies. He left the school at the age of 15, and, already a man, in his independence he found the circle of his homeland narrow for his soul (eager to see and overcome the vulgar). He arrived in Paris, where he was encouraged and protected by the famous Manuel Garcia; however, having never had more resources than his ability, which was already extraordinary then, and his voice, the guitar was his destiny, was his existence, was himself. Huerta, indeed, had come to know what everyone can learn and was already crossing the line that only men of genius can cross. Melody and harmony were born at the same time between his fingers. His very fast execution and his way of arpeggiating put him, of course, in the front line. After giving some concerts in Paris, Huerta went to the United States, toured Martinique, and even in Canada he succeeded in triumphing among the astonished Indians: if among civilized peoples he had to pass for the depositary of the lyre of Euterpe, among the men of the wilderness he was the god of music himself. In New York he gave several concerts that produced him lots of money, and even sang “The Barber” with Garcia, during an illness of the bass of the Italian company of that city. 

“It seems that nature was offended, however, that he wanted to divide and subdivide the gift with which he had been so lavishly endowed. A chest disease deprived him of his voice, and from then on he was more identified than ever with his guitar. With very flattering recommendations from General Lafayette, who was a great friend, a tribute to his merit, he toured the United States, collecting everywhere gold and applause. From the United States he went to Havana, and his faithful guitar saved him during the voyage from the fury of some pirates who, having plundered his ship and hanged the captain, mistreated all the passengers, except the modern Orpheus.

“Shortly after, he embarked for Europe and London welcomed him to its bosom. In that populous capital his triumphs were not minor: La Pasta, Lablache, Donzelli, Dragonetti, Devenniz, Curioni, Crammer, Moscheles, the main philharmonic artists residing there at the time, rushed to cooperate in his concerts; he won the protection of the first persons of the Court: Princess Victoria, the Duchess of Kent, the Duke of Sussex, the Duke of Devonshire and other characters provided him with strong recommendations for his successive trips.

“From London he passed to Malta, and went to make the humble Spanish guitar resound within the walls of ancient Byzantium, capital of the decrepit empire of Mahmoud: he made it known to the inhabitants of Egypt at various points, and got to draw from it harmonious sounds and divine songs at the foot of Golgotha himself, in the holy Jerusalem, more gigantic than the cedars of Lebanon, among which its magical accents resounded, and to where he went with Mme. Montefiori, sister of the wife of the famous Rothschild, banker of London.

“On his return to Paris in the year 30, he was associated with Rossini, with Paganini, with the first musical notabilities of Europe: he gave several concerts, and some of them in theaters for the benefit of liberal emigrants of all nations, a trait that does as much honor to his private qualities as to his musical talent; and he deserved, finally, to be made honorary member and of number of all the philharmonic societies of London and Paris.

“In the year 33, he went to San Sebastian, with the intention of seeing a bullfight and feel the warmth of the patriotic air, if such a universal talent can have any other homeland than the world. There, he had the honor of presenting himself to His Serene Highness, the Infante D. Francisco de Paula, in front of whom he played from nine o’clock until eleven o’clock at night. He then returned to Paris; he gave his last farewell concert and set out for Spain again, via Toulouse and Perpignan, bringing with him and at his own expense some emigrants without resources. In Barcelona he gave three concerts, two in a hall and the last one in the theater. He embarked and arrived in Valencia: after being shipwrecked in the Gulf of San Jorge and having saved himself with his guitar, like César with his comments. He was also heard by the people of Edetano, from whose city he moved to the Alcarria, with the main purpose of embracing his old father after so many years of absence.

“The guitar in his hands was another unknown instrument, never heard. Nothing can give a clearer idea of this inexplicable truth than the translation of the following letter of Victor Hugo, written recently to Mr. Huerta, and the French verses with which we will conclude this article, an improvisation of the famous Mad. Girardin Delfingay, after having heard him.

“Since you give some value, Mr. de Huerta, to an opinion as unimportant as mine, I am happy to explain to you the extent to which I have been enchanted by your skill. The guitar, that most circumscribed instrument, recognizes no limits between your hands. You make it produce all the sounds; all the chords, all the songs. You know how to draw from those few strings the most varied notes, those that speak to the soul, to the understanding, to the heart. Your guitar is an orchestra. I like Spain and the Spaniards very much, Mr. de Huerta; and, consequently, the guitar, but, above all, in your hands: in them it is no longer only a string that sighs; it is a voice, a true voice that sings, that speaks and cries; one of those deep voices that make those who are happy think and that incline those who are sad to meditation. Believe, Mr. de Huerta, that I have the greatest pleasure in communicating to you my convictions on this subject, and accept the assurances of the desire I have to serve you. Paris, February 16, 1831. Victor Hugo:” To Mr. Huerta, after having heard him on the guitar:

(Improvisation by Mrs. E. de . G.)

Happy country of Andalusia,

Preserve thy joy and thy fierceness,

Your soil so well chosen;

Honor, love and poetry

Are worth more than gold and liberty.

Have you ever heard, that troubadour of Spain

Who with a melodious art to the combats accompanies himself?

On his guitar he sings and sighs at the same time;

His fingers are an accent, his strings a voice;

His song is a harmonious poem without rhyme,

All that is felt and dreamed, she expresses.

Hearts at her chords feel rejuvenated;

The beauty that listens to her, happy to remember,

Is moved, smiles and cries, and thinks she hears

What is never said to her more sweet and tender,

The guitar vibrating, always remembers

The language of the spirit, the language of love;

Each one recognizes the instrument that inspires him;

For the composer is a whole orchestra,

It is the light drum for the Basque in delirium,

It is the clarion for the warrior, For the poet it is the lyre!

(Translation from French).

We have said a lot about Huerta and we do not want to close these notes without remembering what Soriano Fuertes says in his History, T. IV, page 211, year 1859: ” …. The periodical press has made the apotheosis of this guitar player, who, having traveled through a great part of Europe, and having performed in front of princes and kings, the queen of Spain, Isabel II, decorated him, as a reward for his merit, with the cross of knight of the Order of Carlos III. Huerta’s main merit consists in the sweetness of the sounds he produces, singing on a string. He does the thirds and an extremely complicated arpeggio, which is due to his invention. His music suffers from a lack of harmonic knowledge. With his more delicate steps he continually mixes a kind of strumming, to which he gives the name of Tutis, with which he extinguishes the illusion that he inflames when he plucks the strings with flattery. This contrast of good and bad was the reason that Sors defined him with the name of sublime barbero, and Aguado said that he plays the instrument too low. If Huerta were to winnow his music as the farmer winnows his threshed harvest, to give the grain to the rational and the chaff to the beasts, there is no doubt that he would be admired by the most severe teachers; because, when he sings, he enchants”.

Finally, let’s see what Fetis said in the “Revue Musicale”, in 1830: “Truly, Mr. Huerta is an extraordinary man: the difficulties he develops on the guitar are prodigious. No one will be able to give an idea of the marvelous agility of his fingers”. This was written by the great scholar of art, when Huerta was barely 26 years old, and it is easy to imagine how great he would be, according to the testimonies to which we have listened.We remember that this great virtuoso married in London a daughter of the famous Luthier G. L. Panormo, named Angiolina. According to some authors, he died in London and, according to others, in Paris in 1875.