Andrés Segovia, was born in Linares, Jaén, in the region Andalusia, on 21 February 1893. From early childhood he was deeply responsive to the sound of the guitar, an instrument which was part of everyday life in southern Spain. He moved to Granada where he acquired his first guitar when he was ten. Despite the absence of any competent teachers, Segovia soon gained a prodigious mastery of the instrument and discovered the existence of many fine guitar compositions surpassing the limitations of Andalusia’s folkloric guitar styles.

By 1909 Segovia gave his first public performance at the Centro Artístico in Granada. Concerts in Cordoba and Seville followed and he later went to Madrid where in 1912 he gave a recital at the Ateneo and was presented w...