An analysis and performance edition of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Rondo for guitar, opus 129

Abstract

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco was among the first composers to collaborate with Andrés Segovia in the latter’s effort to expand the guitar’s repertoire. Of the many works produced through this collaboration, some have fallen out of favor with today’s performers. There are numerous reasons for this, but one significant reason is the current state of performance editions of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s guitar music. Many of these works are available only in the editions made by Segovia. Moreover, many of these editions are lacking in completeness.

This document attempts to rectify this situation with one piece in particular, the Rondo for Guitar, Op. 129, by creating a performance edition and analyzing the Rondo within a discussion of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s overall style.

Two sources are used for the performance edition: the autograph manuscript and Segovia’s published performance edition. The analysis focuses on harmonic and formal considerations. Traditional Roman numeral analysis is used to discuss harmonic choices in the Rondo, and the formal analysis consists of a modified application of William Caplin’s Classical Form: A Theory of Formal Functions for the Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.