This is a flamenco guitar arrangement of Malagueña, a pianopiece written by Cuban pianist/composer Ernesto Lecuona. It was originallyadapted for solo Spanish/Flamenco guitar by Carlos Montoya in 1961 and is widely believed to have been originallywritten for the guitar. The fact that Lecuona wrote the piece in thestyle of Spain is likely what makes the Spanish guitar arrangement feel like itbelongs to the instrument. Anotherreason for its association with Spanish guitar is the fact that the main melodyfrom the piece was not Lecuona?s invention but was taken from the ?Malagueña? flamencoform, originating out of Málaga, Spain, in the 19th century. ?Malagueña,? andthe melodic lines associated with it, is one of the traditional styles of Flamenco/Andalusianmusic. This rendition is ?in the style of Sabicas,? a Spanish Gypsy guitaristwho is considered by many to be one of the finest flamenco solo guitarists of his time. Lecuona?sMalagueña is typically found as a solo piano piece in the key of C# Phrygian,whereas on the guitar, (as is the case with this arrangement) it isnormally arranged in E Phrygian.

I hope you will enjoy this note-for-note transcription of the wonderful Verde Selva by the great Flamenco guitarist, Juan Serrano, from his 1965 RCA Victor recording Popular Music of Spain and the Old World. Verde Selva is a rumba, a rhythmic dance that has its origins in Cuba, becoming a part of the flamenco tradition in the 19th century in Andalusia, Spain. The playing technique used by Serrano in Verde Selva is often referred to as Rumba Melodica due to its use of arpeggiated chords rather than the rhythmic strumming that is typically associated with rumbas. As it is typical for Flamenco guitarists to improvise and change their pieces with subsequent performances, Juan Serrano\'s Verde Selva evolved over the span of his career, resulting in two versions of the piece; the first, featured on the 1965 vinyl LP Popular Music of Spain and the Old World (the basis for this transcription) and the second, in the 1981 Mel Bay publication Juan Serrano - Flamenco Concert Selections, which included Juan Serrano\'s own transcription of his then current version of the piece, along with the recorded track on the included audio CD. Although it is this 1981 version that is performed by guitarists, today, it is my fondness of the 1965 Popular Music of Spain and the Old World recording that inspired me to transcribe this rendition of Serrano\'s Verde Selva, a transcription which had not before been released to the public. Although this transcription is note-for-note to the original recording, liberties were taken only in one regard in that repeats were added in some sections to give more length to this beautiful piece.