Julián Arcas (born 1832 in María, Almería Province; died February 16, 1882, in Antequera, Málaga Province; full name Julián Gavino Arcas Lacal) was a Spanish guitarist, composer, and guitar teacher. He had a major influence on Francisco Tárrega and Antonio de Torres.
Arcas was one of the founders of the new Spanish guitar style. He trained Tárrega, influenced Torres in the construction of his guitars, and a competition was held in his honor for many years. His pieces have a distinctive style that shaped the typical character of the Spanish Romantic style. They have strong folkloric elements, and many pieces incorporate traditional Spanish dances.
His father, Pedro Arcas, was a skilled amateur guitarist who had followed the work of Dionisio Aguado and his school. He soon began teaching his sons, Julian and Manuel, to play the guitar, and they immediately showed a natural affinity for the instrument.
When Julian was 12 years old, the Arcas family moved to Málaga, perhaps drawn by the economic boom the city was experiencing at the time. There, he was taught by José Asencio, Dionisio Aguado’s favorite guitarist, who followed Aguado’s methodology in his teaching, although we can discern a notable shift toward Romantic elements in his own work. We can assume that Asencio, although he came from Aguado’s classical school, introduced Arcas to the new musical trend that prevailed at the time of his training: Romanticism.
It was in Málaga that Arcas would put down roots, to which he would return time and again throughout his life, as we shall see later. He was also a regular at the “Salon d’Etude et de la Critique,” which the luthier Antonio De Lorca had founded in his workshop on Calle Carreteria. During this time, Julián Arcas was also introduced to the famous guitarist Trinidad Huerta. After hearing him play and being amazed by his skill, the maestro congratulated the young Arcas and encouraged him to continue his studies and pursue a career in music.
And so it came to pass that he made his first public appearance in Málaga at the age of 18. His triumph led him to Granada, where he gave two equally successful recitals. He tried his luck directly in Madrid, where he was once again received with enthusiasm. Following these successes, he embarked on his first tour of various Spanish cities.
In the early 1850s, while giving concerts in Seville, he was introduced to Antonio De Torres, a part-time guitar maker who was also born in Almería but lived in Seville. During this meeting, Arcas had the opportunity to try out a guitar made by Antonio De Torres. He was so impressed by the instrument that he praised the work and suggested to the maker that he should devote himself to instrument making. This encounter would have a decisive influence on the history of the guitar. Encouraged by Julián Arcas’s enthusiasm, Antonio De Torres became a legendary guitar maker. His prestige was so dazzling and his instruments so astonishing that the way they were crafted—both in their external form and internal design—became a model, indeed a school of its own, and went down in history as an undisputed classic.
Arcas and De Torres also developed a friendship that continues to this day. Domingo Prat wrote: “Arcas had a decisive influence on De Torres’s work. The definitive change in the guitar’s form is the result of their collaboration.”
By the age of 20, Julian Arcas was already an accomplished guitarist who had launched a brilliant concert career. The impact of his virtuoso playing was well known. A testament to his success is the comment by the influential Mariano Soriano Fuertes, famous for his *Histoire de Musique*: “(…) He justifiably commands the attention of audiences and critics alike.”
In the spring of 1862, he once again took part in an event that would influence the history of the guitar. After a concert in Castellón, a young boy astonished him with his skillful playing. The precocious guitarist was Francisco Tárrega. Impressed by his extraordinary talent, Arcas convinced the boy’s father to send him to Barcelona to become his student. Tárrega remained eternally grateful to his teacher and regarded himself as both a student and a successor.
IIn September 1862, Arcas gave a recital at Aspley House, the London residence of the 2nd Duke of Wellington. The concert, held under the patronage of the Duke himself, was announced on the front page of *The Times*, which published rave reviews following the performance. The Dukes of Cambridge subsequently invited the artist as well. The Duchess and her daughter, Princess Marie Adelaide, a cousin of Queen Victoria, also invited Arcas to a concert at their private residence in Brighton. The *Brighton Guardian* published glowing reviews of his performance, and the *Brighton Gazette* described his artistry as superior to that of Trinidad Huerta and Giulio Regondi.
At the height of his career, Arcas was assessed by Fargas y Soler, the contemporary music critic and his biographer, as follows: “Julian Arcas can be regarded as a worthy defender of the art of Sors and Aguado; for the purity and gentleness he draws from the guitar strings, which he plucks with his fingertips—something unusual for today’s guitarists; for the expression that makes his notes rival the human voice; for his technical mastery and the agility of both his hands; for the homogeneity of his tone in the high and low notes; and for the elegance of his teaching.”
After returning to Spain, he continued his concert tours, performing first in Barcelona, Granada, and Seville. In Madrid, he was celebrated at the Palacio Real (Royal Palace), where he became one of Queen Isabel’s favorite musicians.
In 1865, he traveled to Genoa accompanied by the Duke and Duchess of Montpensier. He gave two concerts at the Apolo Theater, followed by many more throughout Italy. Upon his return, he undertook a concert tour through Portugal and Spain.
Perhaps due to fatigue from his hectic concert life spanning over 20 years, perhaps out of caution in light of the economic and social instability Spain was experiencing on the eve of the First Republic, or perhaps out of sympathy for Antonio De Torres, who had returned to Almería between 1868 and 1870, he decided to retire from professional musical life. In Almería, he turned to the grain trade and gave sporadic concerts in 1873 and 1874, including in Jerez de la Frontera.
After his grain business failed, he returned to his musical career and gave several concerts in Almería in 1876 before resuming his tours throughout Spain.
During this second creative period, he died on February 16, 1882, in Antequera (near Málaga), likely from a cerebral hemorrhage.