Figure 13: Title of Preludio: Una vision en la Torre del Diablo

Tárrega wrote yet another piece with a related inscription in that same book, the Estudio
sobre un Motivo de Wagner: “A mi predilecto amigo el Sr. D. Vivianno de Zannoni / Un ex-
presidiario de la Torre del Diablo.” Algiers, 14 April 1900.59 Zannoni is almost certainly a
pseudonym for Leckie, his “best friend.” “An ex-prisoner of the Devil’s Tower” appears below
the dedicatory inscription, where the name of Tárrega should have appeared (see Figure 14).
What does he mean by calling himself that? And why these strange code names shared by the
two friends?

Figure 14: Dedication of Estudio sobre un Motivo de Wagner

In his biography, Pujol refers to a period before 1900, when Tárrega and his family lived
in the tower of Concepción’s villa in San Gervasio, a wealthy and at the time bucolic suburb of
Barcelona. Pujol recounts stories of Tárrega’s life at that villa, situated at the base of Puxtet hill,
and the admirers who came to hear him play. Pujol also states that Tárrega had moved his family
out of that tower and back to their apartment in Barcelona in 1899, assuming this was because of
the break in relations between the guitarist and his patron. We have already observed that the
manuscript !A Granada¡, dated December 8, 1899, contradicts Pujol’s account of the break. Yet
Tárrega’s reference to himself as an “ex-prisoner in the devil’s tower” suggests that he felt
himself a prisoner in Concepción’s villa, and that he discussed that experience with Leckie. In
fact, the English word “prisoner” is written in pencil above the Spanish “ex-presidiario.”
The reasons for Tárrega’s characterization cannot be discerned at this time, any more
than the reason for the rupture in their friendship. Perhaps it was Concepción’s romantic
intentions that Tárrega rejected (or visa-versa). Or perhaps it was Concepción who no longer
wanted to have Tárrega and his family in her home. Perhaps she had demanded direction over
the guitarist’s career, and he rejected such a controlling patron. Perhaps Tárrega’s wife had
enough of her husband’s close relationship and travels with another woman. As for why Tárrega
felt a prisoner in the tower, perhaps he regarded Concepción as the negative presence in early
1900. But this seems inconsistent or hypocritical when viewed in the context of December 8,
1899, when he dedicated his precious gift of !A Granada¡ to the patron who had done so much
59
Ibid., p. 1.

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