Biographical Information:
Scope and Contents
Arrangement of Materials:
Conditions Governing Access:
Conditions Governing Use:
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accruals:
Preferred Citation:
Processing Information:
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Vicente Gómez Collection
Creator:
Gómez, Vicente, 1911-2001
Identifier/Call Number: IGRA.VGC
Extent:
32.63 linear feet
Extent:
10.2 Gigabytes
Date (inclusive): 1862-1996
Date (bulk): 1940-1979
Abstract: Vicente Gómez was a well-known
guitarist, composer, arranger, teacher, and business owner. His most notable performance was
playing
Romance de Amor in the 1941 film
Blood and Sand. Gómez had a successful career performing and writing music as well
as starting and maintaining two businesses, La Zambra nightclub in New York and the Academy
of Spanish Arts in Los Angeles. The
Vicente Gómez Collection
documents his music library collection, his original compositions, teaching career, and his
days in the U.S. Army. The collection includes scores, photographs, sound recordings,
programs, and a trophy, and dates between 1862-1996.
Language of Material: English,
Spanish; Castilian,
Russian,
German,
French
Biographical Information:
Vicente Gomez was a classical guitarist, composer, arranger, and teacher. He was born in
1911 in Madrid, Spain. He learned to play guitar when he was 8 years old in his father's
tavern. At age twelve, he began training with Quintin Esquembre, who had studied with
Francisco Tarrega, at Madrid's Real Conservatorio. After his first concert in 1924, he was
encouraged to start a professional career.
Between 1932 and 1933, Gomez played concerts in many countries, including Africa, Italy
and throughout Russia. In 1936, he was invited to play in Leningrad, Russia but was unable
to do so as the Spanish Civil War began the same day he was schedule to debut. Gomez was
sympathetic to the Republicans during the Civil War, and with increasing numbers of
Republicans being jailed, he sought refuge in France. During his time as a resident of
France, Gomez played concerts in Cuba and Mexico. In 1937, an American agent discovered
Gomez while listening to a radio broadcast, and persuaded him to go to New York. Gomez soon
had his own 15-minute radio broadcast in the U.S. Decca released his first album in
1939.
In 1941, Alfred Newman invited Gomez to contribute background music for the 20
th Century-Fox film,
Blood and Sand,
for which he played both flamenco and classical guitar music. Gomez became a U.S. citizen in
1943. After being discharged from the U.S. Army in 1946, he opened a popular nightclub, La
Zambra, in New York. The Classical Guitar Society of New York, of which he was president,
used the club as the meeting place.
In 1953, Gomez moved to Los Angeles where he opened the Academy of Spanish Arts, a school
devoted to teaching classical and flamenco guitar, flamenco dance, ballet, the Spanish
language, and bull fighting. Over the next few years, Gomez continued to compose music for
films as well as for Garcia-Lorca's play,
Blood Wedding. He
also produced music for a documentary on the famous Spanish painter, Francisco Goya, and
composed
Rio Flamenco, a concerto for guitar and orchestra.
Gomez passed away in 2001 at the age of 90 in Burbank, California.
Scope and Contents
The
Vicente Gómez Collection documents the musical history of
guitarist, composer, arranger, performer, conductor, and teacher, Vicente Gomez. The primary
focus of this collection are Gomez's compositions and arrangements, the Academy of Spanish
Arts, and his music library, part of which was used to arrange music. His teaching career,
dedicated to the Spanish Arts such as Spanish guitar, Bullfighting, and flamenco, were a
focal point to many Los Angeles area students. Most significant are Gomez's music collection
and his career as composer, arranger, and teacher, which are closely tied with various film
and theatre productions, such as the motion picture
Blood and Sand
and
Garcia Lorca's
Blood Wedding. The collection
includes original scores and orchestration, sheet music, programs, photographs, and research
articles. It dates from 1920-1993 with the bulk of the material from 1940-1979. The
collection is divided into four series:
Music Library
(1894-1986),
Works (1940-1996),
Arrangements (1862-1988), and
Professional Career
(1931-1993).
Series I,
Music
Library, consists of
sheet music scores collected or acquired from various composers with varied instrumentation.
A few items from the library have been inscribed and/or signed by original composers such as
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Works in this series are in many languages, including Russian,
Japanese, German, Italian, and Spanish. The series is organized alphabetically by the
original composer's last name. Items with multiple composers have been filed by the first
composer listed, anthologies have been filed under "Anthologies."
Series II,
Works, consists of original pieces created by
Vicente Gómez. This series includes compositions that are divided into two subseries,
Original Compositions (1940-1996) and
Productions (1940-1986). Original Compositions are works first composed by Gómez.
The Productions subseries is music written for film, TV, and theater, including the music
from the 1941 motion picture
Blood and Sand. This series is
filed alphabetically by title.
Series III,
Arrangements, consists of arrangements, revisions,
transcriptions, edits, fingerings, and other music by various composers. The majority of the
series consists of Gomez arrangements, some published while others are in their original
pencil or pen writings. The series includes lesser-known arrangements of popular and holiday
songs, as well as arrangements of other famous works such as La Cumparsita, a famous tango
by Matos Rodriguez. Some works by the original composer are included in this series
alongside Gomez's arrangement. Dates were written based on original composition or copyright
date listed on the music. Arrangements are filed alphabetically by original composer or
creator.
Series IV,
Professional Career, consists of materials from the
Vicente Gomez Academy of Spanish Arts and other career related material. Items in this
series focus on his career as a teacher, a composer, and arranger. The series includes
student programs, a school record book, photographs, sound recordings, and a trophy. The
Professional Career materials are filed alphabetically by subject or title.
Arrangement of Materials:
Series I: Music Library, 1894-1986
Series II: Works, 1940-1996
Subseries A: Compositions, 1940-1996
Subseries B: Productions, 1940-1986
Series III: Arrangements, 1862-1988
Series IV: Professional Career, 1931-1993
Conditions Governing Access:
This collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use:
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has been transferred to California State University, Northridge. Copyright
status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected
by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the
written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Vincente Gomez, 06/19/2012.
Accruals:
2012, 2013
Preferred Citation:
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style
manual, or see the
Citing Archival
Materials
guide.
Processing Information:
Julieta Garcia, 2016
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Audiovisual materials
Ephemera
Documents
Photographs