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  • Biographical Information:
  • Scope and Contents
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  • Immediate Source of Acquisition
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  • 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