Joaquín Rodrigo Marqués de los jardines de Aranjuez (Spanish, Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez), ( 22 November 1901 – 6 July 1999) was a Spanish composer, and virtuoso pianist, of classical music. He is best known for his Concierto de Aranjuez.
Rodrigo was born in Sagunto and was blind from the age of three as a result of a bout of diphtheria. He studied music under Francisco Antich in Valencia and under Paul Dukas in Paris. After briefly returning to Spain, he went to Paris again to study musicology, first under Maurice Emmanuel and then André Pirro.
The work Cinco Piezas Infantiles won Rodrigo Spain's National Prize for Orchestra in 1925. In Valencia he married Victoria Kamhi, a Turkish, Jewish-born, pianist, on 19 January 1933.
Rodrigo's most famous work was the Concierto de Aranjuez ( 1939 - Paris), a concerto for solo classical guitar and orchestra. The central adagio movement is one of the most recognizable in 20th century classical music, featuring the interplay of guitar with English horn.
The success of this piece led to commissions from a number of prominent soloists, including the flautist James Galway and the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber. His Concierto Andaluz, for four guitars and orchestra, was commissioned by Celedonio Romero for himself and his three sons.
His daughter Cecilia was born 27 January 1941. Since 1947 he had been a professor of music history, 'Manuel de Falla' Chair of Music at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, at Complutense University of Madrid.
In 1991, Rodrigo was raised to the nobility by King Juan Carlos, given the title "Marqués de los jardines de Aranjuez" (Marquess of the gardens of Aranjuez). He won the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award in 1996 (Spain's equivalent to the Nobel Prize). He was also named "Commendateur" of the L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 1998 (Commander - Order of Arts & Letters).