Emilio Pujol's 'Guitar School,' the three-volume Editions Orphée translation of 'Escuela Razonada de La Guitarra'
There's something about Emilio Pujol's four-volume guitar method, product of the 1930s-50s though it is, that makes it relevant not just as vital history of the classical guitar but also a viable instructional choice for 21st-century players.
Even though PDFs of 1990s-printed Spanish-French editions of "Escuela Razonada" are easily available, I recommend and encourage students and teachers of the classical guitar to acquire the Editions Orphée translation of Pujol's first three volumes. The editing and translation are extremely well-done. The insight into what Pujol and others call the School of Tárrega is critical to the history of guitar technique. Pujol himself is an important, underappreciated figure, and these translations bring one of his major contributions to the English-reading world.
Even though Book One contains no playable music, I still recommend buying it with the set. The more insight a student or teacher has into Pujol and his method, the better.
While Editions Orphée seems to have folded with the death of its owner, the incomparable Matanya Ophee, "Guitar School" and many other works the small publisher released over the years continue to be available.
The three volumes of "Guitar School" can be purchased from Amazon, though availability is spotty, and prices are higher than they could be.
I recommend getting them from Strings By Mail, the excellent, classical guitar-focused retailer, where the prices are fair and shipping inexpensive.
In August 2020, Strings by Mail prices for "Guitar School" are :
Book One — $25
Book Two — $29
Book Three — $25
Book Three was reprinted — with a full re-typesetting — in 2012, as Matanya Ophee wrote in his extensive LiveJournal, which is thankfully still available on the Internet.
Even though Book Four was never translated into English, I recommend it. There are hundreds of exercises and dozens of studies, including the Agaudo study with Pujol's variations that inspired this project. I recently purchased the Melos edition from Amazon. I received a printed-on-demand volume that looks pretty good and was definitely priced right. The book is very obviously reproduced from a scan of a previous Ricordi edition, but it's clearer than you might expect.
I wish Editions Orphée had translated Book 4.
In his Book 3 preface, Pujol mentions a Book 5 that, if it exists, has never been released in any language.
I haven't come close to working through all of the exercises and etudes, but I think it's OK — despite Pujol saying otherwise — to go back and forth in the volumes. I remember reading how you must not only master but also memorize each exercise in order. I can't argue with that. I agree that memorization is an important step in deepening knowledge of a composition or study. Many musicians, including myself, don't do enough memorization. Pujol thought memorization was important, and I agree.
That said, there's a lot of benefit to be had by playing the exercises across the four volumes. The English versions definitely help the player figure out the why and how of each exercise.
One thing I would like to point out is that the exercises, volume by volume, from the first to the fourth, are much easier than the etudes/studies. Even in Book 2, the etudes can be difficult. There's nothing wrong with that, but I find the "gap" between the exercises and etudes wider than it maybe should be. Maybe Pujol has a reason for that.
There certainly aren't the kind of easy pieces that you see in more modern (and sometimes even older) methods like Aaron Shearer's "Classical Guitar Technique" and Frederick Noad's "Solo Guitar Playing," both of which I think are excellent.
So while Pujol meant for "Escuela Razonada" to be for both the beginning and advanced student, all will need supporting material in regards to actual pieces. Pujol says this himself in "Escuela."
One thing I will say is that the etudes in Books 2, 3 and 4 definitely support the technical goals of the exercises in their respective volumes.
Matanya Ophee's LiveJournal https://matanya.livejournal.com
Editions Orphee web site (archived on the Wayback Machine) http://web.archive.org/web/20190105172726/http://www.editionsorphee.com/