Adelita by Francisco Tárrega
A wonderfully melodious and simple, but by no means easy piece, Adelita is a highly memorable work in the classical guitar repertoire. Within its concise and tuneful sixteen measures, there are parallel minor and major keys, grace notes, shifting voices in the melody, and even an augmented sixth chord. Also note how Tárrega begins both the A and B sections by repeating a short motive twice, the second repeat either descending by step or repeating exactly, followed by a third repeat ending with a contrasting arpeggio or scale run. This can be seen in measures 1-4 and 9-12 (see below).
The unique timbres of the guitar are brought out by means of grace notes in measures 4, 11, 12, and 14, and the artful change of timbre in the melody to the 4th string in measure 13. This passage repeats the motive first introduced in measures 9-10, though now one octave lower and in a more resonant register of the instrument, before returning to the low treble register by moving up the 3rd string in measure 14 and ultimately landing on an Italian augmented sixth chord on the third beat. To see this more clearly, I have circled the melody on the 4th string in measure 13 in green, changing to blue when the melody moves to the 3rd string, and the chord circled in purple is the It+6 chord.
After this brief detour, we are headed back to the tonic via a I64 - V - I cadential pattern, which concludes the B section on a perfect authentic cadence.
Resources:
Hall, John. “Lágrima/Adelita, Tárrega - An Analysis.” Last modified May 16, 2012. https://johnhallguitar.com/blogs/blog/posts/6027713/lagrima-adelita-tarrega-an-analysis.
Powis, Simon. “Adelita & Lágrima.” Classical Guitar Corner. https://www.classicalguitarcorner.com/adelita-lagrima/.
Werner, Bradford. “Adelita (Mazurca) by Tárrega.” This Is Classical Guitar, 2017. https://www.thisisclassicalguitar.com/adelita-mazurca-tarrega-free-pdf-or-tab/.