Among the pantheon of Spanish composers, Isaac Albeniz and Francisco Tarrega rank high, but for two very different reasons. Both infused their works with traditional Spanish influences, but their music went in different directions.

Albeniz wrote almost exclusively for the piano, while Tarrega composed for the guitar and was a virtuoso on the instrument. Contemporaries, they died roughly six months apart in 1909.

Manuel Barrueco sees the two as "giants" in the guitar repertoire. And they're the focus of the program that the Cuban-born guitarist has put together for his Salt Lake City recital debut Thursday, Sept. 24, to open the Virtuoso Series' 10th season.

"In my opinion, it is right to put these two composers together on the same program," Barrueco told the Deseret News from Baltimore. "It gives a good taste of the variety you find in the music of Spanish composers."

Barrueco came up with this program when he was asked to give a concert in Tarrega's hometown of Castellon, Spain, this coming December to commemorate the centennial of the composer's death. "This is quite an honor for me," he said, "and I thought it would make a great concert pairing the two together."

While Albeniz's piano music has been transcribed by most guitarists, Barrueco will play his own arrangements at this week's recital. He has chosen to play "Malaguena," the prelude from "Espana" and the "Suite Espanola," op. 47, to open the concert.

Barrueco said that his approach to transcribing for the guitar has changed over the years. "Many years ago, when I first started, I tried to retain as much information as possible from the original. Back then we felt we needed to make it as accurate as possible."

That attitude has changed gradually. "Now, I look at the artistic side of it. You have to make artistic decisions as to what makes it sound best for guitar."

And some of Albeniz's piano pieces are more popular and better known in their guitar transcriptions. "Asturias" from the "Suite Espanola" is more famous as a guitar piece now. "Segovia made the original transcription, and it's become more successful for guitar," Barrueco said.

The second half of the program will feature a large set of original guitar pieces by Tarrega, along with a few of his transcriptions.

Tarrega didn't write too many works, Barrueca said. "He relied heavily on transcriptions for his concerts." In addition to transcribing countless songs from zarzuelas and other pieces by Spanish composers, he also transcribed works by Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Chopin and others. "He had wide interests in music."