Compositions

Francisco Tárrega's music and style of guitar playing became strongly influential in the twentieth century. He was central to reviving the guitar as a solo instrument in recital and concerts. His output was modest, having composed only 78 original scores and 120 transcriptions – mostly for his own use. Among his most popular works for the guitar are Recuerdos de la Alhambra, Capricho árabe and Danza Mora.
He is also the composer of what has been claimed to be "probably the world's most heard tune": the Nokia ringtone, Nokia tune, or simply Nokia, also used in advertising spots, is based on Tárrega's Gran Vals. His music also inspired Mike Oldfield to arrange Tárrega's tremolo study Recuerdos de la Alhambra for the soundtrack of the film The Killing Fields.
As with several of his Spanish contemporaries, such as his friend Isaac Albéniz, he had an interest in combining the prevailing Romantic trend in classical music with Spanish folk elements, and transcribed several of Albéniz's piano pieces. The noted contemporary guitarist and composer Angelo Gilardino has written that Tárrega's 9 Preludios are "... the deepest musical thought of Tárrega in the most concentrated form."