Antonio Torres Jurado
Encyclopedia
Music of Spain
The Music of Spain has a long history and has played an important part in the development of western music. It has had a particularly strong influence upon Latin American music. The music of Spain is often associated abroad with traditions like flamenco and the classical guitar but Spanish music...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and luthier
Luthier
A luthier is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with a term for the specialty of each maker, such as violinmaker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc...
, and "the most important Spanish guitar maker of the 19th century."
Torres is as revered among guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ists as Antonio Stradivari
Antonio Stradivari
Antonio Stradivari was an Italian luthier and a crafter of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas, and harps. Stradivari is generally considered the most significant artisan in this field. The Latinized form of his surname, Stradivarius, as well as the colloquial, "Strad", is...
is revered among violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ists. It is with his designs that the first recognisably modern classical guitar
Classical guitar
The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...
s are to be seen. Most acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
s in use today are derivatives of his designs.
Biography
Born in La Cañada de San Urbano, AlmeríaAlmería
Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...
, Antonio de Torres was the son of Juan Torres, a local tax collector, and Maria Jurado. As was common, when he was 12 he started an apprenticeship as carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
. In 1833, a dynastic war broke out, and soon after Torres was conscripted into the army. Through his father's machinations, young Antonio was dismissed as medically unfit for service. As only single men and widowers without children were subject to conscription, in 1835 his family pushed Torres into a hastily arranged marriage to Juana María López, the 13-year-old daughter of a shopkeeper
Shopkeeper
A shopkeeper is an individual who owns a shop. Generally, shop employees are not shopkeepers, but are often incorrectly referred to as shopkeepers. Today, a shopkeeper is usually referred to as a manager, though this term could apply to larger firms .*In many south asian languages like Hindi, Urdu,...
. Children soon followed: a daughter in 1836, another in 1839, and a third in 1842, who died a few months later. His second daughter also died. In 1845 his wife died at the age of 23, of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
. These were difficult years for Torres, who was often in debt and forced to look for more lucrative forms of employment.
Although there is some debate as to who taught Torres, one theory is that some time around 1842, Torres may have gone to work for José Pernas in Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, rapidly learning to build guitars. He soon returned to Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, and opened a shop on the calle Cerrageria No. 7 that he shared with Manuel Soto y Solares. Although he made some guitars during the 1840s, it was not until the 1850s on the advice of the renowned guitarist and composer Julián Arcas
Julián Arcas
Julián Arcas was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer. He was born in Almería and died in Malaga Spain.During the decade 1860–70 he performed all over Europe. He even performed for the Duke of Wellington and the Duke of Cambridge in 1862...
, that Torres made it his profession, and he began building in earnest. Julián Arcas offered Torres advice on building, and their collaboration turned Torres into an inveterate investigator of the guitar construction. Torres reasoned that the soundboard
Sounding board
A sound board, or soundboard, is the surface of a string instrument that the strings vibrate against, usually via some sort of bridge. The resonant properties of the sound board and the interior of the instrument greatly increase loudness over the string alone.The sound board operates by the...
was key. To increase its volume, he made his guitars not only larger, but fitted them with thinner, hence lighter soundboards that were arched in both directions, made possible by a system of fan-bracing for strength.These bracing struts were laid out geometrically, based on two isosceles triangles joined at their base creating a kite shape, within which the struts were set out symmetrically.
While Torres was not the first to use this method he was the one who perfected the symmetrical design. To prove that it was the top, and not the back and sides of the guitar that gave the instrument its sound, in 1862 he built a guitar with back and sides of papier-mâché. (This guitar resides in the Museu de la Musica in Barcelona, unfortunately it is no longer playable). Another of his experiments—perhaps a better description would be a display of his craftsmanship—was a guitar made like a Chinese puzzle that could be assembled without glue, and disassembled would fit in a shoe box.
Torres was a secretive man, and so had no disciples, but in a letter to his friend Juan Martinez Sirvent he explained:
"my secret is one you have witnessed many times, and one that I can't leave to posterity, because it must with my body go to the grave, for it consists of the tactile senses in my finger pads, in my thumb and index finger that tell the intelligent builder if the top is or is not well made, and how it should be treated to obtain the best tone from the instrument."
In 1868, Torres married again, wedding Josefa Martín Rosada. Shortly after, Torres met Francisco Tárrega
Francisco Tárrega
Francisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea was an influential Spanish composer and guitarist of the Romantic period.-Biography:Tárrega was born on 21 November 1852, in Vila-real, Castelló, Spain...
for the first time. Tárrega, who was then aged seventeen, had come to Seville from Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
to buy a Torres guitar from the maker of Julián Arcas' instrument. Torres offered him a modest guitar he had in stock, but on hearing him play, offered him a guitar he had made for himself a few years before.
About 1870, Don Antonio, who was then in his 50s, closed his shop in Seville and moved back to Almería where he and his wife opened up a china and crystal shop on the calle Real. About five years latter, Don Antonio began his "second epoch" as he refers to it on the labels of his guitars, building part-time when not busy in the china shop. After the death of his wife, Josefa, in 1883, Torres began to devote increasing amounts of time to building making some 12 guitars a year until his death in La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería at the age of 75.
Guitars
Torres guitars are divided into two periods. The first, belonging to Sevilla from 1852–1870; the second, being the years 1871-1893 in Almería. The guitars Torres made were so superior to those of his contemporaries that their example changed the way guitars were built, first in SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and then in the rest of the world. Although they are not particularly loud by modern standards, they have a clear, balanced, firm and rounded tone, that projects very well. His guitars were not only widely imitated and copied, but as he never signed his guitars, and only numbered those from his second epoch, over the years many fakes Torres have been made, some made by well-known and expert makers.
Inventory of guitars
This is an incomplete list of guitars made by Antonio de Torres.- FE 09 (1859) - owned by Miguel LlobetMiguel LlobetMiguel Llobet Solés was a classical guitarist, born in Barcelona . Llobet was a renowned virtuoso who toured Europe and America extensively. He made well known arrangements of Catalan folk songs for the solo guitar and is also the composer of original works.-Biography:Some details of Llobet's...
, now in the collection of the Museu de la Música, Barcelona, Spain - SE 49 (1883) - owned by Francisco TárregaFrancisco TárregaFrancisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea was an influential Spanish composer and guitarist of the Romantic period.-Biography:Tárrega was born on 21 November 1852, in Vila-real, Castelló, Spain...
- Serial number unknown (1856) - The RomerosThe RomerosLos Romeros, The Romero Guitar Quartet, is a guitar quartet, sometimes known as "The Royal Family of the Guitar" — their personnel consists entirely of members of the Romero family....
have 5 Torres guitars, currently probably the largest private collection in the world. Pepe RomeroPepé RomeroPepe Romero is a world-renowned classical and flamenco guitarist. He is particularly famous for his outstanding technique and colorful musical interpretations on the instrument....
owns 3 Torres (including a 1856 Torres); Celin RomeroCelin RomeroCelin Romero is a classical guitarist and member of the guitar quartet the Romeros. He is the eldest son of Celedonio Romero, who in 1957 left Franco's Spain for the United States with his family....
and Angel RomeroÁngel RomeroÁngel Romero is a Spanish classical guitarist, conductor and former member of the guitar quartet Los Romeros. He is the youngest son of Celedonio Romero, who in 1957 left Franco's Spain for the United States with his family....
each own one. - SE 107 (1887) - now is being played by Stefano GrondonaStefano GrondonaStefano Grondona is an Italian classical guitarist born in 1958. In 2002 he formed the guitar ensemble , based on - a Barcelona music society of which Miguel Llobet was founder and director....
. - FE 04 La Leona (1856) - owned by Erhard Hannen, now is being played by Wulfin Lieske. video
- FE 17 (1864) - initially made by Torres for his personal use, acquired by Francisco TárregaFrancisco TárregaFrancisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea was an influential Spanish composer and guitarist of the Romantic period.-Biography:Tárrega was born on 21 November 1852, in Vila-real, Castelló, Spain...
in Seville, in 1869 . The back and ribs was made from flamed maple. Sold by Vicente Tárrega (brother of Francisco Tárrega) to Domingo Prat in 1917. - FE 18 (1864) (ref)
- SE 114 (1888) - owned by Francisco Tárrega, now in the collection of Sheldon Urlik
- SE 116 La Italica (1888) - once owned by Barcelona luthier Enrique Coll (disciple of Simplicio and mentor of Fleta.)
- FE 28 (1868) - Collection of Marcos Villanueva
- Almería, 1864 - Collection of Félix Manzanero
- Sevilla, 1862 - Collection of José Luis Postigo
- In the Museum Museum Cité de la Musique in Paris
Instruments et oeuvres d'art - search-phrase: Facteur, auteur ou sujet : Torres- Almeria, 1885 (Torres 11-string model)
- Sevilla, 1882
- Almeria, 1852
- Almeria, 1883
- Almeria, 1875 (actually housed in: Musée du Palais Lascaris in Nice)
- In the Museu de la Música in Barcelona
Online catalog - Search for Torres
Further reading
- Hill Guitar, Short Bio
- Antonio De Torres by Jose L. Romanillos, Julian Bream Google Book Search
- Making Master Guitars By Roy Courtnall, Adrian Lucas
External links
- Measuring and documenting the FE 18 by Antonio de Torres by Florian Vorreiter
Regarding Torres 11-string models
- Multi-stringed guitars (harpguitars.net)
- image - José Martinez Toboso with guitar, ref (harpguitars.net)
- Players (harpguitars.net)
Articles
- Fretwork From the Land of Flamenco - A Masterful Collection of Classical Guitars LA Times, February 17, 2002
- Articles from Articles Hemeroteca Digital - Biblioteca Nacional de España: