1956 Robert Bouchet SP/CSAR

This 1956 Robert Bouchet is a spruce and CSA rosewood classical guitar made in Paris – one of the most pristine Bouchets we have ever seen, with no cracks or repairs, and the guitar of Scott Morris's Satie CD "Phonology".

In the videos above, Scott Morris plays Satie's "Nocturne No. 3" on this guitar in the studio for his CD "Phonology"; in the two duet videos from the same sessions (Satie's "Sonatine Bureaucratique" and a teaser for the CD), Andrew York plays this Bouchet and Scott Morris a 1971 Daniel Friederich; and Roland Dyens plays "The Wiz", "Angelo's Waltz" and a Prelude live at GSI.

A Pristine Bouchet: No Cracks, No Repairs

This is one of the most pristine and well-preserved instruments of Robert Bouchet that we have ever seen. The guitar is in entirely original condition, including all original finish, and there are no cracks or repairs anywhere in the instrument. Its label is dated by hand "4.5.1956".

Sound

This instrument has a dreamy, elegantly beautiful quality of sound – very hard to describe – and is at the same time also quite powerful and robust. The quality of the sound has an almost "creamy" texture to it, and the sensation of playing a guitar with this sound is very intoxicating and other-worldly. It has very quick response and incredible sustain – two trademarks of a great Bouchet.

Scott Morris's "Phonology": Satie on French Guitars

For his book and CD Phonology: the Music of Erik Satie for Guitar, Scott Morris recorded his Satie arrangements on six French guitars supplied by GSI – this 1956 Bouchet, two Daniel Friederichs (1971 and 2002), a 2011 Dominique Field, a 2012 Jean-Noël Rohé and a 2012 Bertrand Ligier – with Andrew York, soprano Nanette Gobel and oboist Richard Kravchak as guests.

Phonology: the Music of Erik Satie for Guitar (book + CD)

In Great Company

Built in 1956, this guitar is placed historically in great company with famous Bouchets owned by Julian Bream (1957), Ida Presti (1958) and Alexandre Lagoya (1959). This maker made just over 150 guitars in his lifetime, leaving far fewer in playable condition, and his guitars are certainly among the most collectible classical guitars in the world today.

Robert Bouchet: From Painter to Guitar Maker

Robert Bouchet (1898–1986) was a Paris painter who became one of the most influential guitar makers of the twentieth century and the founding father of what is called today the "French school of guitar making". He took up the guitar in 1932 and became a friend of Julián Gómez Ramírez, a Spanish maker in Paris trained in the José Ramírez I workshop in Madrid, whose workshop he often visited. When he lost the guitar Gómez Ramírez had made for him, he decided to build one himself – in 1946, at the age of 48. In all he made only 154 instruments.

Founder of the French School

Bouchet's reputation quickly attracted some of the greatest players to his workshop: Ida Presti and Alexandre Lagoya, Emilio Pujol, Oscar Ghiglia, Turíbio Santos, Manuel López Ramos and Julian Bream. His innovations, including the famous "barre d'âme" in the soundboard bracing, left a lasting mark on guitar making, and the guitars of Daniel Friederich and many later French makers grew from his school. Bouchets are in the top tier of collectible classical guitars, along with Antonio de Torres and Hermann Hauser I.

Books on Robert Bouchet

Alberto Martínez's bilingual book is the most complete look at Bouchet's life and work, and a 1959 Bouchet is among the guitars shown in Orfeo's "34 Classical Guitars in Life Size":

Robert Bouchet 1898-1986: Peintre & Luthier

Orfeo – 34 Classical Guitars in Life Size