1912 Enrique García No. 129 SP/CSAR

This 1912 Enrique García is a spruce and CSA rosewood classical guitar made in Barcelona, No. 129 – the García featured in Orfeo's book "34 Classical Guitars in Life Size".

In the video above, Taso Comanescu (guitar) and Yoshika Masuda (cello) play the "Canción" from Manuel de Falla's "Suite populaire espagnole" on this guitar.

No. 129, Barcelona 1912

Its label carries the year 1912, the address of García's final workshop – Paseo de San Juan 110 – and the guitar number, 129, all in his own hand. This is a wonderfully well-preserved example of García building in his great, mature style. Stylistically it is fairly simple in decoration, especially compared to the much more intricate and highly ornate guitars built between 1919 and 1922, after Francisco Simplicio began working for him. The guitar is featured in Orfeo – 34 Classical Guitars in Life Size.

Sound

Its tone is wholesome and robust, and it is a guitar that has it all – very lively and "friendly", with great charm and personality. García instruments in this condition and with this quality of sound are hard to come by, which makes this a very rare and collectible instrument by one of the great masters of the twentieth century.

Enrique García: From the Ramírez Workshop to Barcelona

Enrique García was born in Madrid in 1868. Although he was the son of a guitar maker, Juan García, in 1883 he began an apprenticeship with either Manuel Ramírez or José Ramírez I (or likely both), and continued to work in Madrid for many years. In 1893 his guitars won first prize at the Chicago World's Fair – García was evidently very proud of this achievement, as he represented it in pictorial form on his labels after receiving the award. In 1895 he left Ramírez and Madrid for Barcelona, where he set up his own workshop as an independent builder.

Founder of the Barcelona School of Guitar Making

García is considered to be the founder of the "Barcelona school", or "Catalan" style of guitar making. His style influenced subsequent generations of Barcelona makers including Francisco Simplicio and Miguel Simplicio, Enrique Sanfeliu, Enrique Coll and Ignacio Fleta. Perhaps the most important hallmark of his style is the increased stiffness in his soundboards – his guitars commonly featured 8 asymmetrical fans instead of the traditional 7 (years later, Ignacio Fleta would increase the number of fans to 9).

An International Reputation

García was arguably the most sought-after and famous maker at the turn of the century (1900). His reputation very early on was truly international, largely thanks to Domingo Prat and Francisco Tárrega, who both played his guitars. By 1912 he was exporting many of his instruments, primarily to South America, where a thriving and very important guitar scene, based mainly in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay, was forming. His guitars have always been prized by performers and collectors for their intimate charm and unique style.