1883 Antonio de Torres "SE 49" SP/MP (ex Francisco Tárrega)

This 1883 Antonio de Torres "SE 49" is a spruce and flamed maple classical guitar from Almería, the second of Francisco Tárrega's three Torres guitars – the one his family kept longest, until 1944.

In the videos above, Andrew York introduces and plays his "Portrait of Tárrega", Pepe Romero plays Tárrega's "María (Gavota)" and "Mazurka en Sol", Matt Greif plays "Endecha" and Bill Kanengiser plays "¡Adelita!" on this guitar; the LAGQ also plays it in three quartets recorded on four Torres, including all three ex Tárrega.

Tárrega's Second Torres

This instrument, built in 1883 and numbered 49 from Torres' "Second Epoch", was built for the great Francisco Tárrega and indeed was the 2nd of 3 Torres guitars that Tárrega would own in his lifetime. Its label, from the years when Torres was back in Almería, reads "D. Antonio de Torres, constructor de guitarras en Sevilla, vive hoy en Almería" – "now living in Almería" – with "Guitarra núm. 49, 2.ª época" written in by hand. After Tárrega's death in 1909, "SE 49" would be the last of the 3 Torres to be sold by his family, in 1944.

A Fresh Replacement for FE 17

According to José Romanillos, it seems likely that this guitar was intended in 1883 to be a fresh replacement for Tárrega's first (and very cherished) Torres, FE 17 from 1864. Like the 1864 guitar, "SE 49" was built with flamed maple for the sides and four-piece back, and is decorated with some of the same inlay materials in the rosette and top purfling. But "SE 49" is a slightly larger instrument than "FE 17" and was not originally fitted with a tornavoz. "SE 49" also has no decorative inlays in the head or back, but has some other surprising details – perhaps most notably the "fish" mother-of-pearl inlays in the wings of the bridge.

Restoration by Alan Perlman

This guitar, in its present state, is in excellent, concert-ready condition. The most recent repair work was done meticulously by luthier Alan Perlman, who restored the fish inlays in the bridge as well as re-secured some previous repairs in the body of the instrument. He also replaced the failing original machines with a custom set of Rodgers. His finish work was done without disturbing any of the existing thicknesses and without removing any wood – most notably, Alan took extra care to mask off several areas where Tárrega's famous "cigarette" burn marks are still present in the wood, so as not to remove them.

Tárrega's Cigarette Burns

Regarding these cigarette burns, Romanillos provides some additional, charming insights: "There are several marks where the wood has been burned, probably the result of cinders falling from the cigarettes Tárrega smoked while playing the instrument. SE 49 bears these marks, undoubtedly resulting both from the artist's complete absorption in whatever piece he was playing and from the poor quality of the tobacco and the coarseness of the cigarette paper! Not only the protective coating of varnish was burned but also the very wood. The cigarette tended to burn unevenly, catching alight in some parts and not others, causing particles of smoldering tobacco to fall onto the upper rib of the guitar. In one photograph published in Pujol's book, Tárrega can be seen in the middle of a rendition of some musical passage and, hanging from his lips half-hidden under his beard is an unevenly burnt cigarette. A compulsive smoker, Tárrega was never without a cigarette, be it during his private recitals or during his public concerts. The music critic for the magazine Ilustración Española y Americana remarked that not only could Tárrega perform passages with only the left hand but he also allowed himself the luxury of smoking while he played."

Sound

With every great Torres, words fall short of describing how rich and harmonious the sound is – in the beauty of a single pitch in a melodic phrase, or in the blended fusion of notes in counterpoint and chords. Then there is the other-worldly sensation of the guitar vibrating against the player's body, an experience only possible with an instrument such as this one in your arms. We were all amazed to have it in our collection here at GSI, where we demonstrated, filmed and showcased it, hoping to do justice to its legacy as one of the foundational instruments in the history of the classical guitar.

More on Antonio de Torres

There is much more to read about Torres: our biography of the maker, an excerpt on the Torres sound from José Luis Romanillos's book "Antonio de Torres", and a conversation between Pepe Romero and Kenny Hill about the master luthier. Also see Orfeo Magazine #9 – The 200th Anniversary of Antonio de Torres.

Antonio de Torres: The Stradivari of the Guitar

The name of Antonio de Torres (1817–1892) is to guitarists what the name of Antonio Stradivari is to violinists. Taken as a whole, the corpus of instruments made by this legendary maker's hand is today regarded as the foundational basis of the modern guitar. The impact that these guitars made on successive generations of luthiers is impossible to exaggerate – still to this day, most or nearly all of Torres' structural and tonal improvements are in use by all top contemporary builders.

The First and Second Epochs: Seville and Almería

Torres built his first great guitars in Seville, from the 1850s to about 1870 – his "first epoch", when his labels read "Calle de la Cerrajería, número 32". After some years away from the bench he took up guitar making again in his native Almería in 1875, and from then until his death in 1892 his labels say "Segunda Época", usually with the guitar's number written in by hand. In his biography of the maker, José Luis Romanillos catalogued the surviving instruments by these two periods, which is why Torres guitars are known today by numbers such as "FE 17" (first epoch) or "SE 114" (second epoch).

Played by Tárrega – and by Today's Artists

In Torres' own day, the leading players such as Julián Arcas and Francisco Tárrega were already performing on his masterpieces, and successive generations of players over the 20th century continued to play them. Although increasing values over the past several decades have placed them largely within the sphere of collectors, they are still highly desirable to leading professional players and occasionally make their way into the recording studio or even the concert stage. Pepe Romero, Stefano Grondona, Wulfin Lieske and Marc Teicholz, among others, have brought them to life in recorded and live sound, and we all hope this trend continues in the future, especially as more Torres instruments come to the public's attention.