Antonio Torres Jurado

Mara Lpez, the 13-year-old daughter of a shopkeeper.

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. These were dicult 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 Jos Pernas in Granada, rapidly
learning to build guitars. He soon returned to Seville, and
opened a shop on the Calle de Cerragera 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
Julin Arcas, that Torres made it his profession, and he
began building in earnest. Julin Arcas oered Torres
advice on building, and their collaboration turned Torres into an inveterate investigator of the guitar construction. Torres reasoned that the soundboard was key. To
increase its volume, he made his guitars not only larger,
but tted 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.

Antonio de Torres Jurado

While Torres was not the rst 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-mch. (This guitar
It is with his designs that the rst recognisably modern resides in the Museu de la Musica in Barcelona, and beclassical guitars are to be seen.[2] Most acoustic guitars in fore the year 2000 it was restored to playable condition
by the brothers Yage, Barcelona). [4]
use today are derivatives of his designs.
There is an anecdote about how he had made a guitar
made like a Chinese puzzle that could be assembled without glue, and disassembled would t in a shoe box. There
1 Biography
is no evidence that he ever made such a guitar though.
Antonio de Torres Jurado (Almera, Andaluca 13 June
1817 19 November 1892) was a Spanish guitarist and
luthier, and the most important Spanish guitar maker of
the 19th century.[1]

Born in La Caada de San Urbano, Almera, 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 a carpenter. In 1833, a
dynastic war broke out, and soon after Torres was conscripted into the army. Through his fathers machinations, young Antonio was dismissed as medically unt
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

During his later years, Torres close friend, a priest named

Juan Martnez Sirvent, lent him a hand in his workshop.
Many years later, in 1931 Sirvent wrote a letter to Francisco Rodrguez Torres, mentioning the following explanation Torres made when he, at the age of 68 was asked
by the famous father Garzn at a dinner about his secret
of how to make his outstandingly sounding guitars:[5]
"[...] smilingly [Torres] responded: 'Father, I am very sorry that a man like you also
1

3 INVENTORY OF GUITARS
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
Caada de San Urbano, Almera at the age of 75.

2 Guitars
Torres guitars are divided into two periods. The rst, belonging to Sevilla from 18521870; the second being the
years 1871-1893 in Almera. The guitars Torres made
were so superior to those of his contemporaries that their
example changed the way guitars were built, rst in Spain,
and then in the rest of the world. Although they are not
particularly loud by modern standards, they have a clear,
balanced, rm and rounded tone that projects very well.
His guitars were widely imitated and copied. Because he
never signed his guitars, and only numbered those from
his second epoch, many fake Torres have been made,
some by well-known and expert makers.

Guitar by Torres (1862)

at Museu de la Msica de Barcelona (MDMB 625).[3]

falls victim of that idea that runs among ignorant people, Juanito (that is how he addressed
me) has been witness to the secret many times,
but it is impossible for me to leave the secret
behind for posterity; this will go to the tomb
with me for it is the result of the feel of the tips
of the thumb and forenger communicating to
my intellect whether the soundboard is properly worked out to correspond with the guitar
makers concept and the sound required of the
instrument'. Everyone was left convinced that
the artistic genius cannot be passed on [...]"
In 1868, Torres married again, wedding Josefa Martn
Rosada. Shortly after, Torres met Francisco Trrega for
the rst time. Trrega, who was then aged seventeen, had
come to Seville from Barcelona to buy a Torres guitar
from the maker of Julin Arcas instrument. Torres offered him a modest guitar he had in stock, but on hearing
him play, oered him a much better guitar that 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 Almera
where he and his wife opened up a china and crystal shop
on the calle Real. About ve years later, 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

While the overall pattern of the modern classical guitar derives from Torres, there are some dierence between Torres classical guitars and the modern instrument. Torres guitars all had soundboards of European
spruce (Picea Abies); now Western Red Cedar (Thuja Plicata) is also frequently used. Luthiers have continued to
develop the bracing of the soundboard, but most still use
some version of the fan-bracing that Torres pioneered.
Torres guitars were strung with gut trebles and basses of
silk threads, overwound with silver. Since the 1950s almost all classical guitars have been strung with nylon. The
tuning heads of Torres guitars were often set with traditional ebony friction pegs, similar to those of other string
instruments. His later instruments were tted with mechanical tuners, which are universal on classical guitars
today.

3 Inventory of guitars
This is an incomplete list of guitars made by Antonio de
Torres.
FE 09 (1859) - owned by Miguel Llobet, now in the
collection of the Museu de la Msica de Barcelona,
Spain
SE 49 (1883) - owned by Francisco Trrega
Serial number unknown (1856) - The Romeros have
5 Torres guitars, currently probably the largest private collection in the world. Pepe Romero owns 3
Torres (including an 1856 Torres); Celin Romero
and Angel Romero each own one.
SE 52 (1883)- owned by Angel Romero.
SE 107 (1887) - now is being played by Stefano
Grondona.

3
FE 04 La Leona (1856) - owned by Erhard Hannen,
now is being played by Wuln Lieske. video
FE 17 (1864) - initially made by Torres for his personal use, acquired by Francisco Trrega in Seville,
in 1869 . The back and ribs was made from amed
maple. Sold by Vicente Trrega (brother of Francisco Trrega) to Domingo Prat in 1917.
FE 18 (1864) (ref), presently owned by James Westbrook, www.theguitarmuseum.com
SE 114 (1888) - owned by Francisco Trrega, now
in the collection of Sheldon Urlik
SE 116 La Itlica (1888) - once owned by Barcelona
luthier Enrique Coll (disciple of Simplicio and mentor of Fleta.)
FE 28 (1868) - Collection of Marcos Villanueva
Almera, 1864 - Collection of Flix Manzanero
Sevilla, 1862 - Collection of Jos Luis Postigo
In the Museum Museum Cit de la Musique in Paris
Instruments et oeuvres d'art - search-phrase: Facteur, auteur ou sujet : Torres

La Leona (1856)
and Wuln Lieske

Almeria, 1885 (Torres 11-string model)

Sevilla, 1882
Almeria, 1852
Almeria, 1883
Almeria, 1875 (actually housed in: Muse du
Palais Lascaris in Nice)

In the Museu de la Msica in Barcelona

Online catalog - Search for Torres

4 See also
Classical guitar making

5 References
[1] Brun, R.E. (September 2011). 1883 Antonio de Torres
No. 52. Vintage Guitar. pp. 8488.
[2] Morrish, John. Antonio De Torres. Guitar Salon International. Retrieved 2011-05-08.
[3] MDMB 625: Guitarra, by Antonio de Torres Jurado
(1862)". Catalogue online, Museo de la Msica. MDMB
625.
[4] Grondona, Stefano (2001). La Chitarra di Liuteria, Masterpieces of Guitar Making. pp. 5861.
Guitar by Torres (1859)
at Museu de la Msica de Barcelona (MDMB 626)[6]

[5] Romanillos, Jos L. (1990) [1987]. Antonio de Torres,

Guitar Maker, His Life & Work. pp. 1617.
[6] MDMB 626: Guitarra, by Antonio de Torres Jurado
(1859)". Catalogue online, Museo de la Msica. MDMB
626.

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
Investigative Methods for the Study of Historical Guitars: A Case Study of the Work of Antonio de Torres,
by Dr James Westbrook, 2009, MA thesis, London
Metropolitan University

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 - Jos 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 Espaa:
Estampa (Madrid. 1928). 01/01/1929 page
29
Caras y caretas (Buenos Aires). 04/07/1925,
n. 1396; page 20
Caras y caretas (Buenos Aires). 05/09/1925,
n. 1405; page 76
etc.

EXTERNAL LINKS

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