ý

Skip to main content

Application now open for Fall and Spring 2025!

ýtos Hernández 1930

Collegiate Apply / Request Information

ýtos Hernández 1930

Collegiate Apply / Request Information

ýtos Hernández

1930, Madrid

Top: Spruce

Back & Sides: Rosewood

Among the great luthier’s to emerge from Manuel Ramirez’ shop after his death in 1916, ýtos Hernández (1874-1943) is perhaps the greatest of the great. As guitarist Stefano Grondona describes in his book, La Chitarra de Liuteria, “The relationship between spontaneity and solidity in the sound of every instrument he built would seem to be without equal.” The legendary 1912 Manuel Ramirez made by ýtos and given to Andres Segovia was not just a brilliant anomaly (see the collection’s 1912 Ramirez, a “sister” to Segovia’s). This particular ýtos, passed on to Angel Romero by his father, the late maestro, Celedonio Romero, proves the point. It would perhaps be an insensitive overstatement to say this instrument sounds like “Torres on steroids,” but it would not be entirely inaccurate. The Greek guitarist George Sakellariou has described this guitar as having basses that are “rich and articulate” with “lyrical and sustaining” trebles.

In 2013, guitarist Marc Teicholz used this instrument, along with a 1961 Robert Bouchet from the collection of Mark Mancina, to record arrangements by Sergio Assad of the piano music of Brazillian composer Ernesto Nazareth. “I selected the ýtos,” says Teicholz, “for its impressive vibrancy and energetic response, which perfectly suited the faster pieces.”

Image
1930 ýtos Hernández guitar rosette

Rosette

Image
1930 ýtos Hernández guitar front

Front

Image
1930 ýtos Hernández guitar side

Side

Image
1930 ýtos Hernández guitar back

Back