1930 Jose Ramirez II (1885-1957) Interview

The literal interview is found below this extrapolation. This is from the newspaper: "El Liberal" (founded in Madrid in 1879). January 23, 1930, page 3. This is an article and interview by Pedro Massa (Cieza, Spain 1895- Buenos Aires, 1987). This article was found in the Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid.

This interview was published less than 90 days after the Stock Market Crash of October 1929. Andres Segovia had just finished his tour of Asia using his 1912 Manuel Ramirez and Hermann Hauser I guitars: performing in Hong Kong, The Philippines, China and Japan. When Andres Segovia was performing in Japan in late October, early November of 1929, Regino Sainz de la Maza and Miguel Llobet were both playing in theaters in Buenos Aires at the same time. The day to day details can be found in my book: Annotations for the History of the Classical Guitar in Argentina 1822-2000, 4 Vols. Authors: Randy Osborne, Héctor García Martínez | Index by Jan J. de Kloe. This book can be ordered at the bottom of the homepage of this web site.

The writer, Pedro Massa, makes note of the illustrious guitar makers of the 19th century:

Francisco Ortega of Granada

Antonio de Torres of Almeria

Jose Jimenez of Madrid

Enrique Carracedo of Madrid

Mariano Zorzano of Logrono, though in Madrid from 1879.

Vicente Arias of Madrid.

He mentions some of the 19th century's premier guitarists / composers: Sor, Aguado, Ciebra, Huerta, Bosch, Coste.

He says Francisco Tarrega taught or if not gave a shadow to: Sainz de la Maza, Fortea, Llobet, Andres Segovia, Iturbe, Josefina Robledo..... (three of this group were already international concert and recording artists: Regino Sainz de la Maza, Miguel Llobet and Andres Segovia.)

At the end of the interview he says: "We are getting more orders from South America than we can fill, besides those orders we're receiving from France, Germany, Italy....., all the way to the Scandinavian countries, and not in small amounts either, all for the Spanish Guitar."

Agustin Barrios used a Jose Ramirez concert guitar to record his works in the few 1910 recordings for Edison Cylinders, and later in his most well known Discos Atlanta 1913-1914 sessions.

In Madrid, the Jose Ramirez workshop, has produced well over 25,000 Model 1-A Classical and Flamenco Guitars, utilized by Andres Segovia and countless other virtuosos to perform concerts and make the eternal recordings.

The guitar termed: 1754 Dionisio Guerra (1755-), made in Cadiz, Spain fabricated around 1785, had been a part of the Jose Ramirez Guitar Collection for many decades, and is displayed with its specifications in the book by Brian Whitehouse "The Ramirez Collection" published in 2009.