'SPANISH SONATAS'
The Guitar and The Man Who Built It

Guitar No. 717, named La Leñateo by José L. Romanillos

Spanish Sonatas - Stephen Marchionda


Letter to Stephen Marchionda from José L. Romanillos 9-2-1994
CV. José Luis Romanillos Vega
BOOKS & ARTICLES WRITTEN BY JOSE LUIS ROMANILLOS
BOOKS & ARTICLES ABOUT JOSE LUIS ROMANILLOS
CATALOGUES BY JOSE LUIS ROMANILLOS
REVIEWS OF THE TORRES BOOK

Letter to Stephen Marchionda from José L. Romanillos

José L. Romanillos
"Madrigal", Barkers Hill
Semley, Shaftesbury
Dorset SP7 9BJ
England
Fax:/Tel: 0747828561

9th.February 1994

Dear Mr. Marchionda

Thank you for your letter and cassette which I have enjoyed listening to. Lovely music played with verve and musicality. Congratulations.

The guitar No. 717, named 'La Leñateo' was made by myself with my son Liam who has been working with me since 1982. For some years now I have been giving my guitars Spanish names which must include the ñ and this guitar is called 'La Leñateo' (Colombian vernacular) which translated means a 'woodpile'. My son completed the finishing stages of this guitar and perhaps it is 'father's pride' but I can hear in the sound, the solid contribution of a great tradition in Spanish guitar making following Torres' concepts and the youthful approach of a young man building on tradition and reaching out for excellence of musical sounds. My label was changed in late 1991 to reflect my son's contribution to the guitars. Sound is beauty and we strive to capture it in every guitar.

I am including a copy of my CV which may be of some help to you and you are welcome to use any part of it for your notes for the CD. I thank you for your kind words about our guitar and I wish you a very happy and successful career.

Yours sincerely,

José L. Romanillos

Romanillos CV

9-2-1994 CV. José Luis Romanillos Vega

José Luis Romanillos Vega (b.17-6-1932, Madrid) was apprenticed to a cabinet maker when he was thirteen. In 1956, after national service in the Spanish Army, he left for England, where he worked as a nurse in a mental hospital for three years. In 1961 he attempted his first guitar, aided by a library book and using the kitchen table as a work bench. One guitar led to another during four years in Spain and a return to England where he has remained, though maintaining close links with his native land.

A meeting with Julian Bream in 1969 led to an invitation to use part of a workshop in Wiltshire where he produced a guitar for Julian Bream that he played for three years. In 1973 he made a guitar for him which he played in concerts and used for various recordings for at least twelve years. Romanillos now works from his own premises and his waiting list for instruments stretches into the next century. He is an internationally respected luthier and quoting the Daily Mail, 'the Stradivari of the Guitar'.

He has appeared on television, Counterpoint, BBC2,1971; A life in the country, BBC2, 1976 and on local HTV, TVS, Westward, Meridian and Southern stations. In 1979 he was featured in a Radio 3 programme and a video film has been made of him in his workshop. All the instruments featured in the film 'Guitarra' on Ch.4TV in 1985 were made by Romanillos. He has been interviewed for numerous international magazines such as from U.S.A., Greece, Japan, Holland, U.K. etc. Also quite interesting that the publishers Longman wished to use some of his text taken from an interview with Tom Evans in his book 'Guitar5' to use in their publication 'Start reading for Adults' Romanillos is both a maker and teacher. In 1977 he was invited to lecture at the Niibori Academy of Guitar in Japan. Since then he has given such classes in Canada, Hungary, Spain, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium and many parts of the British Isles

. For many years he was technical adviser to the Grafts Council of Great Britain for musical instruments. Apart from making guitars and related instruments he is particularly interested in researching the history of the guitar and is preparing a book on the evolution and construction of the Spanish guitar up until 1940. This follows on the publication of his biography of Antonio de Torres, Guitar Maker, His Life & Work by Element Books Ltd. Romanillos has published numerous articles on the history of the guitar and vihuela and contributed to the Diccionario Enciclopedico Ilustrado del Flamenco published in Spanish.

He organised an exhibition of 79 antique Spanish guitars in Alicante, Spain, in May 1990 and also prepared the catalogue for the exhibition. He also worked on the catalogue for the exhibition of The Spanish Guitar which took place at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York/Museo Municipal, Madrid in 1991-92.

José Romanillos married his English wife, Marian Harris Winspear, in 1959. They have three sons José, Ignacio and Liam; and six grandchildren.

He has a strong interest in cricket and played his first game in 1957 and al though he was out for a duck at the third delivery, he still has a deep love for the game that he considers the best ever invented. He has made some cricket bats and one was featured in the Michael Parkinson TV Show, jointly with Bream and his guitar.

AVAILABILITY OF WORK
At least ten years waiting list

BOOKS & ARTICLES

WRITTEN BY JOSE LUIS ROMANILLOS

LIBROS Y ARTICULOS

POR JOSE LUIS ROMANILLOS

  1. Antonio Torres Jurado. Un Genio en el Olvido, La Voz de Almeria, 7-12-1974

  2. El Almeriense Julián Arcas, La Voz de Almeria, 21-4-1976

  3. My Meeting with John Milliams, Guitar Music, Japan, 1978

  4. Making Musical Instruments. Faber & Faber (chapter on guitar) 1979

  5. La Leona, Guitar Magazine, 1979

  6. Un Centenario. JuliAn Arcas 1832-82, La Voz de Almeria, 14-2-1982

  7. Spanish Guitar Making-A Short History, CH4TV booklet, 1985

  8. Dionisio Aguado-The Man, Guitar Magazine & Ritmo, 1984 and Guitar Music, Japan, September 1985 vol.13, no.195

  9. Robert Bouchet 1898-1986, Obituary, Guitar International, November 1956

  10. Antonio de Torres, Guitar Maker, His Life and Work Element Books Ltd. Shaftesbury, 1987

  11. Pasado, presents y futuro de la Guitarra Española, Suplemento de Culture de Diario Cordoba, 16-7-1987

  12. Diccionario Enciclopédico Ilustrado del Flamenco, Guitar section, Editorial Cinterco, Madrid, 1988

  13. El Guitarrero Español y su Contribución en el Desarrollo Uie la Guitarra de Concierto. (Programme) Caja de Ahorros Alicante, 1988. Campus, Universidad de Alicante 1989. Gendai Guitar 1990 & III Seminari de Violeria Ciutat de Felanitx of Mallorca, 1992

  14. The Vihuela in Spain and the Instrument in the Jacquemart-André Museum, Classical Guitar Magazine 1987. Gendai Guitar 1989

  15. Galpin Society Journal, Reviews, 1985 & 1990

  16. En Torno a Torres, Antecedentes, Realizaciones y Secuelas, Guitarra en la Historia (1) Cordoba, 1990

  17. Spanish Guitar in Modern Latin America; Guitar Makers & Guitars 1800-1950, 1992 (To be published)

  18. Un Centenario: Don Antonio de Torres Jurado, Guia de Festivales, Jerez, 1992

  19. The Vihuela Makers of Toledo, 1617 American Lutherie Journal, Winter 1992

  20. El hijo de Antonio de Torres Jurado fue un Héroe de la Guerra de Cuba, Ideal, Almeria, 14 November 1992

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BOOKS & ARTICLES ABOUT

JOSE LUIS ROMANILLOS

ARTICULOS Y RESEÑS SOBRE

JOSE LUIS ROMANILLOS

  1. Music & Musicians, July 1971, Julian Bream's Hiltshire Workshop by Thomas Eastwood

  2. Romanillos, interview with George Clinton, Guitar Magazine, 1972

  3. Romanillos, interview by Tsuguo Shoji, Gendai Guitar, Japan, 1972

  4. Romanillos Buy a Tree, Guitar Magazine, 1974

  5. José Luis Romanillos, interview by Mineo Toyoda, Guitar Music, Japan, 1975

  6. Dos Almerienses Genios Universales de la Guitarra, by J.M.Román, La Voz de Almeria, 22-4-1976

  7. José Luis Romanillos, Guitar Music Magazine, Japan, December 1977

  8. Evans, Tom & Mary Anne, Guitars, from the Renaissance to Rock London, 1977

  9. Romanillos, Interview in Guitar Music, Japan, November 1979

  10. Galpin Society Journal, 1980. Review of chapter in Making Musical Instruments

  11. La Voz de Almeria, Aptopio de Torres, Olvidado de sus Paisanos, by Falces, 5-6-1980

  12. Doubtfire, Stanley, Make Your Own Classical Guitar, London, 1981

  13. Guild of American Luthiers, U.S.A. No.3 1981. Report on guitar construction course, Toronto, Canada

  14. Welcome Back José Romanillos, by George Clinton, Guitar Magazine, 1981

  15. Summerfield, Maurice J. The Classical Guitar, Its Evolution and its Players Since 1800, Ashley Mark Publishing Co., 1982

  16. McGreadie, Sue, Classical Guitar Companion, Musical New Services, 1982

  17. Bream, Julian & Tony Palmer, A Life on the Road, Macdonald & Go., 1982

  18. Classical Music, July, 1982, An optimist in search of the perfect guitar by Graham Wade

  19. Tar, 1984, Interview in Greek magazine with Eleftheria Kotzia

  20. Soundboard, U.S.A. Spring 1985. Interview with Eleftheria Kotzia

  21. Gitaarview, Holland 1985. Interview with Els Breukers

  22. José Luis Romanillos, Classical Guitar, 1986.

  23. Interview with M.A.Lejarza-Leo Gendai Guitar, March 1986

  24. José L. Romanillos in conversation with George Clinton, Guitar International, March 1987

  25. José L. Romanillos, Gendai Guitar, Japan, August 1987

  26. Classical Guitar magazine, 1987. Letter to editor from Matanya Ophee, U.S.A.

  27. Tfretje, Belgian magazine, 1987, interview by Jean van der Schueren

  28. Päffgen, Peter, Die Gitarre, Germany, 1988.

  29. Wiltshire Life, February 1989. Interview with Caroline Jones

  30. American Lutherie, Spring 1990, José Romanillos: On the Path of Utter Dedication, by Gila Eban

  31. American Lutherie, Spring 1991, Julian Bream's 1973 Romanillos Guitar by Kevin Aram

  32. Portrait of a Craftsman, Classical Guitar Magazine, January, 1991, Interview with Colin Cooper

  33. The Galpin Society Journal, March 1991. Review of Exposición de Guitarras Antiguas Españolas, by Beryl Kenyon de Pascual

  34. International Crafts, edited by Martina Margetts, Thames & Hudson, 1991

  35. The Ultimate Guitar Book by Tony Bacon, Dorling Kindersley, 1991

  36. The Development of the Modern Guitar, by John Huber, The Bold Strummer Ltd. U.S.A. 1991

  37. Guitarras y Guitarreros, Selvo Go., Ltd. Tokyo, 1992

  38. Making Master Guitars, by Roy Courtnall Robert Hale, London, 1993

  39. Chiari, freschi, dolci suoni, by Rocco Peruggini, Seicorde No.39, Italy, 1993

CATALOGUES

BY JOSE LUIS ROMANILLOS

CATALOGOS

POR JOSE LUIS ROMANILLOS

  1. Catalogue for Paris Exhibition, ( Guitar section), 1985

  2. Exposición de Guitarras Antiguas Españolas, Catalogue for exhibition of antique Spanish guitars, Alicante, Spain, 1990

  3. The Spanish Guitar/La Guitarra Española, Exhibition of antique Spanish guitars first held in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and then moved to Museo Municipal, Madrid, 1991-92 (Varios autores)

REVIEWS OF THE TORRES BOOK

Antonio de Torres, Guitar Maker, His Life and Work Element Books Ltd. Shaftesbury, 1987

  1. Celesta, Belgium, January 1988
  2. Music & Musicians International, England, March 1988
  3. Tfretje, Belgium, March 1988
  4. Guitar Music, Japan, April 1988
  5. Classical Guitar, England, May 1988
  6. Frets, U.S.A. May 1988
  7. Lookout Magazine, Spain, June 1988
  8. Guitar International, England, June 1988
  9. Guitar Player, U.S.A. June 1988
  10. American Library Association Choice, September 1988
  11. Guitar Foundation of America, Soundboard, U.S.A. Fall 1988
  12. Musikblatt, Germany, August 1988
  13. Les Cahiers de La Guitare, France, 4e trimestre, 1988
  14. The Musical Times, England, February 1989
  15. Pro/Am Music Resources, U.S.A. February 1989
  16. 11 Fronimo, Italy, July 1989
  17. The Galpin Society Journal, England, August 1989
  18. American Lutherie, U.S.A. Fall 1989
  19. The Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans, U.S.A.
  20. Svenoka Gitarr Och Luta Sällokapet, Sweden
  21. Revista de Musicología, Spain, vol.Xlll, 1990
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