With a career that spanned nine decades, Andrés Segovia (1893-1987) is the most important personality in the history of the guitar. A tireless concert performer, composer, and pedagogue, he completely transformed the perception of the six strings.
However, Andrés Segovia’s greatest legacy was the monumental repertoire he forged throughout his life. A heritage that encompasses the works created under his direct influence, the scores from other instruments that he masterfully transcribed, and the pieces he immortalized in his recitals and records, granting them almost a new life. To provide physical and acoustic support for this musical journey, the maestro needed the best instruments in the world. He himself stated that his three main guitar makers were Ramírez, Hauser, and Fleta, with the Ramírez house accompanying him for most of his career.
The «Segoviana» Cycle at the Fundación Juan March
To showcase the breadth, depth, and significance of this guitar legacy, the Fundación Juan March in Madrid organized the Wednesday cycle titled «Segoviana: el legado de Andrés Segovia», curated by musicologist Javier Suárez-Pajares and in collaboration with the Fundación Casa Museo «Andrés Segovia» of Linares.
The cycle, which took place between January 21 and February 4, 2026, systematically articulated the different fronts of the maestro’s repertoire through three exceptional concerts:
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Baroque and Neo-Baroque (January 21): Guitarist Pablo Márquez explored the maestro’s famous transcriptions. He performed Bach’s Chaconne and Frescobaldi’s La Frescobalda, as well as the monumental work Ponce wrote at Segovia’s request: the Variations on Folia de España and Fugue (1929).
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Aces of the Segovian Repertoire (January 28): Marko Topchii tackled the great international pillars of the guitar renovation promoted by the maestro in the 1920s. The program included pieces by Roussel, Villa-Lobos, Castelnuovo-Tedesco (Capriccio Diabolico), and Tansman, even rescuing complex works that Segovia discarded and which had remained safeguarded in the Linares Foundation.
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Segovia and the Spanish Composers (February 4): Ricardo Gallén offered a unique perspective by performing Turina’s Sonata, Torroba’s Sonatina, Asencio’s Suite mística, and Mompou’s Suite Compostelana directly from the authors’ original manuscripts, stripping them of the filter and fingerings with which Segovia edited them in publishing houses like Schott.
Andrés Segovia’s Guitars: The Connection with Ramírez
The renewal of the repertoire analyzed at the Fundación Juan March required a parallel evolution in the construction of the instrument. To fill the great international auditoriums with the complex harmonies of non-guitarist composers, Segovia needed guitars with a projection, stability, and fullness of sound unknown up to that time.
It is at this point where the relationship with our workshop becomes fundamental. Although throughout his career he used iconic instruments such as his famous 1958 Hermann Hauser II, Andrés Segovia played with Guitarras Ramírez for most of his life.
The close collaboration between the maestro and José Ramírez III marked a milestone in world lutherie. The constant experimentation in our Madrid workshop—which led to breakthroughs such as the use of red cedar for soundboards—provided Segovia with the power, the tonal richness, and the deep, romantic voice he needed for his world tours. A sound and loyalty that lasted for decades, right up to his final recordings on albums like Reveries (1978) or his final concert in the United States in 1987.
A Heritage That Lives On
Andrés Segovia’s legacy is not a museum piece; it is a living tradition that is reinterpreted every night on stages and continues to be hand-carved in the Guitarras Ramírez workshop.
We invite all music lovers to revisit the milestones of this rigorous Fundación Juan March cycle and to visit us in Madrid to discover how history, wood, and classical music continue to merge into the same artisanal passion.