Solera Flamenca surprises us once again with the discovery and acquisition of the three guitars of Quintín Esquembre: two Santos Hernández guitars, one made of Rio rosewood from 1924, another made of cypress from 1933, and a third one by Marcelo Barbero made of Brazilian rosewood from 1949.
SEE Santos Hernández 1924
SEE Santos Hernández 1933

It is not the purpose of this article to delve into the life and work of this illustrious native of Villena, born in 1885, as for this matter I refer to the excellently documented and very enjoyable book about Quintín Esquembre’s disciple, Ángel Iglesias, titled: ‘Vida y obra de un guitarrista extremeño universal ÁNGEL IGLESIAS 1916-1977‘ by Jacinto Sánchez and Fernando Bermejo; our purpose is to shed light on the three guitars that belonged to his private collection.

Quintín Esquembre continues in the wake of great composers who combined cello performance with guitar, such as Mauro Giuliani, who was a cellist in the orchestra at the premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Séptima sinfonía on December 8, 1813, or Heitor Villa-Lobos, whose technique differed from the Tárrega school but was capable of unsettling even Andrés Segovia himself.

Esquembre is not counted among the disciples of Francisco Tárrega, but it is known for certain that he received lessons from Miguel Llobet when his parents moved to Madrid.

He was the first Spanish guitarist to offer a radio concert in 1924, probably with his Santos Hernández guitar from that same year.

The Diccionario de Guitarristas by Domingo Prat, published in 1934, documents Esquembre’s output up to that date:

As a composer, he has a String Quartet awarded at the National Music Competition in 1926; a Symphony titled Homenaje a Beethoven, Guitarra andaluza, capricho orquestal, Estampas de Goya, suite para orquesta, and several less grandiose pieces that have achieved great success. Currently, he is fully dedicated to composition, and it is hoped that he will not forget to offer the guitar some of his great inspiration.

However, his most well-known work is the pasodoble for the La Entrada Music Band, composed for the fiestas de Moros y cristianos of Villena.

To support his family in times of hardship, he played the cello in the Municipal Music Band and in the Philharmonic Orchestra of Madrid under the direction of Pablo Sorozábal, the last great composer of zarzuelas, whom he tried to emulate with the creation of the zarzuela Si vas a Calatayud premiered at the Teatro Victoria in Barcelona, all of this at the expense of his career as a guitar concert performer.

Trio Esquembre

The España Trio, consisting of Manuel Hernández, Carmen González, and Quintín Esquembre’s son, Miguel Esquembre, made its debut in Madrid with a concert held on February 5, 1948, at the Auditorium of the National Delegation of Syndicates with guitar arrangements by the maestro.

As was customary at that time, the España Trio was part of dance shows alongside choreographer Soledad Miralles, just like their disciple Ángel Iglesias, who traveled the world with his wife, the dancer Nati Morales. This reminds us that the classical and flamenco worlds in Spain did not experience division until the appearance of Andrés Segovia, who belittled flamenco guitarists, recognizing only the talent of Sabicas.

Carmen González, recipient of Quintín Esquembre’s Canción Playera, with the Marcelo Barbero 1949 guitar.

After the dissolution of the trio, Carmen González and Miguel Esquembre continued as a duo and got married in 1955.

Duo formed by Carmen Lorenzo and Miguel Esquembre with the Marcelo Barbero guitars from 1949 and Quintín Esquembre’s 1924 Santos Hernández guitar.

Quintín Esquembre suffered from palmar fibromatosis in his left hand in 1951, which marked the end of his career as a guitarist and cellist. He passed away on April 2, 1965.

Santiago Míguez de la Rosa