José Tomás Pérez Sellés (26 August 1934, in

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

– 7 August 2001) was a Spanish

classical guitarist This is a list of classical guitarists. Baroque (17th and 18th centuries) 19th century 20th century https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXAPUbFDFJfxY2qijBIG2Og?view_as=subscriberModern See also * List of flamenco guitarists References ...

and teacher. Considered a major influence on the evolution of

classical guitar technique In classical guitar, the right hand is developed in such a way that it can sustain two, three, and four voice harmonies while also paying special attention to tone production. The index (i), middle (m), and ring (a) fingers are generally used to ...

in the second half of the 20th century, he trained many guitarists from all over the world.Iborra, Mario Alcaraz and Soto, Roberto Díaz
''La guitarra: Historia, organología y repertorio''
Editorial Club Universitario, 2009, p. 170. (in Spanish)

Biography

José Tomás began his musical studies with

Óscar Esplá Óscar Esplá y Triay (5 August 1886 – 6 January 1976) was a Spanish composer. The Conservatorio Superior de Música ( conservatory) of the city of Alicante is dedicated to him. The ''Premio internacional de composición Óscar Esplá'' (Ós ...

. He would later

transcribe Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...

Esplá's piano suite, ''Levante'', for the guitar as well as re-discover and transcribe Esplá's previously unknown work, ''Tempo di Sonata''. The sonata, originally composed for the harp, was given its first performance in 1978 by Tomás himself. Tomás was initially a self-taught guitarist, but then continued his studies with

Regino Sainz de la Maza Regino Sainz de la Maza y Ruiz (7 September 1896 – 26 November 1981) was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer. Biography Sainz de la Maza was born in Burgos. At ten, he got his first guitar and started his musical studies with Santiago L ...

Emilio Pujol Emilio Pujol Vilarrubí (or ''Emili''; 10 September 1886 – 21 November 1980) was a Spanish composer, guitarist and a leading teacher of the classical guitar. Biography Emili Pujol was born in the little village of Granadella just outside Lle ...

, and

Alirio Diaz Alirio is a given name of uncertain origin, perhaps from a popular form of Latin Hilarius. Notable people with this name include: * Alirio Díaz (1923–2016), Venezuelan classical guitarist and composer * Alirio Palacios (1938–2015), Venezuel ...

. On Diaz's recommendation, he went to study with

Andrés Segovia Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña (21 February 1893 – 2 June 1987) was a Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist. Many professional classical guitarists were students of Segovia or their students. Segovia's contribution to the m ...

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

. After Siena he continued his training with Segovia in 1958 and 1959 at ''

Música en Compostela ''Música en Compostela'' (Music in Compostela) is an annual summer course in music performance and composition held in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. It was founded by the Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia and the diplomat José Miguel Ruiz Morale ...

'', and served as Segovia's assistant there. In 1961 he won first prize at the ''Concurso Internacional de Guitarra'' in

Ourense Ourense (; es, Orense ) is a city and capital of the province of Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path of the Way of St ...

founded by Segovia, after which he primarily dedicated himself to teaching in his native city, where he was Professor of Guitar at the ''Conservatorio Superior de Música "Óscar Esplá"'', a post which he held for two decades. From 1964 until the mid-1970s, he also took over from Segovia as director of ''Música en Compostela''. As a concert performer, Tomás was known for his enviable sound and interpretative skill. He was also known for his transcriptions, especially those of scores from the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

and

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

eras. This in turn led him to adopt an

eight string guitar An eight-string guitar is a guitar with eight strings, or one more than the Russian guitar's seven. Eight-string guitars are less common than six- and seven-string guitars, but they are used by a few classical, jazz, and metal guitarists. The e ...

, developed for him by

José Ramírez III José Ramírez III (1922–1995) was a luthier and the grandson of José Ramírez, founder of Ramírez Guitars. He was responsible for major changes both to the company and to the classical guitars it produces. Ramírez was raised in a guitar ma ...

. The two extra strings allowed him to play music originally composed for the

vihuela The vihuela () is a 15th-century fretted plucked Spanish string instrument, shaped like a guitar (figure-of-eight form offering strength and portability) but tuned like a lute. It was used in 15th- and 16th-century Spain as the equivalent of t ...

and

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

on a modern guitar without sacrificing any notes. However, his primary contribution was to guitar pedagogy. "Pragmatic and erudite, but at the same time humble", he received a constant stream of guitarists who visited his home in Alicante seeking his advice. Amongst the classical guitarists who studied with Tomás are David Russell, Raphaella Smits,

Thomas Müller-Pering Thomas Müller-Pering (born 1958 in Cologne) is a classical guitarist from Germany. He studied under Prof. Tadashi Sasaki at the Hochschule für Musik Köln and performed in the master classes of John Williams, José Tomás, Oscar Ghiglia and S ...

, Ahmet Kanneci, Cornel Imry,

Edson Lopes Edson Lopes (born July 23, 1957 in the São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian classical guitarist, composer and arranger. Biography Graduating in 1978 at the Conservatory of Musical and Dramatic Arts "Dr. Carlos de Campos", Tatuí, SP (Brazil) in c ...

, Yoshimi Otani, Ignacio Rodes,

Rafael Serrallet Rafael Serrallet (born in Valencia, Spain on July 14, 1971) is a Spanish classical guitarist. Career Rafael Serrallet was born in Valencia and started playing the guitar at the age of 12. Rafael studied with Andres Segovia’s pupil and assist ...

Carles Trepat Carles Trepat (born 1960) is a Spanish classical guitarist. He has won several international prizes, including the "Premio Tárrega" in the "Certamen Internacional Francisco Tárrega de Benicàssim". In July 2014, he was awarded with the "Honorific ...

, Mario Caserta, Edoardo Catemario and Jesús Castro-Balbi. The ''Conservatorio Profesional de Música "Guitarrista José Tomás"'' in Alicante is named in his honour,Conservatori Professional de Música d'Alacant "Guitarrista José Tomás"
Biography of José Tomás
(in Spanish, accessed 26 April 2010) as is an international classical guitar competition, the ''Concurso Internacional de Guitarra Clásica "José Tomás - Villa de Petrer"''.PIMA Asociación de Guitarra Clásica
XII Concurso Internacional de Guitarra Clásica "José Tomás - Villa de Petrer"
Retrieved 11 November 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomas, Jose Spanish classical guitarists Spanish male guitarists Musicians from the Valencian Community 1934 births 2001 deaths People from Alicante 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century Spanish musicians 20th-century guitarists 20th-century Spanish male musicians