The Bestowal of the Name of the Hermann Hauser Guitar Foundation
by Sebastian Stenzel, Guitar maker

The Hermann Hauser Guitar Foundation bears the name of one of the most important guitar builders of all time. This is not only fortunate, but it also makes sense. The Foundation could have been named for one of the great guitarists such as André Segovia or Julian Bream, but there are better reasons for the choice of this name. To be clear, to maintain that one of the founders of the foundation, the grandson and guitar builder of the same name, would want to create a monument to himself would be shear ignorance. The name Hermann Hauser represents rather a fully valid symbol of the attention, care, and love with which Hauser I dedicated himself to the guitar, a wonderful instrument that has cast its spell over all of us and for which this foundation shall now act as a centre for growth. Such a focus is surely necessary: the general demand for information, exchange and instruction is vast and this holds true for the instrument itself as well. The classical guitar continues to find more and more enthusiasts and while there are ever more excellent guitar teachers, a true and deeper understanding of the guitar itself remains hidden to most. The classical guitar is one of the most complex of stringed instruments, and truly excellent guitars continue to be a rarity. For this reason we can only profit from a better and enlightened appreciation of the work of the guitar builder. The name Hauser is, therefore, a symbol of the interconnectedness of means and purpose, the collaboration of musician and instrument builder. Llobet and Hauser, Segovia and Ramirez, Segovia and Hauser I, Behrend and Weißgerber, it has always been a collaboration of the best guitarists and the best guitar makers which has lead to the creation of the best instruments and I dare say the best guitar music. And so we can hope that the foundation will also become, certainly in the spirit of the its name bearer, a forum for the development of the guitar and for the discussion of its construction. Although research in acoustics has made great strides in the last decade, guitar builders do not in large measure have scientific standards regarding the technical and acoustic issues germane to their instrument. Whether this research will aid in the construction of better guitars is still not known, but it certainly will expand the understanding of the instrument and help to separate, among the many new developments, the wheat from the chaff. The repair and restoration of guitars will likewise gain in importance, especially as the number of instruments worthy of preservation rapidly increases. The many poorly restored guitars give evidence to the need for the development and dissemination of standards in this field, too: there is much yet to be done.
The name Hermann Hauser also stands for his time. Many even speak of the „golden age of the guitar.“ During this time there were hundreds of workshops in Munich where the knowledge of instrument making was being handed down. National Socialism and World War II put a temporary end to this broad tradition, but as long as guitars from this period remain playable, the spirit of this tradition can be awakened anew. And what place would be better suited for this than Munich?

http://www.stenzel-guitars.de

February 23, 2005