Fernando Sor

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Josep Ferran Sorts i Muntades^[1][2] (baptised 14 February 1778 – 10 July 1839, Paris) was a guitarist and composer born in Barcelona (in Catalonia).

He is also known by the names Joseph Fernando Macari Sors^[3], Fernando Sor^[4], Ferran Sor^[1], Ferdinand Sor^[5][6], or Ferdinando Sor^[7], with the surname also written as Sors^[1], Sort^[8], or Sorts^[9].

Contents 1 Quotes 2 Works 2.1 Méthode pour la Guitare 2.2 Instructional Material 3 References 4 External links 4.1 Sheetmusic 4.2 Biography 4.3 Publications 4.4 Historical Sources 4.5 Photos

[edit] Quotes

François-Joseph Fétis has called him "le Beethoven de la guitare"^{[citation needed]}, though he has also remarked the Sor had failed to produce a good tone^{[citation needed]} on one occasion. ^[10]

"The creative worth of Sor's guitar sonatas is high. The ideas, which grow out of the instrument yet stand up well enough apart from it, are fresh and distinctive. The harmony is skillful and surprisingly varied, with bold key changes and with rich modulations in the development sections. The texture is naturally of interest too, with the melody shifted from top to bottom, to middle, and frequent contrapuntal bits added. Among the extended forms, the first Allegro movements still show considerable flexibility in the application of 'sonata form', especially in the larger number of ideas introduced and recalled. For that matter, the style still goes back to that of Joseph Haydn and Mozart, especially in the first movement of Op. 22, which has all the neatness of syntax and accompaniment to be found in a classic symphony, and its third and fourth movements, which could nicely pass as a Minuet and Rondo by Haydn."

—The sonata in the classical era (published 1963) (p. 664) by William S. Newman

"How should one perform Sor's music? I believe the answer is with considerably more freedom, expression and passion than has, for the most part, been done in the recent past. Sor, in his method of 1830 has much to say about the use of tone color on the guitar and even discusses how to imitate the various orchestral instruments. This use of color is something that is very uncommon amongst modern guitarists. Ironically Sor says very little about other aspects of expression, but other guitar methods from the era do recommend much use of portamento, arpeggiation of chords, and other expressive devices which most people today consider anachronistic and completely out of style in the interpretation of the guitar music from this very era! (It never ceases to amaze me how so many modern guitarists and musicologists [...] don't even consider the wealth of material and instruction from Sor's era which cries out that this music is meant to be expressed with such devices as dynamics, tone color, portamento, chordal arpeggiation [...]. These same modern guitarists with the conspiratorial support of supposedly enlightened musicologists will often perform this music, sometimes on a "period" guitar, and use practically none of the above-mentioned expressive devices.)"

—Fernando Sor - Master Composer For Guitar?^[11]

[edit] Works

One of Sor's most popular compositions is his "Introduction and Variations on a Theme by Mozart", Op. 9, which was published in Paris as Variations Brillantes sur un Air Favori de Mozart de l'Opéra La Flûte Enchantée ("O cara armonía") Pour Guitare Seule, Exécutées par l'Auteur au Concert donné à l'Ecole R^le de Musique et Dédiées à son Frère par Ferdinando Sor, Op. 9.

It is based on a melody "Das klinget so herrlich, das klinget so schön!"^[12] from The Magic Flute, which Mozart composed in 1791.^[13]

[edit] Méthode pour la Guitare

Sor's Méthode pour la Guitare was first published in French under the name Méthode pour la Guitare (1830).

[edit] Instructional Material

Sor was a prolific and, in his time, quite popular composer—and there was a great demand for him to compose material that was approachable by less accomplished players. The resulting body of instructional studies he produced is not only noteworthy for its value to students of the guitar, but for its basic musicality. Much of this work is organized in several opus (in increasing order of difficulty): Opus 60 (25 lessons), Opus 44 (24 lessons), Opus 35 (24 exercises), Opus 31 (24 lessons), Opus 6 (advanced level) and Opus 29 (12 advanced lessons).

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fernando Sor

[edit] Sheetmusic

• Rischel & Birket-Smith's Collection of guitar music Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Denmark
• Boije Collection The Music Library of Sweden
• George C. Krick Collection of Guitar Music Washington University
• Fernando Sor (creativeguitar.org - largely taken from the above sources)
• Free scores by Fernando Sor in the International Music Score Library Project
• Free scores by Fernando Sor in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)

[edit] Biography

• Fernando Sor UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography, (2003)
• More detailed biography and performance notes (www.musicweb-international.com)
• Another biography (www.classicalguitar.net)

[edit] Publications

• Information (Tecla Editions)
• Ich, Fernando Sor Versuch einer Autobiografie und gitarristische Schriften; by Wolf Moser (Edition Saint-Georges, ISBN 30001552741)

[edit] Historical Sources

• Diccionario biográfico-bibliográfico de efemérides de músicos españoles by Baltasar Saldoni
• Recensionen: Guitarre-Schule von Ferdinand Sor Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung; published by Breitkopf und Härtel, 1832
• historical source Revue de Paris; published by Demengeot & Goodman, e.a., 1851
• historical source The Harmonicon, 1823
• historical source Dictionnaire des artistes de l'école française, au XIXe siècle; by Charles Gabet; 1831
• historical source Seven years of the King's theatre; by John Ebers; published by Carey, Lea & Carey, 1828
• historical source Revue musicale; by F. J. Fétis; 1827
• historical source Bentley's miscellany; by Charles Dickens, William Harrison Ainsworth, Albert Smith; published by Richard Bentley, 1844

[edit] Photos

• Fernando Sor's grave at the Cimetière de Montmartre (alt.)

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