Sor Fantasie in Dm

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INTRODU TION

ernando Sor (1778-1839) was one

of

the first great composers to write for the guitar in its modern configuration. H e wa,

-'

Catalan, born in Barcelona, and received his early musical training at the legendary monastery of Montserrat, where he

ar

. ;

in the boys' choir. His opera Il Telemaco neff isola di Calipso was produced in 1797, when he was only nineteen. Although t

was a commissioned officer in the Spanish army, he seems to have had few military responsibilities, and was able to pursue £:.: ,

as

a composer. Sor was briefly a

pr

oNge

of

the Duchess

of

Alba,

but

this relationship was ended by her death in 1802. After

th

e Fren

.::::

n, Sor remained loyal to the Borb6n dynasty for a while,

but

eventually joined many other liberal officers in supporting the Bonapar::-: ,

1813, the defeat of the French drove Sor into a permanent exile from his native land.

His

career took him to Paris, London , and on 0 :.0'

as

far

as

St. Petersburg and Moscow. Sor left over sixty works for one or two guitars, plu s several dozen songs, a few ball

e;:;

.

a

le

works and the studies, composed in the international

c l a s s i . : : ~

of the guitar repertory, works

of

consummate craftsmanship which compare favorably with virtually any

of

l : ~

of

his age.

In

the last few years, several lost works of Sor have

reappeared-two

ballets, the funeral march Sor was commissioned to write

tc:

of Tsar

Alexander I, and, most significantly, the previously unknown solo work which

is

published here for the first time. : : ~

of

the work is

Fantaisie pour Cuitare Seule Composee et didiee

a

Son Eleve Madamoiselle H ouze.

t is a demanding work created

b::

of his creative abilities, a work

of

gaiety, spontaneity, and virtuosity. The autograph manuscript, now in the possession

of

P

eF

at

Sotheby's as part of a collection, said to be

ofItalian

origin, which also included a number of autographed

f i . ~

of

works by Sor; the collection was probably assembled

in

Sor's lifetime, perhaps by the dedicatee Mlle

Houze

herself. The pre,·io:.::

of

the collection have preferred to remain anonymous, so its provenance

is

uncertain.

Natalie Houze was a pupil

of

Sor in Paris, and the dedicatee

of

several other

of

his works, the Six Waltzes, Op. 39 (1830?) , and

::.c

Op

. 54

bis

(1833), both for two guitars. She was also the dedicatee

of

the

Gr

ande Sonate, Op. 51

of

Francesco Molino (1775-18

4;-

.

is known

of

her, but her association with two of the best guitarists in Paris, and the q u a l i ~ :::'

music

that

they composed for her, together imply that she was a talented guitarist. Molino's

Grande Methode,

Op. 46, contains a picture

:

:'

le N.

H.

who is

"eleve la plus orte

de

MI

MO

,

demonstrating the proper posture for playing

the

guitar.

Dr.

Peter

Dann

er

l

L ,

out that

Madelle N.

H. is

very likely to have been Mlle Natali e Houze. Although the dating

of

Molino's works is problematic, it s

ee::-.:

that

Mlle Houze was a pupil

of

Molino for several years in the 1820s, and then (assuming

that

she would not have two such teach,,:,

The date of the Fantaisie was probably about 1833, since it requires at least the ,a::-.t

as Op. 54

bis

, and because it

is

unlikely in that era that a talented, attractive, and apparently well-to-do yo, ::;

married indefinitely.

By 1827, Sor had returned to live in Paris after his extended visit to Russia.

In

St. Petersburg and Moscow Sor had achieved

mc.:-.::

of

the new

tsaritsa.

His ballerina wife, Felicite Hullin, returned to Russia to purs

ue

:,t:

but

in spite

of

conjecture, there

is

no evidence that this plunged Sor into a great melancholy.

On

the contrary, his internatio

:,.o..:

s music was in demand across the continent.

The

next ten years saw his ballets perform ed in the capit?':; .: :'

as a performer extolled in the international press. Sor lived quietly in Paris, for a while in the

Hotel

Favart on the R

.:

::

in

1832 he moved to the

March

e S a i n t - H o r .

e Vendome.

His

frequent concerts, many

of

them documented in the

Revue music

ale, sometimes included duets

" , ~

: ::.

but

his principal income was increasingly derived from teaching fashionable young

as

Mlle Houze.2

There

is

nothing to indicate that Mlle

Hou

ze ever used the manuscript as a performing copy; it contains no fingering indication,: :.:..:.

the fingering in this edition has been provided by Pepe Romero. Sor's musical notation indicates a great deal about his intentions ; it

:-.>

3

with a few exceptions. Slurs not included in the original manuscript are indicated here by dotted slur

s:

: '.-.::

of

accidentals has been modernized and occasionally corrected; the one flat in the key signature

of

the minor section of the An

dl

1 :.

- ': :

7)

was omitted

in

the original; the thematic phrase

of

the

Allegretto vivace

movement, notated by Sor

as

in example A below, has bee:: :

::

-

tated throughout

as

in example

B. -Richard

M.

~ n g ,

1

yy :

A B

i _

i _

f

f

1 Dr. Danner used the picture

of

Madej

e

N. H. on the cover

of Soundboard, XIX

,

No.3

(FalllWinter 1992); his identification is on

? ~ ; =

5.

2 For most of these biographical details I am indebted, as is anyone who wishes to learn about Sor, to Brian Jeffery, Femandr &r:

C > i ; .

:.

:

uitarist (London: Tecla Editions, 1977; 2nd edition, 1995). '

3 Although every effort has been made to preserve the artistic and hi storical authenticity of this edition, it contains new and original

ected by international copyright. This mus

ic

is

not in

the public domain.

G;vIE 010





























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Sor Fantasie in Dm