Fernando Sor

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Biography

Born: February 14, 1778; Barcelona, Spain   Died: July 10, 1839; Paris, France  
Spanish composer Fernando Sor (originally Sors), despite having composed prolifically for various vocal and instrumental ensembles, is remembered today chiefly as a virtuoso guitarist whose hundred-plus compositions for that instrument constitute a vital part of its concert repertory. While the exact date of Sor's birth remains unknown, he is known to have been born in Barcelona and baptized on Valentine's Day in the year 1778. Of Catalan Read more ancestry, Sor attended the choir school at Montserrat monastery and later enrolled in Barcelona's military academy. After the production of his opera Telemaco nell'isola de Calipso in 1797 he moved to Madrid, where he served in a number of minor administrative positions and continued to compose privately. During the French invasion of 1808 Sor's military background and patriotism roused him to fight against the invaders, though by 1810 he had resigned himself to the presence of the new regime; when the French withdrew three years later Sor opted, along with countless other Spanish artists and intellectuals, to return to Paris with them.

After two years of teaching guitar and performing in various Parisian venues, Sor moved to London and remained there for eight years (1815-1823). Many of his works were published there, and his thirty-three Italian vocal ariettas (published in groups of three) made a particularly strong impact. Sor also gained fame after directing his energies toward the ballet; Cendrillon (1822) achieved the most favorable critical and public response and was successfully transplanted to Paris in 1822. When the Bolshoi theater in Moscow showed an interest in the work for the 1823 season, Sor accompanied the lead dancers to Moscow. He limited his compositional activities to music for the guitar while staying in Russia, and by the time he returned to Paris in 1826 he had several works for the instrument ready for publication and had completed much of the work on a Méthode pour la guitare, eventually published in Paris in 1830. Except for occasional trips abroad, such as a journey to London in 1828 to oversee production of a new ballet, Hassan et le calife, Sor remained in Paris, composing and teaching guitar, until his death in 1839.

Much of Sor's music that has survived (two symphonies, three string quartets and any number of smaller pieces have been lost since his death) has been abandoned by performers, but his music for the guitar lives on. Much of his reputation is based on the continued use of his Méthode by teachers and students of classical guitar. Sor's musical style derives largely from an awareness of the late eighteenth century German masters (in particular Haydn); his guitar music, with its independent voices and occasionally contrapuntal textures, shows a tendency to move away from the largely chordal textures that had been common up to that point. Read less
Browse 1-25 of 232 Available Recordings
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  • 1.
    Begin
    Label: Gsp Recordings   Catalog: 1037 Release Date: 11/20/2012   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Sérgio Assad,  Fernando Sor,  Terry Riley,  Johann Sebastian Bach  ... 
    Performer:  Adam Cockerham,  Sérgio Assad
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Pacific Guitar Ensemble
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  • 2.
    Coming Of Age: Music For Guitar By Bach, Sor, Torroba And Brouwer
    Label: Nicholas Ciraldo   Catalog: 5637946020 Release Date: 10/11/2012   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Johann Sebastian Bach,  Fernando Sor,  Federico Moreno-Torroba,  Leo Brouwer
    Performer:  Nicholas Ciraldo
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  • 3.
    A Day In The Country
    A Day In The Country
    Label: Dos Almas   Catalog: 5637910177 Release Date: 09/26/2012   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Guillermo Gomez,  Louis Valentine Johnson,  Ludovico Roncalli,  Luis de Narváez  ... 
    Performer:  Louis Valentine Johnson
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  • 4.
    Guitar Sensation - Tribute To Andres Segovia / Friedemann Wuttke
    Guitar Sensation - Tribute To Andres Segovia / Friedemann Wuttke
    Label: Profil   Catalog: 12036 Release Date: 09/25/2012   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Isaac Albeniz,  Fernando Sor,  Joaquin Malats,  Enrique Granados  ... 
    Performer:  Andrés Segovia,  Friedemann Wuttke
    Conductor:  Igor Zhukov,  Nicolás Pasquet
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  New Moscow Chamber Orchestra,  Hungarian Chamber Philharmonic Pecs
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  • 5.
    Norwegian Landscape
    Norwegian Landscape
    Label: Clear Note   Catalog: CN-74403 Release Date: 06/26/2012   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  David Cullen,  Leo Brouwer,  Fernando Sor,  Francisco Tarrega  ... 
    Performer:  Berit Strong
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  • 6.
    Maestro Guitar
    Maestro Guitar
    Label: Musical Concepts   Catalog: 1195 Release Date: 06/05/2012   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Luis de Milan,  Robert de Visée,  Anonymous,  Franz Joseph Haydn  ... 
    Performer:  Andrés Segovia
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  • 7.
    Sor: 20 Studies For Guitar / Cristiano Porqueddu
    Sor: 20 Studies For Guitar / Cristiano Porqueddu
    Label: Brilliant Classics   Catalog: 9205 Release Date: 05/29/2012   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Fernando Sor
    Performer:  Cristiano Porqueddu
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  • 8.
    Arbol Del Olvido / Pezzimenti, Rowe, Enlow, Rose
    Arbol Del Olvido / Pezzimenti, Rowe, Enlow, Rose
    Label: Cd Baby   Catalog: 215752 Release Date: 05/22/2012   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Isaac Albeniz,  Manuel de Falla,  Alberto Ginastera,  Fernando Sor  ... 
    Performer:  Brian Rowe,  Carlo Pezzimenti,  Leslie Enlow,  Melody Rose
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  • 9.
    Classical Guitar Performance / Carlos Bonell
    Classical Guitar Performance / Carlos Bonell
    Label: Musical Concepts   Catalog: DYDV1 Release Date: 05/08/2012   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Gaspar Sanz,  Isaac Albeniz,  Francisco Tarrega,  Johann Sebastian Bach  ... 
    Performer:  Carlos Bonell
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  • 10.
    Espanoletas: Spanish Guitar Favourites From Five Centuries
    Label: Db Productions   Catalog: 146 Release Date: 04/24/2012   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Luis de Narváez,  Alonso de Mudarra,  Gaspar Sanz,  Fernando Sor  ... 
    Performer:  Marten Falk
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  • 11.
    Classical Guitar Favourites / Kraft, Garcia, Cassovia, Breiner
    Classical Guitar Favourites / Kraft, Garcia, Cassovia, Breiner
    Label: Naxos   Catalog: 8503260 Release Date: 03/27/2012   Number of Discs: 3
    Composer:  Fernando Sor,  Dionysio Aguado,  Francisco Tarrega,  Niccolò Paganini  ... 
    Performer:  Norbert Kraft,  Gerald Garcia,  Pavol Gimcik,  Maria Licková  ... 
    Conductor:  Peter Breiner
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  • 12.
    La Voix de l'Emotion / Montserrat Figueras
    La Voix de l'Emotion / Montserrat Figueras
    Label: Alia Vox   Catalog: 9889 Release Date: 03/13/2012   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Unknown,  Traditional,  Luis de Milan,  Francisco Guerrero  ... 
    Performer:  Montserrat Figueras
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  • 13.
    Paganini, Giuliani, Sor, Albeniz / Neil Smith
    Paganini, Giuliani, Sor, Albeniz / Neil Smith
    Label: Unizarre   Catalog: 002 Release Date: 02/14/2012   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Niccolò Paganini,  Mauro Giuliani,  Fernando Sor,  Isaac Albeniz
    Performer:  Neil Smith
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  • 14.
    Sanz, Sor, Tarrega, Albeniz, Granados / Neil Smith
    Sanz, Sor, Tarrega, Albeniz, Granados / Neil Smith
    Label: Unizarre   Catalog: 001 Release Date: 02/14/2012   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Gaspar Sanz,  Fernando Sor,  Francisco Tarrega,  Isaac Albeniz  ... 
    Performer:  Neil Smith
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  • 15.
    Cadencia
    Cadencia
    Label: Disc Makers   Catalog: 208267 Release Date: 01/17/2012   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  John Dowland,  Traditional,  Anonymous Sephardic,  Fernando Sor  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Malkin-Trybek Duo
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  • 16.
    Guitar Classics Of Spain And Latin America
    Guitar Classics Of Spain And Latin America
    Label: Clear Note   Catalog: 74550 Release Date: 10/25/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Francisco Tarrega,  Luis de Narváez,  Fernando Sor,  Isaac Albeniz  ... 
    Performer:  James Flegel
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  • 17.
    Through The Centuries
    Label: Clear Note   Catalog: 74517 Release Date: 10/25/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  David Kellner,  Fernando Sor,  Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco,  Leo Brouwer  ... 
    Performer:  Kevin Manderville
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  • 18.
    Granados, Falla, Llobet, Rodrigo, Pujol / Anabel Montesinos
    Granados, Falla, Llobet, Rodrigo, Pujol / Anabel Montesinos
    Label: Naxos   Catalog: 8572843 Release Date: 09/27/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Enrique Granados,  Manuel de Falla,  Miguel Llobet,  Joaquin Rodrigo  ... 
    Performer:  Anabel Montesinos
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  • 19.
    Suplica
    Label: Duo Amaral   Catalog: 50159220 Release Date: 09/09/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Domenico Scarlatti,  Fernando Sor,  Victor Manuel A. Ramirez,  Alberto Ginastera  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Duo Amaral
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  • 20.
    The Super Audio Collection, Vol. 5
    The Super Audio Collection, Vol. 5
    Label: Linn Records   Catalog: 389 Release Date: 08/30/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Barb Jungr,  Fernando Sor,  Nigel Clark,  Fiona Mackenzie  ... 
    Performer:  Barb Jungr,  William Carter,  Nigel Clark,  Carol Kidd  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  The Prince Consort (Vocal Ensemble),  Dunedin Consort,  Phantasm (Viol Consort)  ... 
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  • 21.
    Irina Kulikova - Guitar Laureate
    Irina Kulikova - Guitar Laureate
    Label: Naxos   Catalog: 8572717 Release Date: 07/26/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Johann Sebastian Bach,  Fernando Sor,  Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco,  J. M Gallardo Del Rey  ... 
    Performer:  Irina Kulikova
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  • 22.
    Change Is Gonna Come
    Change Is Gonna Come
    Label: Alba   Catalog: 313 Release Date: 07/12/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Joachim Bernhard Hagen,  Johann Sebastian Bach,  Fernando Sor,  Nicholas Maw  ... 
    Performer:  Petri Kumela
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  • 23.
    Fernando Sor: Le Calme - Late Works For Guitar
    Fernando Sor: Le Calme - Late Works For Guitar
    Label: Linn Records   Catalog: 380 Release Date: 06/28/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Fernando Sor
    Performer:  William Carter
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  • 24.
    Guitar Favourites / Roland Mueller
    Guitar Favourites / Roland Mueller
    Label: Oehms   Catalog: 791 Release Date: 06/28/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Carlo Domeniconi,  Leo Brouwer,  Yuquijiro Yocoh,  Enrique Granados  ... 
    Performer:  Roland Mueller
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  • 25.
    Guitar Serenity
    Guitar Serenity
    Label: Guitar Serenity   Catalog: 169514 Release Date: 06/14/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Francisco Tarrega,  Ryan Huddleston,  Gaspar Sanz,  Giovanni Zamboni  ... 
    Performer:  Ryan Huddleston
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