Fernando Sor master composer for guitar?
"Sor (1778-1839) is one of the great masters of his era." Of course such a radical statement as this requires a radical amount of explanation as well as qualification. Sor's guitar music began appearing inprint as early as 1808 and he continued to compose until his death in 1839. In 1808 Beethoven was soon to embark on his third and final period. By 1839 Schubert and Weber had been dead 11 and 13 years respectively, and Mendelssohn, Schumann, Berlioz and Chopin were well established in their careers. By comparison, Sor is indeed very obscure. Does he belong in such august company? Before answering this let us examine some of the aspects of the guitar, Sor, and his music which pertain to this question.
During his lifetime, Sor's greatest fame came as a guitarist-composer (although he did compose with moderate success for other mediums). Indeed the celebrated critic of the time, FrancoisJoseph Fetis even described Sor as "The Beethoven of the Guitar" and overthe years he and other critics praised Sor for his profound musicianship. Sor also performed in concert with many of the celebrated musicians of his time and even performed at least once with the young Franz Liszt! We can therefore assume that during his lifetime, Sor was highly respected and admired...
fernando sor master composer for guitar