
Fernando Sor life and music, a short biography based on my book Fernando Sor Composer and Guitarist.
The new 2020 third edition of my book Fernando Sor Composer and Guitarist is available in digital as pdf only (currently not in printed form). It has plenty of new information about Sor, including who Sor’s first wife was – we know her name, we know what she did, we know something about her.
Brian Jeffery
Here are the Sor items available from Tecla.
Brian Jeffery: the new 2020 third edition of my book Fernando Sor Composer and Guitarist. Available in pdf only (currently not available in printed form).
Sor: The New complete works for guitar and guitar duet, re-engraved printed edition in eleven volumes. Now also available in digital (pdfs). Urtext. It includes FREE items.
Sor: The Complete Studies, Lessons and Exercises for guitar (Tecla 101). The standard authentic and professional edition of this music, now in its sixth printing, used worldwide and available in both printed and digital (pdf). Urtext.
Sor: The Sixteen Easiest Pieces by Sor for Guitar, ed. Brian Jeffery (TECLA 0100), the complete book. Available in printed and in digital (pdf). On the Tecla web page for this item you can see videos of all sixteen pieces, very useful for any student or beginner.
Sor: Fantaisie elégiaque, op. 59. Available in printed and in digital (pdf).
Sor: Method for the Spanish guitar – in English translation Available in printed and in digital (pdf).
VOICE
Sor: Seguidillas for voice and guitar or piano – famous songs. Available in printed and in digital (pdf).
Sor: Seguidillas Book 2 for two and three voices and guitar or piano Available in printed and in digital (pdf).
Sor: The complete Italian arietts for voice(s) and piano. Available in printed only.
Two seguidillas (“Si mis ojos te dicen” and “Yo no sé lo que tiene”) in a modern edition, from Sor’s article “Le Bolero” of 1835. “Si mis ojos te dicen” is amazingly fast, as you can hear in a video on this Tecla page for these pieces. Available in digital (pdf) only.
“Las quejas de Maruja”, a new re-engraved edition of this song. Available in digital (pdf) only.
“Should a pretty Spanish lass”, a new re-engraved edition of this song. Available in digital (pdf) only.
Mozart/Sor: Three airs from Don Giovanni, arranged with guitar accompaniments by Sor. Available in digital (pdf) only.
Appel des nègres aux français, a song for bass voice and guitar, against the slave trade. Available in digital (pdf) only.
CHORAL
O crux . Available in digital (pdf) only.
MORE
Allegretto (op. 44 no. 2) (no. 4 in Sor Sixteen Easiest Pieces) FREE
Study, op. 6 no. 9 (prescribed for ABRSM Grade 7)
Exercise, op. 35 no. 2 (prescribed for ABRSM Grade 3)
Exercise, op. 35 no. 22 (prescribed for ABRSM Grade 5)
Petite pièce, op. 44 no. 14 (prescribed for ABRSM Grade 4)
Lesson, op. 60 no. 1 (prescribed for ABRSM Grade 1)
Lesson, op. 60 no. 2 (prescribed for ABRSM Grade 2)
Lesson, op. 60 no. 23 (prescribed for ABRSM Grade 6)
See the list of ALL digital items by all composers now available from this Tecla website.
PRINTED SOR TITLES IN TECLA:
Sor: Volume 2 only of the 1982 facsimile edition of Sor’s works for guitar from Tecla Editions – a few copies only. This is an antiquarian item.
BOOKS
España de la guerra, the Spanish political and military songs of the war in Spain 1808 to 1814, a new book by Brian Jeffery of 2017 about the songs of the war, of which Sor was the principal known composer. Available in printed and in digital (pdf).
SOR BOOK AND EDITIONS:
I wrote what is now the standard biography of Fernando Sor: Fernando Sor, Composer and Guitarist, on which see below. Based on the research which I was able to do when I prepared that book, which included for the first time a detailed bibliography of all Sor’s compositions, I have been able to prepare and to publish many works of his which you will find listed here above and below. Among them are his printed New Complete Works for Guitar in eleven volumes, and his Complete Studies, Lessons, and Exercises for guitar available in both printed and digital. All of these editions are based on a re-examination of the original sources. All of Sor’s original fingering is preserved, for example, which is not the case with some other editions of this music which alter Sor’s original fingering without saying that they are doing so. The editions which are listed here on this page provide you with authenticity.
Brian Jeffery
- Sor’s Allegro in the Spanish style, Natalie Houzé, and key dates in European cultural and political history: article in Soundboard, June 2022
- Sor – The Complete Studies, Lessons and Exercises – Complete Preface by Brian Jeffery
- Sor – Estudios completos (TECLA 101), introducción por Brian Jeffery en español
- Sor – The Complete Studies from Tecla Editions – Supplementary Information
- Segovia’s Twenty Studies by Sor – a table of Segovia’s twenty studies and the original opus numbers
- Sor, teaching, and the Enlightenment, an essay by Brian Jeffery
- Fernando Sor life and music
- Sor: Seguidillas, Introduction by Brian Jeffery
- Sor: Seguidillas. Tips for singers.
- Sor: Seguidillas, as dance music
- Sor: Seguidillas Book 2: the beginning of the introduction
- Sor: Seguidillas Book 2: first US performance, November 1999
- Sor: Variations on a Scottish Theme, op. 40 for solo guitar. The complete preface by Brian Jeffery (1982)
- Sor: Appel des nègres aux français. Preface
- Sor: The Complete Italian Arietts, Italian Duets, and the Three Canons, contents list
- Sor: The Complete Italian Arietts, Italian Duets, and the Three Canons. The complete introduction by Brian Jeffery.
- Sor: The New Complete Works for Guitar Solo and Guitar Duet. Introduction by Brian Jeffery
- Sor: The New Complete Works for Guitar Solo and Guitar Duet: more reviews
- Sor (1778-1839) biography
- Sor: Method for the Spanish Guitar, preface to the Tecla edition
- New light on Sor’s La Despedida (Les Adieux) op. 21
Featured Products
Sor’s Sixteen Easiest Pieces Sor – The Complete Studies Click here for all works by Sor published by Tecla.
Audio and Video Examples
Rob MacKillop playing pieces 1-4. They are played on a fine modern copy of a Lacote guitar. From
Sor – The Sixteen Easiest PiecesJamie Akers plays Op 29 no 17 from
Sor – The Complete StudiesGohar Vardanyan has made a video of Sor’s famous study in B minor (op. 35 no. 22) from the Tecla book
Sor – The Complete StudiesPatrik Kleemola has made videos of all 24 of the 24 very easy exercises op. 35 of Sor, on Youtube playing a copy of an early guitar.
Sor – The Complete StudiesSor’s “Sin duda que tus ojos”, seguidillas for three voices and guitar. Auditorio Jorge Luis Borges, Biblioteca Nacional, Buenos Aires, 20xx.
In the Tecla book
Sor – Seguidillas Book 2Kevin R. Gallagher plays op 35 no 22 from
Sor – The Complete StudiesSor: L’Encouragement Op. 34 (Cantabile), played by the Duo Historico.
In the Tecla complete guitar duets of Sor, in
Sor – New Complete Works for Guitar, volumes 8 to 11.