Some suggestions for performers of Sor’s seguidillas from the Tecla edition of Sor: Seguidillas and Seguidillas Book 2.
Many of the songs are marked Andante. Bear in mind that Andante at that period did not necessarily mean “slow” as it does today. It just meant “with movement”. So don’t just automatically sing them slow!
At the back of the Seguidillas you will find the article which Sor himself wrote, entitled “Le Bolero”. In it are some musical examples, on two of which he has put metronome markings. One is 130, which is fast. The other is 162-164, which is very fast. Consider applying these indications to at least some of these songs.
Remember that Sor himself sang seguidillas while a dancer was dancing the bolero. So these songs either are actual dance music, or have the dance very much in mind. And it was a fast and lively dance: travellers in Spain who saw and heard it said that the feet were never still, and that any Spaniard hearing the opening bars would get up and want to start dancing the catchy rhythm.
Copyright 2008 by Tecla Editions. Errors and omissions excepted.
