Fernando Sor

Featuring

Philippe Mouratoglou
Fernando Sor

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Sor was obsessed with bel canto throughout his life, a passion he shared with Frédéric Chopin, and this influenced his instrumental aesthetic.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Fernando Sor's work is characterized by his refusal of ease, distinguishing him from his contemporaries, even in his pedagogical works.

Historical Context

When Fernando Sor was born in 1778, the guitar was undergoing a profound transformation, losing its double strings but gaining a bass string.

Compositional Technique

Sor's studies are considered to the guitar what Chopin's are to the piano: a technical postulate to forget technique, focusing on musicality.

Interpretation

The performer, Philippe Mouratoglou, chose to interpret these works on a modern instrument rather than a romantic guitar to achieve a richer range of nuances and resonances.

Composer Biography

Fernando Sor had to leave Spain permanently in 1813 after Napoleon's troops were defeated, as he was associated with pro-Napoleonic circles.

Critical Reception

The critic Fétis, despite praising Sor's artistry, famously questioned why such a superior artist would play an 'ungrateful and unsonorous' instrument like the guitar of his time.