FERNANDO SOR The Complete Studies for Guitar Newly engraved from early editions Historical Notes by Matanya Ophee Playing Suggestions & Commentary by Richard Savino CHANTERELLE 491FERNANDO SOR The Complete Studies for Guitar Newly engraved from early editions Historical Notes by Matanya Ophee Playing Suggestions & Commentaries by Richard Savino 491 Chanterelle i us on the Web at http://www.chanterelle.com E-mail us at chanterelle@t-online.deFernando Sor (1778-1839) Porrtin ealtion aay Ope ronacaty tad poles ‘On the provenance of the Sor Portr: ‘The pcre depict sove pas, on ofthe ot widely wm poraitso itis onpst One can fd io any manele, exo cover, cree Popa. ‘hire Yer ver le cual known sat heaps th pcre was rene So fearwilinres xcept asa essing eens fe composer may ‘den nga aon ad ton ay ctrbarave evens Accord oe it litany graphy Ser (Fea Lan 1977) te re lyre Kr ‘opt tis engrving, one ah he Bri ny hs ce Natasa aan tee copier, ow inthe cllion af Matas Ope A se ekaminaton of he Sng ‘eval resting srs shout Ont op gt conr of engine lng one we ete pe delat de Mr A. Motor fra Me Atet (On te uk ofthe engin i his pec nsigton prs avin Sipacved Sor (1834 / Pu commanor le center de ‘er (839) allafacston aioe 2 Sp (94) oe heute a et pour 21 so porta (original is Veer ‘Theft inscrisin is Feat eet. Anite Nelsons ws Sas main pub ai stat 24 when compat vedi be in win dni ih Pas so eee eM Alle whom Messmer feed eg ‘The dee a chopper no sxoneaied Sor and Feit alin So 0 Rasa at tala Aber Neel el hve bo tha an who wa ie recent of engin. The importa pit hee, howe, the ft tht he dar oth apa oe er a ‘Gepubser Ame Melson, Whi ares no ay af roving nari rod ‘hance at the ptr, dn by Goshen and iho! by Borer athe Engin iboprptie ping wr, publ by Nebo Is, ie woul pve spite -Apmety Me Aer, wbseverbe my have be, orbs eee mat iv dpsed of ‘Become point Evenly ade away othe ck ofa Prison, se fans toot oa pn pede sling hk wae slog bal he cr rn ‘ras oupht by Ane Vrerin 18 fr3 rence gan ely eet pctae ti om Vrs widow Tg iti 98 fom Dr ey Matanya Opbes Cols Feteawy 1996 5: Cur tres enon of isp o fei of Mine Verdier ellen aden af he Sar Hogan Soar pe, 950),CONTENTS Read Me First Introduction. ‘Twelve Studies, opus 6 (Nos 1-12) Douze Etudes, opus 29 (Nos 13-24) ‘Vingt Quatre Legons Progressives, opus 31 ‘Vingt Quatre Exercices Trés Faciles, opus 35 Vingt Quatre Petites Piéces Progressives, opus 44 Introduction a I’Etude de la Guitare, opus 60 Excerpts and Exercises from the Method . Playing Suggestions Commentary ‘Appendix: 1. The Coste, Segovia & Sainz de la Maza editions, numbering etc. . Il Suggested Grading . IIL Aguado on expression IV. Thematic Index “This edition rst published 1996 by Chamterelle Verlag ed either bee copnit in ty Mei Meme ‘sein senor mt nd et Cope ‘Catalogue Number ECH 491 32 62 93 136 155 167 173 185 186 187 188FERNANDO SOR: THE COMPLETE STUDIES FOR GUITAR READ ME FIRST In this edition the studies are presented in the chronological order in which they were originally published. See the section on Suggested Grading (page 186). . Each study has been engraved from the source which in the opinion of the editor is closest to the composer. . The notation in the source editions has been followed faithfully, inconsisten- cies in barring and stemming have been regularised; but without changing the value or musical function of any notes. All slurs have been retained (see note 7 below). ‘Variations between the various editions used and consulted are listed in the Commentary (page 173). For clarity we have restricted this section to note content; articulation is not covered. The versions chosen for this edition are indicated with an asterisk (*). All original texts and fingerings have been retained, but with obvious errors silently corrected. The original fingering is always set in roman in the music text. . All fingering in italics is editorial. Dotted slurs and items in square brackets are also editorial. Precautionary accidentals have been added sparingly in round brackets. All the foregoing are editorial and are not in the source editions. . Appoggiaturas are notated in this edition without slurs and not as they appear in the source editions, where some have slurs to the main note and others not. Today’s players will most probably choose to use slurs in most, if not all, cases. Catalogue No, ECH 491 ISBN 89044-199.8 ISMNM-2047.0000-4 Distiouted by Chanterelle Verlag, Postfach 103909, D-69029 Heidelberg ‘This publication is available in good masie shops worldwide Tease of difficulty please writ tothe publishers ‘This edition frst published 1996 by Chanterelle Verlag revised and repented 1997 (© 1996 & 1997 by Michael Macmesken ‘This ction contains new and original material ands strictly Copyright. No par of this publication may be copied, reproduced, sol, stored in arerieval device, broadcast or transmited in any way or by any means without the express prior pemmission in writing ofthe publishers, ‘Photocopying this edition is legal and may resulta legal action. Music engraving by Jan de Kloe Cover design by Eva Maria Brandstiter “The detail of the portrait of Sor onthe cover and the portat on page 2of this edition ‘are reproduced by kind permission of Matanya Opec “Manufactured in the United Kingdom by Hobbs The Printers Lid, Totion, Hants (CHANTERELLEA91INTRODUCTION 5 INTRODUCTION by Matanya Ophee Historical Background The earliest collection of didactic pieces by Fernando Sor, the 12 Studies op. 6, was first published in London in 1815. The last one, the/ntroduction to the Study of the Guitarop. 60, was ‘composed in 1837, just two years before the composer's death.' Together with the other collections contained in the present volume the 12 Studies op. 29, the 24 Lessons op. 31, the 24 Exercises op. 35 and the Twenty-four litle pieces to serve as lessons for beginners op. 44, this material so rich in the wisdom and compassion of a great teacher has enjoyed the respect and admiration of generations of guitar teachers and their students. The didactic pieces written and published by “Fernando Sor throughout his entire creative life have re- ‘mained in print for well-nigh a century and ahalfnow. Inspite of the appearance of more recent developments in guitar literature, these pieces have demonstrated a resilience of purpose seldom seen in guitar music of the early nineteenth century. Indeed, this was, and will remain so, the mainstay of guitar pedagogy. Some of these collections were published during the compos- cer’s life time in secondary and tertiary editions in several European countries. Over the intervening years they have been reissued many times in one form or another, sometimes even without mention of the composer's name. There were ‘many editions also published in this century, the main one being the famous collection of 20 studies published by Andrés Segovia in 1945. The great majority of guitarists ofthe last SO years or so have come to know the music of Sor through, recordings and concert performances by Segovia, as well as ‘through this one slender volume. To this day, his collection enjoys the acceptance of a large body of guitar practitioners. In recent years we have seen a growing scepticism ina blind acceptance of Segovia’s interpretative editorial practices. Hi edition, we are often told, is not “what the composer wrote”. Unfortunately, there are no extant autograph manuscripts of the Sor Studies and wé cannot really tell what the composer wrote. All we have available to us are the many editions of these collections, published during the composer's life time, often by himself, and later by his students and admirers. ‘Taking the first editions as a guide for what the composer wrote, or perhaps meant to write, is not always a reliable procedure. We have no idea what interventions were thrown into these editions by their publishers or engravers. In later life, Femando Sor took direct responsibility for publishing his ‘own music. Before he broke offhis business relationship with the publisher Meissonnier in 1828, Sor may not have had direct control of the final printed image of his music. It is ‘unwise to assign authoritative importance to the graphic mage of these editions without some corroborative evidence. Fortunately, we do have a rather substantive tome of verbal discussions of the music, particularly those of a didactic nature, by the composer himself. In 1830, within four years of his return to Paris in 1826? Fernando Sor published his own guitar method. As a volume of pedagogical discussions, the book is able to throw a great deal of light on the composer-educator’s philosophy. When used in conjunction with the musical matter contained in the studies, the pedagogical purpose of each of the various pieces, supposedly becomes crystal clear. Would it that this were so, ‘The difficulty lies in the fact that regardless of its title, the guitar method by Fernando Sor is not a guitar method in the traditional sense of the word. It is rather a manifesto, an attempt to codify pedagogical theory in relation to applied technique by throwing about ideas in a hotchpotch of fanciful ‘exaggerations and obvious contradictions. Itis often difficult to understand from this book what exactly Sor’s ideas were about the guitar and its technique. His idea of what a method should be is expressed by himself in no uncertain terms: ‘Méthode. Traité des principes raisonnés sur lesquels sont fondées les rigles qui doivent guider les opérations, Method. A treatise of logical principles on which the rules that should guide the operations are based. (My translation Mo. In other words, according to Sor, his Method does not neces- sarily contain instructions or rules for practical operations. It is enough that it expresses the author's philosophical princi- ples. Actual musical instruction is to take place, he seems to insinuate, in other contexts. Perhaps the most realistic descrip- tion of the true nature of Sor’s book is contained in a mid- nineteenth century version of it, edited and published by his pupil Napoléon Coste. In the Introduction, Coste says: There are three biographies of Femndo Sor curently in print, Brian Jeffery, Fernando Sor, Composer and Guitarist, London, Tecla Eitions, 1977, reprinted essentially unchanged in 1994, Ais: Welf Moser, Fer indo Sor Versuch einer Autobiographie und gitarraische Schrift Cologne, Gitare & Lante Verlag, 1984. Algo: Berard Pris, Fernando ‘Sor, Une Guitare 8 Orde du Romantome, Pars, Auber, 1989. All three ‘books seems ta Be based on the same materi, mast the writings of Sor himself Many questions about Sor’ personal biograpty stil remain ‘unanswered, 2 Méthode pour La Guitare / par / Fernando Sor. Pris, 1830. Facsimile dition by MinkofT Reprint, Geneva 1981. It should be noted that the ‘MinkofTedition sa hybrid oftwo different editions. Thetext is indeed that ofthe 1830Paris edition. Theillustationsand the music examples, though, ate taken from the 1832 N, Simrock bi-lingual Fench/German edition. All quotations ffom this book are taken from the French orginal. The English version tanlated by Armold Merrick s much better known toy Unfortunately, itcontains several ri-ranslations and distortions of Sor ‘original intentions, (CHANTERELLE 4916 FERNANDO SOR: THE COMPLETE STUDIES FOR GUITAR Depuis Robert de Visée, peu d'artstes se distinguerent dans ce genre de composition. Aussi lorsque Sor parutprés dedeucxsidcle plus tard, causa--il une vive sensation dans le monde musical I! étonna et ravit par le charme et la ‘nowweauté de ses créations qui resteront comme des mode- lesde science et du got Les succes de ce grand artiste ne emirent point a I'abride la critique envieuse. Les tracas- series qu'il eut& essuyer de la part d ignorantsconfréres aqui ne le comprenaiont pas, lui aigirent lesprt et ce fut sous ees ficheuses impressions qu'il écrvit le texte de sa “Méthode dans teque il paraissait bien plus préoccupé de repousser les attaques dont il eroyait étre objet et de rendre guerré pour guerre, que de développer ces précep- tes etde es mettre i la portée de tous. Ce défaut grave au point de vue de I'enseignement a été sent parle judicicux daditer qui remet au jour Vocuvre de Sor* Since Robertde Visée, few artists distinguished themselves inthiskind of composition. Also, when Sor appeared nearly two centuries later, he caused a lively commotion in the ‘musical world, He astonished and enraptured by the charm and the novelty of his creations which will stay as models of science and taste, The successes of this great artist have not sheltered him from envious criticism. The bickering to ‘hich he was subjected by ignorant colleagues who did not ‘understand him, soured his spirit. It was under these trou- ‘blesome impressions that he wrote the text of his Method in which he seemed much more preoccupied in repulsing the attacks of which he believed himselft0 be the object and of returning war for war, than of developing his precepts and cofpputting them atthereach ofall. This serious fault from the point of view of teaching was felt by the discriminating editor [Coste] who brought back to light the work of Sor. (My translation - MO.) This is the opinion of a disciple, a friend and an admirer to whom Sor dedicated one of his major works, his op. 63, Souvenir de Russie for two guitars. His views are expressed with sorrow and understanding. He is certainly not hostile to Sor and to his memory. When viewed in this light we are ina better position to appreciate the extreme pain under which the Sor Method was written, and perhaps guess at some of the reasons for the exaggerations and contradictions contained therein. Sor begins his narrative by stating that his purpose istodiscuss his own personal technique and the reasons which brought him to adoptit. Right from the very beginning he uses a quasi combative argumentation, which, in several important tech cal points, has caused readers and scholars to assign to him ideas that he may have tried to promote in his book, however surreptitiously, but which, on a closer examination of the historical record, is liable to be distrusted as a true represen- tation of Sor’s performance practice. A good example of this premise isa statement by Sor that he prefers to use only three fingers of the right hand because the annular is too weak and, besides, it does not lie in the proper alignment with the other three. Hiis argument is accompanied “Napoleon Coste, Méthode de Gultare par Ferdinand Sor. Pats, Schonenberger, 1851 (Lesure), pn. 1726. Copy in the Rschel & Biket Smith Collection, Royal Library of Copenbagen. Reprinted by Lemoine. BHO. Copy’ of the repeat in the eolleston of Matany Oph. by a geometric drawing of the flat hand and the alignment of its fingers in that position. The argument appears convincing, except that it is based on the faulty notion that the fingers remain in that alignment even when the hand is curved into a playing position above the strings. It may well have remained soin Sor's own hand, but human anatomy, a subject dear to his heart, allows for an infinite variety in hand construction between individuals. In any case, the argument is usually taken out of context to mean that Sor never used the annular ‘There are many pieces in Sor’s vast output that can be played with only three fingers and indeed are meant to be so played. On the other hand, there are many other pieces that simply cannot be performed without the annular. In fact, the penulti- ‘mate chapter in the book is devoted to the R.H. annular and use. Init, Sor describes the conditions that require the use of that finger and explains the modifications in hand positions, which he is forced to make in order to accommodate the annular. Another issue in which Sor is less than candid, is the matter of R.H. fingering for scales. He says: Quant & la main droite, je n'ai jamais visé & faire des gammes détachées, ni avec une grand vitesse, parce que J'ai cru que la guitare ne pourrait jamais me rendre d'une ‘maniére satsfaisante les traits de violon, tandis qu'en ‘proftantde a failté quelle présente pour lier lessons, je ‘pourraisimiter un peu miews les traits de chant ‘As for the right hand, I have never aimed to play detached [plucked] scales, nor with a great speed, because I have believed that the guitar could never offer me in a satisfac~ tory manner the features of the violin, while in taking, advantage ofthe facility that it presents in tying the sounds, T could better imitate features of singing. (My translation - MO.) ‘And then Sor provides a musical example (Ex. 29 - see page 156 in the present edition) which depicts a scale passage in legato, with a lengthy verbal rationalisation of his preference for legato scales against scales played détaché, a term used in reference to rapid R.H. alternation in m.im.i. and similar patterns. To close the discussion, Sor says: Sie lecteur désire apprendre a détacher avec vitesse les ‘notes d'un trait dexécution, fe ne puis mieux faire que de lerenvoyerdla Méthode de M. Aguado, qui, excellent dans ‘ce genred ‘exécution est dans le casdétabir les régles les plus réfléchies et les mic calelées la-dessus Ifthe eader wishes to lear to pluck the notes ofa passage ‘ith speed, I cannot do beter than send him tothe Method ‘of Mr. Aguado, who excels inthismanner ofexecution, and in which he esiablished the most thought-out and the best calculated rules about it. (My translation - MO.) Animportant observation mustbe made here: the only method by Aguado available in the French capital in 1830, must have been the 1826 Méthode Complete translated into French by Francois de Fossa. Itis not likely that Sor would have directed his French readers to the Spanish versions of this book, even if they were available, In that book, Aguado expresses the notion that scale passages should be performed in an ia... alteration. Can we then assume that Sor approved of ia.i.a fingering for scales? Probably not! Ina simplified version of (CHANTERELLE491INTRODUCTION it the Escuela published c. 1834, (op. 6) Aguado providesa first- hand testimony on the matter. This testimony was perhaps based on observations and discussions with Sorhimself, made ‘while living and working in close proximity in Paris. Pour exécuter les gammes je préfererais Vindex et le ‘médiuesal'index et annulaire commejele pratiquais adis. ‘Monexpériencem a prowvéque les raisons de Mr. Sor pour cette préference sont décisives ‘To execute scales I prefer the index and medium fingers {(ém..m.]to the index and annular [.a..a.] fingering I used to practise before. My experience proved to me that Mr. Sor's reasons for this preference are decisive. (My translation - MO.) ‘This is a testimonial by his friend Aguado. Ittells us how Sor actually played scales, in effect, repudiating Sor’s own pro- nouncements as made in his Method. It has also long been. assumed that most scale passages in Sor’s music should be played as legato as possible. The legato-in-scales was one of the majoraspects ofthe teachings of the Russian masters ofthe sevenstring guitar such as Andrei Sychra, Mikhail Vyssotsky and Semion Aksionov. As much as Sor speaks highly of this, type of scale playing, and while he might have picked up the idea from the Russians, there is little evidence of it be found inhis published music. The apparent attempt to promote an idea must then be viewed with a certain degree of scrutiny. Other aspects of Sor’stechnique suchas the restriction of R.H. fingers top, i. and m., cannot be accepted as general maxims butrather considered in the context ofhis actual compositions. The rationale for the present selection Publishers and editors, traditionally, have had differing crite- rin in determining which compositions or collections of pieces from the entire output of Femando Sor properly belong in an anthology destined for use in the teaching process. Asamatter of definition, we have to agree that each and every piece written by Sor can be said to have had a didactic purpose, whether the composer himself so described it in his titles, or inhis various writings, or not. Of course, the use of the entire output of Sor inthe formation of guitarists isa practice we can only applaud and encourage. Asa firstundertaking in present- ing this entire output in a usable format, the selection for the present volume is limited to those collections to which a reference has been made by Sorin his Method. We also chose those collections that containa reference to the didactic nature in their titles, or in the prefaces attached by the composer to their first editions. Inhis Method, Fernando Sor defines the nature of his various didactic collections which were published prior to 1830. He ‘Exereiees, Morceaue de musique dont chacin a pour bit de nous rendre faniliére Vapplication des regis. Les fexercices sont la pratique des théories éablies par la ‘méthode (que je considére la partie speculative), comme Temploide'équerre pour éleverune perpendiculairen'est ‘que le résultat de la démonsiration de cette figure: Exercises, Pieces of music, each having as an objective to ‘make us familiar with the application oftherules. Exercises are the practice of theories established by the method (which I consider the speculative part), as the use of the square for raising a perpendicular is the result of a certain geometrical demonstration. (Translation by Arnold Merrick.) Legons. Morceaux de musique dont chacun ne doit pas avoir pour but l'exercice d'une seule régle, mais aussi celles employées dans les legons précédentes, et méme d'initier I’écolier dans quelques exceptions. Lessons. Pieces of music, where each does not need to have for its object the exercise ofa singlerule, but also [may deal ‘with] the rules employed in the lessons preceding, and even the initiating ofthe student in some exceptions. (My trans- lation - MO, Etudes. Exercices des exceptions e1 des régles dont 'appli- cation présente plus de difficultés. ‘Studies. Exercises on exceptions, and on rules offering difficulties in their application. (Translation by Arnold Merrick.) In his preface to his edition of the 24 Exercises, op. 35,7 Sor insinuates that the reason for writing this collection was the observation made by others that the previous work, the 24 Lessons, op. 31, were not presented in a gradual progressive ‘manner, an observation he later repeated in the Method itself. This time, he assures his prospective readers, the material is carefully graduated and deals with the same problems ad- dressed in the 24 Lessons. Moreover, it is designed to provide the facility needed foraccompaniment and will better prepare the student to approach the 24 Lessons. In the last paragraph of that preface, Sor makes a pre-publication pitch forhis as yet not published Method: Thefiqureusedby Sorisa simple geomettie construction which provesthat line drawn from point M, the cenjoncion of wo citles whose centreslie ‘idstae fom pot C (he pont of equal division of the ine AB) will formarightangle between ines MCand AB. Therelevanceof the drawing anit logic tothe argument about the nature of exercises, seems obtuseon Fist reading. Its significance may lie in private or public arguments Sor ina havehd with is colleagues with which We are Hot conversant today. Ta his English translation, Amold Merrick solved the derma by simply making an obscure reference to the drawing without duplicating it ‘© Amold Merrick translates ths passage ths: Lessons, pecesofmasic. each having forts object not the exercise ofa single rule but also ofthe rates ‘employe in he lessons preceding. and ven the initiating ofthe learner in Some exceptions. While this endition isin mpeceable English, itdoes not provively render the same sense ofthe original text. This was one ofthe entest compositions published by Sor himself and cur (CHANTERELLE Dt6o FERNANDO SOR - THE COMPLETE STUDIES FOR GUITAR (CHANTERELLESOTTWELVE STUDIES, OPUS 29 a To improve layout this page contains no music. SOR, A pontait of Sr by Hyppolyte-Benjamin Adam fiom A. Ledly and H. Benin’ Enyelopiie Pinoresgue dela Musique, Paris (1838) ‘epreduced by kind permission from xcopy in he callection of Robert Spencer. (CHANTERELLE At2 FERNANDO SOK * THE COMPLETE STUDIES FOR GUITAR TWENTY FOUR PROGRESSIVE LESSONS, OPUS 31 BOOK 1 Cettelegonn’exige quela connaissance des notes Sonbutprincipalest _Thelesson only requires knowledge of the notes. Its principal go! isto ’habituer colierabien placer la main gaucke, (From te original edition] get the pupil used to positioning the lft hand correctly. Andante (CHANTERELLE S91