Fernando Sor's last guitar piece on René Lacote (1839)

[Raintreesilence]

Fernando Sor's last guitar piece played on René Lacote (1839)

After Fantaisie Élégiaque op. 59, perhaps the most magnificent work for solo guitar Sor ever wrote, he published only one work for solo guitar: Introduction à l'Etude de la Guitar 25 leçons progressives, Op. 60. This was a set of easy pieces where he was finally able to successfully write guitar music for beginners while still maintaining his uncompromising respect to the art of proper voice leading. His previous sets of “easy pieces” were criticized during his own time in Paris for being too difficult for beginners and everyone who has taught the guitar knows that a student must be quite advanced to approach Sor's beautiful Lessons, Exercises and Etudes.

The year 1837, when this last Opus was published, was particularly difficult for Sor. We see that at the beginning of the year he was actively performing in concerts in Paris: playing the duo Les Deux Amis op. 41 with Dionisio Aguado and also appearing as a celebrated solo performer in many concerts. Then, apparently very suddenly, his only daughter Caroline dies in June 1837. For the rest of the year we don't hear any more about Sor performing in any concerts. We don't know exactly when this Op. 60 was published but in Madrid it was advertised in August 1837. In his last remaining two years he rarely performs anymore, although in early 1838 he played one of his duos with the young and talented successor of his, Napoleon Coste. In a concert review (Messager des chambres, 15th April 1838) it was stated that Sor himself had a “modesty to take the secondary role in the duo they played together”.

In this last Leçon No. 25 op. 60, with the delicate harmonics (an innocent picture of his harp-playing daughter?), it seems like there's a feeling of letting go...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GJcgQ8k1tI

[Emile640]

I like his playing. One thing that I would have preferred is to hear the guitar played without long nails as Sor did not use them.

[rick-slo]

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[Raintreesilence]

Thanks Emile640! You're right it would be fascinating to spend one year without nails and go all the way. However I'm engaged to lot of chamber music from 20th and 21st century so it's difficult to have that experimentation...
My approach is like Dionisio Aguado's, playing with nails but not on thumb (I have a nail on thumb, but the nail shape is such that it's easy to play without involving the nail).