176 years ago died one of the most celebrated guitarist-composers of all times, Fernando Sor (Joseph Fernando Macari Sor Moncadas) (1778-1839). He died on the 10th of July of 1839 and was buried on the 12th at the Montmartre cemetery, in Paris. According to his biographer, Brian Jeffery, Fernando Sor’s ballet Cinderella was presented 104 times at the Paris Opera, which is quite a feat.
As for the guitar, Fernando Sor is one of the three most recorded guitar composers with Francisco Tárrega and Heitor Villa-Lobos. I located more than 1,000 recordings with at least one piece by Sor.
Nowadays, Sor’s music is still very popular among guitarists and their public since five of his opuses are in the TOP 100 most recorded pieces for guitar. Furthermore, one of three guitar duos that made it to the TOP 100 is Sor’s l’Encouragement, Op. 34 (TOP 89). Do you have a favourite version of this piece? One of my favorites is by Alexandre Lagoya and Ida Presti. Thank you Fernando Sor for all the beautiful music you wrote!
