Sor (real name, Sors), (Joseph) Fernando (Macari)

Sor (real name, Sors), (Joseph) Fernando (Macari), celebrated Catalan guitarist and composer; b. Barcelona, Feb. 13, 1778; d. Paris, July 10, 1839. At the age of 11 he entered the school of the monastery of Montserrat, where he studied music under the direction of Anselmo Viola. He wrote a Mass, then attended the Barcelona military academy. In 1799 he went to Madrid, subsequently holding administrative sinecures in Barcelona (from 1808); also was active in the battle against France, but about 1810 accepted an administrative post under the French. When Bonapartist rule was defeated in Spain in 1813, he fled to Paris. There he met Cherubini, Méhul, and others, who urged him to give concerts as a guitarist, and he soon acquired fame. His ballet Cendrillon (London, 1822) became quite popular and was given more than 100 times at the Paris Opéra; it was heard at the gala opening of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow in 1823. Sor was active in Russia from 1823; wrote funeral music for the obsequies of Czar Alexander I in 1825. He returned to Paris via London in 1826, and subsequently devoted himself to performing and teaching. An outstanding guitar virtuoso, he also garnered recognition as a composer; in all, he wrote over 65 works for the guitar, including a number of standard pieces. He also wrote the most important guitar method ever penned.

Works

DRAMATIC: Opera: Telemaco nell’isola de Calipso (Barcelona, Aug. 25, 1797); Don Trastullo (unfinished; not extant). B a 1 1 e t: La Foire de Smyrne (London, 1821; not extant); Le Seigneur généreux (London, 1821; not extant); Cendrillon (London, 1822); L’Amant peintre (London, 1823); Hercule et Omphale (Moscow, 1826); Le Sicilien (Paris, 1827); Hassan et le calife (London, 1828; not extant). OTHER: Various vocal works, including 25 boleros or seguidillas boleras for 1 to 3 Voices and Guitar or Piano; 33 ariettas for Voice and Piano; Spanish, Italian, and English songs and duets; some sacred music; over 65 guitar pieces, including 3 sonatas, fantasias, variations, divertimentos, studies, etc.; piano pieces; 2 syms.; 3 string quartets; Concertante for Guitar and String Trio; march for Military Band.

Bibliography

M. Rocamora, F. S. (Barcelona, 1957); W. Sasser, The Guitar Works of P. S. (diss., Univ. of N.C., Chapel Hill, 1960); B. Jeffery, F. S.: Composer and Guitarist (London, 1977); B. Piris, F. S.: Une guitare à l’orée du Romantisme (Paris, 1989).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire