Are you a fan of the wonderful Spanish composer Fernando Sor (1778-1839), who François-Joseph Fétis dubbed “the Beethoven of the guitar”? Browse our sheet music and scores, and discover the wide world of the composer who first brought the guitar to Europe’s concert halls with Stretta Music today!
Fernando Sor was born into a military family, but any thoughts of a military career were swiftly extinguished when his father introduced him to Italian Opera. It was also his father who introduced him to the guitar, an instrument that at the time, was only really played at home, in bars and in canteens. He studied harmony and counterpoint, but since it was not yet taught academically, Sor had to teach himself to play the guitar.
Unfortunately, Sor did not fit in well in the musical circles of Charles IV’s court, but luckily he was accepted into the artistic circle of the 13th Duchess of Alba, where he met and worked with musicians like Dionisio Aguado . During the French invasion, in line with the oath of allegiance he swore to Napoleon I in 1810, Sor composed mainly nationalist music, and in 1813, when the French were expelled from Spain, he was sent into exile.
His first stop was Paris, where Fernando Sor’s works were published in the “Journal de Musique Étrangère pour la Guitare ou Lyre”, the “Journal of Foreign Music for Guitar or Lyre”, which made him very popular. Despite his popularity, he was not offered a position as composer for the band of the King of France’s Court, so he moved to London, where he had many more musical opportunities, and quickly distinguished himself as a singing teacher, and composer of Italian Arias and Ballet.
After a stay in Russia, Sor returned permanently to Paris in 1826, where he continued to compose and wrote his Método de guitarra española, his “Method of the Spanish Guitar”. He died in Paris in 1839 and is buried in Montmartre Cemetery.
He is best known for the Fernando Sor Guitar Works, and out of his friendship and collaboration with Dionisio Aguado came the wonderful work for two guitars Les Deux Amis, “The Two Friends”, in which the two guitar parts are written as “Sor” and “Aguado”.
Fernando Sor wrote in the classic style, very much influenced by the French “style galant”. He used many “suspensions” in his music, similar to those of Haydn and Mozart. Today however, Sor’s works are generally performed in a more romantic style. Alongside his guitar works, his ballets, choral music and orchestral works are particularly popular.
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393617
for: 2–3 voices, guitar [piano]
Score (Hardcover)
Item no.: 1633277
Variées et un Menuet
Musik für Gitarre
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 113373
aus op.6, 29, 31
for: für Gitarre
Item no.: 113223
for: 2 guitars
Score
Item no.: 134571
Per Chitarra
for: Guitar
Score
Item no.: 388651
for: Guitar
Score
Item no.: 390821
for: Guitar
Item no.: 367075
for: Guitar and String Quartet
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1114010
Cor en Fa et Piano
for: Horn, piano
Music score
Item no.: 145439
Guitaromanie Editions
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 342988
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 364769
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 390770
for: Classical guitar
Score
Item no.: 977236
op. 44/24
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 727137
for: Bass guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1018986
A major, D major
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 743206
Newly engraved from early editions
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1672348
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1542420
for: 2 guitars
Music score
Item no.: 1025085
Vol 1 & 2
Volume set
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1208976
for: 2 classical guitars
Ensemble score, solo parts
Item no.: 694206
for: Classical guitar
Single edition
Item no.: 1019196
60 Cartoons rund um die Akustik-Gitarre Band 2
Band 2
Book
Item no.: 644438
Klassik
for: Guitar
Item no.: 461335
aus op. 5
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393831
op. 31
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393678
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393616
op. 14
for: Guitar
Item no.: 357031
(Urtext)
for: Classical guitar
Item no.: 553628
for: Guitar
Item no.: 210822
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 222648
for: Guitar or Lute
Score
Item no.: 412500
for: 2 guitars
Ensemble score
Item no.: 129506
nach klassischen Motiven
Klassische Meisterwerke für 2 Gitarren
for: 2 guitars
Score, Parts
Item no.: 130212
aus op. 22
for: 3 Gitarren (Gitarrenchor)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 106773
Heft 4: Kleine Musikstücke und Etüden
for: Classical guitar
Item no.: 418240
New Critical Edition
Advanced Guitar Duos
Op. 34, 41, 54bis, 62, 63
for: 2 guitars
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1025083
from: F. Sor, Introduction à l’étude de la guitare op. 60
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 722207
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1555554
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1114135
Gitarre, Guitar Forum
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1019334
Homage to Fernando Sor
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1019425
for: 2 guitars
Score
Item no.: 269509
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 550710
for: Guitar
Item no.: 465708
Sudien und Übungen
for: Guitar
Score
Item no.: 259575