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.
MCM - Masterworks of Choral Music
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1019423
par differents auteurs arrangé pour deux guitares
for: 2 classical guitars
Ensemble score
Item no.: 694210
aus "Six Valses", op. 44 (bis) (Nr. 1 und Nr. 4)
for: 2 guitars
Ensemble score (pdf download)
Item no.: 1148
aus "Six Valses Composées pour L'Orchestre par differens Auteurs", op. 39 (Nr. 5)
for: 2 guitars
Sheet music
Item no.: 1554
Gitarre-Soli 38
for: Guitar
Ensemble score
Item no.: 487276
Volume 4 - Op. 26-32
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 141249
Gitarrenreihe Koenigs
for: Guitar
Item no.: 427783
for: Classical guitar
Item no.: 367082
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393964
(Der Abschied) - Fantasie Nr. 6op. 21
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393829
12 Übungen (mittelschwer)op. 35/2
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393681
für Gitarre
for: Guitar
Score
Item no.: 388965
for: Violin, guitar
Item no.: 127537
Complete Works 5
for: Women's choir (SSA), piano
Item no.: 366372
for: Horn (F), guitar
Score
Item no.: 183094
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 832356
35 leichte bis mittelschwere Originalstücke für Gitarre
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 649473
Italian Duets and The Three Canons
in Two Books
Softcover
for: Voice, piano
2 music scores
Item no.: 1667895
from: Petites pièces progressives op. 44
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 759538
Edition Schott
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 752601
op. 31/23
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 727143
aus "24 Leçons Progressives", op. 31 (Nr. 7)
for: Guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 4704
for: Guitar Orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1008457
for: 2 guitars
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1618797
Klassik
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 271830
Edited by Bruno Giuffredi and Andrea Dieci
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 145619
Hardcover
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1019197
Sammlung leichter Gitarrensoli
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 112118
Introduction et Variations sur un Thême de Mozart
Biblioteca de la Guitarra
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 148847
Klassik
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 238683
for: Classical guitar
Score
Item no.: 253365
for: 2 guitars
Ensemble score
Item no.: 129507
op. 36
for: für Gitarre
Item no.: 608417
for: Classical guitar
Item no.: 367258
for: 3 guitars
Ensemble score
Item no.: 347899
aus Mozarts Zauberflöte
for: Guitar
Item no.: 355216
Gitarren Archiv
for: 2 guitars
Ensemble score
Item no.: 393841
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393836
New Critical Edition
Op. 38, 39, 44bis, 49, 53, 55, 61
Bolero a Duo
for: 2 guitars
Music score
Item no.: 1025071
Klassik
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 324297
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 390123
pour deux guitares
for: 2 guitars
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 3216
Mittelstufe
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 242482
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 249999
Sudien und Übungen
for: Guitar
Score
Item no.: 259533
op. 11
for: Guitar
Item no.: 357030
aus op. 45
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393830