Fernando Sor's evolution as a performer and composer as reflected in the revisions of the Grande Sonate, Op. 22

Abstract

This study examines select early works for the guitar by Fernando Sor (1778–1839). The works are discussed in some detail in terms of texture, use of idiomatic techniques and form in order to obtain a better understanding of Sor's early compositional practice and early style of playing the guitar. One of the central goals of the study is to trace and analyze the various revisions Sor made to a specific work, the El Mérito (ca. 1803), before publishing it as the Grande Sonate (1825) some twenty years later, and by doing so, also to shed light on Sor's development as both composer and performer during the relatively long time span between the completion of El Mérito and the publication of the Grande Sonate.