Sor Introduction and Variations on a Theme from Mozart's 'The Magic Flute'

Classical Music / Classic Guitar 


Introduction and Variations on a Theme by Mozart, Op. 9, is one of Fernando Sor's most famous works for guitar. It was first published in London in 1821 and dedicated to Sor's brother Carlos.

Note on Editions.  The title page of the first edition reads “As performed by the author, at the Nobilities’ Concerts.” The French edition was published by Meissonnier, dated roughly in the same period, and had one less variation, no coda, and some differing notes. However, in 1826 or 27, Meissonnier brought out another version, this one identical to the London first edition.

The Introduction and Variations on a Theme from Mozart's The Magic Flute, Op 9, embodies the best characteristics of Fernando Sor as a composer, requiring great technique. It is a frequently performed classic guitar piece that serves as a “testing ground for every aspiring guitarist.” The work is based by Sor on a melody from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's famous opera The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte) to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The opera was first performed in Vienna in 1791, and in German, while the first performances in Italian took place in 1794, three years after Mozart had died. It is more likely that he was inspired to write the piece when the first major production was premiered in England in May 1819, when Sor was in the area.

Video below, guitarist Ana Vidovic plays Sor's Variations on a Theme from Mozart's The Magic Flute. YouTube, uploaded by SiccasGuitars. Accessed July 19, 2023. 

The theme and the variations are based on this one that was used in numerous composer's arrangements, some being by the flutist Drouet, by Herz, and by Mikhail Glinka. It is the theme played near the end of Act I called “Das klinget so herrlich”, in Italian either translating to "O dolce armonia" as Sor chose to use. This last translation was also used in the vocal score of The Magic Flute published in Birchall, London in around 1813.

Sor's theme differs somewhat from Mozart's original, as may be seen in the comparison. The time and key signatures of the originals have been changed. None of the bars/measures are exactly the same but most only differ slightly.


Image Credit:

The original cover of Sor's Variations on a Theme of Mozart, Op. 9, published in Paris in 1821. en.wikipedia.org. Public Domain.  


Resource:

Introduction and Variations on a Theme by Mozart (Sor). en.wikipedia.org. Accessed February 14, 2020.



(c) February 2020. Updated July 19, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. all rights reserved.   

Federico Mompou

Composer Datebook: April 16

Federico Mompou, Spanish Composer

Federico  Mompou (16 April 1893 – 30 June 1987), was born in Barcelona, Spain. He was a Spanish Catalan composer. He was also a known pianist in his time.

Best known for songs and solo piano music, his Scènes d'enfants (1915–1918) inspired the French critic Émile Vuillermoz to proclaim Mompou as the successor to Claude Debussy.

Tomás Luis de Victoria

Classical Composers Datebook

Tomás Luis de Victoria (b. Avila, 1548; d. Madrid, 20 Aug 1611), Spanish Composer

Tomás Luis de Victoria is considered the greatest Spanish Renaissance composer in 16th-century Spain, and one of the most important composers of the Counter-Reformation, along with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Orlando di Lasso. He was a choirboy at Avila Cathedral and when his voice broke he was sent to the Jesuit Collegio Germanico in Rome, where he may have studied under Palestrina.  He wrote exclusively Latin Sacred music.

Brief Milestone:

1565. Tomas de Victoria was sent by King Philip II of Spain to prepare for holy orders at the German College in Rome. He probably studied with Giovanni da Palestrina, whom he eventually succeeded as director of music at the Roman Seminary.  

1569-1574.  Singer and organist at Santa Maria di Monserrato

1571-1576(7).  Taught at the Collegio Germanico.

1578-1585. Assisted Philip Neri, joined the Oratory of San Filippo Neri as chaplain of San Girolamo della Carità.

1578. Met the pious Dowager Empress Maria, widow of the Holy Roman emperor Maximilian II, and later became her chaplain.

1584. Empress Maria entered the convent of the Descalzas Reales in Madrid.

1587-1603.  Returned to Spain as chaplain and organist to Philip II's sister, the Dowager Empress Maria (until her death).

1594. He settled in Madrid. 






His work

Tomás Luis de Victoria's compositions ranged widely through the liturgy, and some his most popular masses are: Magnificats, psalms and motets, of which he is mainly remembered. His works include 21 masses, 44 motets, several Magnificats, and psalm settings, that are among the finest of the period. He also wrote hymns; four offices for the dead; and music for Holy Week services, including two Passions, the Improperia, and the Lamentations of Jeremiah. His last work was the Requiem (1605) in memory of the empress Maria.  Some of his masses & motets:

1. Missa Ave regina caelorum
2. Missa pro Victoria
3. O magnum mysterium
4. O quam gloriosum

His music is mainly characterised by a religious, sacred ardour.

Recommended listening:

Tomás Luis de Victoria's versa est in luctum, splendidly sung by Gabrieli Consort. Uploaded by dani1978el. Accessed April 12, 2016.  


Video:

Victoria - O Magnum Mysterium. AcademieVocaleParis. Accessed April 12, 2016


Photo Credit:

Tomás Luis de Victoria. Public Domain.   


Resources: 

Kennedy, Michael & Joyce, and Tim Rutherford-Johnson. Oxford Dictionary of Music. Oxford. OUP: 2012.

Sadie, Stanley, Ed. The Grove Dictionary of Music, New Updated Edition.  London: Macmillan: 1994. 


(c) Posted April 12, 2016.  Latest update,  October 28, 2018. Tel. Inspired Pen Web.

Fernando Sor: Spanish Guitarist and Composer

Classical Music / Composer's Datebook: February 13 (or 14)

Fernando Sor,  Spanish Romantic Performer, Guitarist, Composer, and Teacher of Guitar

Spanish guitarist and composer Fernando Sor (b. Barcelona, 13 (14?) February 1778 - d. Paris, 10 July 1839), was born in Barcelona, Spain.  He is best known for his guitar compositions although he also composed opera and ballet music. His works for guitar include Variations on a Theme of Mozart.

Sor gave concerts in Europe. Guitar was little known in England before the early 1800s. His contemporaries considered him to be the best guitarist in the world, and his works for guitar have been widely played and reprinted in the classic guitar world.




Aside from Fernando Sor, his name has had other variations in print, such as Ferdinando Sor, Joseph Fernando Macari Sors, Ferran Sor, and Ferdinand Sor.

Recommended Listening:

Narciso Yepes Plays Fernando Sor - 24 Etudes. YouTube, uploaded by Baruch Spinoza. Accessed February 13, 2018. 

Image Credit:

Fernando Sor. en.wikipedia.org / public domain

 

Resources: 

Fernando Sor. Britannica online

Fernando Sor. En.wikipedia.org
 

 

(c) February 2007.  Tel.  Inspired Pen Web.  All rights reserved.   

Pablo Casals, Cello Virtuoso

Classical Music Datebook: December 29

Spanish virtuoso Pablo Casals, composer and conductor

Pau Carles Salvador Casals i Defilló (December 29, 1876 – October 22, 1973), was a Spanish composer born in Catalonia. Commonly known as Pablo Casals, he was a virtuoso cello player, and later conductor. He made many recordings throughout his career, of solo, chamber, and orchestral music, also as conductor. Casals is best remembered for the recording of Bach's Cello Suites he produced from 1936 to 1939.

Once every four years, the International Pablo Casals Cello Competition is held in Germany under the auspices of the Kronberg Academy. It started in 2000, to discover and further the careers of the future cello elite. It is supported by the Pablo Casals Cello Foundation under the patronage of Marta Casals Istomin. One of the prizes is the use of Casals' Gofriller cello.  The first top prize was awarded in 2000 to Claudio Bohorquez.

El cant dels ocells (The Song of the Birds)   

"El cant dels ocells" ("The Song of the Birds"), is a traditional Catalan Christmas song and lullaby. It tells of nature's joy at learning of the birth of Jesus Christ in a stable in Bethlehem. The song was made famous by Pablo Casals' instrumental version on the cello. After his exile in 1939, he would begin each of his concerts by playing this song. For this reason, it is often considered a symbol of Catalonia. American singer, songwriter and activist included it in her 1966 best selling Christmas LP, dedicating the song to Casals.






Suggested listening:

"Song of the Birds". Traditional Catalan song arranged by Pablo Casals. Interpreted by Yo-Yo Ma. KCRW. Accessed January17, 2020. 



Video Credit:

Pau Casals, accompanied by pianist Mieczyslaw Horszowski, plays El cant dels ocells (The Song of the Birds) at the White House. Piano from the album "A Concert at the White House" (Columbia KL 5726) recorded live on November 13, 1961 at the White House and released in 1962. Uploaded by juristchesus. Accessed December 29, 2014.


Resource:

El cant dels ocells. Wikipedia. Accessed December 29, 2014.
Pablo Casals. Wikipedia. Accessed December 29, 2014.


(c) December 2014. Updated January 17, 2020. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

Isaac Albeniz

Classical Music / Composer's Datebook: May 29

 

Brief biography of 19^th century Spanish composer and pianist Isaac Albéniz, best known for Iberia, a suite of twelve piano pieces.      

 

Isaac Albéniz helped create a national idiom for Spain and an indigenous school of piano music. He is primarily associated with works for the piano, and best-known for Iberia, a suite of twelve piano pieces.   

 

Early Life

Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz was born in May 29, 1860, in Catalonia, a son of a tax inspector but a musical family. He first appeared in public when he gave his piano recital at the age of four at Barcelona's Teatro Romea, followed by a performance in Paris Conservatoire when he was seven years old. He was praised by no other than Professor Marmontel, the teacher of both Debussy and Bizet, but he was too young to be a student.     When he was ten years old, he ran away earning a living as traveling pianist before returning back home after two years. He ran away again, this time to South America, and later, to the US.

At 13, he studied at the Brussels Conservatory with Franz Liszt, Paul Dukas and Vincent d'Indy. Other important influences of Albeniz were Felipe Pefrell who inspired him to turn to Spanish folk music, 19th-century salon piano music, and impressionist harmony.

 

The Young Adult

From 1880 he toured widely, playing many of his own piano works using Spanish rhythmic and melodic idioms. Three years later, he married Rosina Jordana. They had a son and two daughters. He settled in Paris in 1893, much influenced by Gabriel Fauré and Dukas. 

Above video: Albéniz - Tango No 2 in D major, Op 165 - Yuri Temirkanov, conductor. St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. YouTube, uploaded by Cantus 5. Accessed May 29, 2015.

Composer with French Influence but Distinctly Spanish Idiom

Albéniz was not merely a follower of the French school. His works also included numerous zarzuelas like Spanish musical theatre form combining song, dance and speech. This is being accounted to his most significant influence, the musicologist and folk-song collector Felipe Pedrell. Most of his numerous works are for piano solo, notably, suite Espanola (1886) and suite Espana, including ‘Tango’ (1890). 

 

Major Works by Albéniz 

His major achievement is the 12-movement piano suite Iberia (1906-1908), named after the Iberian peninsula, Spain and Portugal, and most especially inspired by the romantic region of Andalusia. Albéniz wrote an opera, Pepita Jimenez (1896) and orchestral pieces. 

Albéniz died of kidney failure in France on May 18, 1909, eleven days short of his birthday. He is significant not only in the history of Spanish music but also in his country's history of musical nationalism.

 

Video Credit:

Isaac Albeniz.  nndb / Public Domain. 

 

Resources:

Classical Music The Rough Guide, 2^nd Edition (Expanded and completely Revised), edited by J. Staines and J. Buckley, The Rough Guide, 1998

The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, edited by Stanley Sadie, Macmillan Press, 1994

The Oxford Dictionary of Music, edited by Michael Kennedy, Oxford University Press, 1994

 

 

(c) May 2008. Updated May 29, 2015. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.