Classical Music | Guitar Music

Recorded on 07/19/2005, uploaded on 01/16/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Variations on a Theme by Mozart                Fernando Sor

During his time, critics described Fernando Sor as being to the guitar what Mendelssohn was to the piano.  Some went so far as to call him the "Beethoven of the guitar."   While his impact on music history certainly does not match that of Mendelssohn and Beethoven, he revolutionized the world of guitar.  His guitar compositions are marked by a refinement far beyond those of his contemporaries.  Sor was a Spaniard by birth, though he spent most of his adult life in Paris, and he was well-known in England and Russia as a composer of opera and ballet.  Variations on a Theme of Mozart is one of his most overtly virtuosic works, and indeed, one of the most famous compositions in the classical guitar repertoire.  The theme derives from Mozart's singspiel The Magic Flute, and it consists of an introduction, theme, five variations, and a finale.    Beau Benson

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.