Welcome to follow the project of guitar works by Fernando Sor played on a original Louis Panormo (1838). I'll publish videos of rarely performed masterpieces by Sor every now and then during the summer 2021.
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Fernando Sor: Fantaisie op. 12
“When I arrive in France I shall take off these insignia, I shall reach for my guitar and it is my guitar that will make me my living and that of my family.”
According to Barcelonian priest Raymundo Ferrer these were among the last words of Fernando Sor to his friends in Barcelona in July 1813 before he had to leave his homeland with the Napoleon's French troops. His position in Spain became dangerous as he was, besides working in a military post, a well-known composer of many political songs during The Peninsular War. Well-known to such degree that until his death in 1839 he was persona non grata in Spain and never allowed to return to his homeland.
Sor, after staying two years in Paris, went to London in the spring of 1815 and made himself immediately a sensation as a guitarist and as early as in May 1815 he played to the most distinguished audience that he was ever to encounter in England. This occasion was at the Prince Regent's Carlton House to welcome the queen and the princesses back to London. Among the other performers was Friedrich Kalkbrenner, one of the most famous pianists of his time and the dedicatée of Sor's Fantaisie op. 12. We don't know exactly what music Sor performed on this important occasion, but it could very well have been the Fantaisie op. 12 as it was published at this time. Present at this “musical party” were also many officers in their military uniforms soon to depart for France and to the final conflict in Waterloo.
Theme “Aussitôt que la lumière” was the theme upon which Sor wrote his variations for Fantaisie op. 12. This melody of an old origin was used in many songs during the French Revolution and it's probable that Sor knew it back in Spain under a different name more related to the revolution. The Fantaisie opens with tranquil Larghetto cantabile in C major creating a beautiful and calm pastoral scene. After the march-like theme the next variations are full of will to fight including military motives. The minor variation feels a sudden change in music's direction and is followed by a touching return to major in the polyphonic variation and then a scherzo-like variation. The very ending of the whole work is peculiar. There's a light-hearted “pizzicato march” which ends in diminuendo like receding troops of war... followed by a musical remark which seems more like a question than an answer.
Fantaisie op. 12 (Dedicated to Friedrich Kalkbrenner)
00:00 Introduction: Larghetto cantabile
03:29 Theme and Variations
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Fernando Sor (1778-1839)
Fantaisie op. 12
Patrik Kleemola, guitar
Guitar: Louis Panormo (1838)
Microphones: Stereo pair of DPA 4011a Cardioid microphones
Audio interface: Prism Sound Atlas
Videocameras: Canon EOS 200D
Location: Rymättylän kirkko
Produced by Patrik Kleemola
KleemolaGuitar
www.patrikkleemola.com