Rob wrote: > The discussion I would like to see is how different Sor's technique makes > Sor's music sound.
First question: what exactly is Sor's technique? We can learn a lot from the Méthode, but not all. For example: how did Sor play "scales", (melodic runs)? We can read that Sor advocates the use of p-i-p-i for repeated notes on the first string. Does that mean that he uses this fingering also for other, non-repeated detached notes? In other words: would he have used p-i as a rule, where others would have used some finger combination? Answering this question is difficult, also because Sors technique was not static (as we can learn from the Méthode). He might have used i-m and p-i at different points in his career. But for an answer to your question, this particular technical point will make a difference to the sound of Sor music. >Mixed in with the technique is the question of interpretation. The way I have come to see Sor's technique, is as a 'tool', custom made for the job to be done (which is: the performance practice, the interpretation). Sor-technique is for me what a Baroque bow is to a violinist. It has elements (use of p in doublestrokes and in p-i) upon which the expressive moments in his compositions seem to have been built. Expressive high notes in his compositions seem to have been set apart from the bas, to be able to hit them with the thumb. Composition and playing technique merge towards an expressive whole. For me, unclear points in the interpretation of Sors technique are ultimately decided by the demands of period style. What I have found, playing Sor's music with my interpretation of Sor's technique, is that this technique fits other composers not very well. Others have made much more use of scalic runs using some finger alternation over a thumbed bass note. Sor hardly. This difference can also be observed between the 'Sor' and 'Giuliani' parts in the Hummel variation at the end of the Methode. Sor must have been an expressive player, not just someone who stunned people because they had never heard a guitar, or never heard three part guitar composition. He speaks more about musical accent in his Méthode than any other guitarist in HIS method. He was concerned with doing things properly. This might have showed in his playing. I believe that Sors technique, used in his own compositions, excelled in bringing out the proper musical accent, making his music speak to the listener. He was really onto something... > A knowledge of figured-bass (which Sor certainly had) is crucial to > understanding his compositional process. How do you mean? PP To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
