WEEK 2: Diving Deep into Sor's Style!
WELCOME TO THE MAIN THREAD FOR THE SECOND WEEK OF "Ferndando Sor" PRACTICE CHALLENGE!
- Select a mesmerizing piece from Fernando Sor! Whether it be a delicate Sor etude, a powerful solo work , or a little miniature, the repertoire is in your hands
- Dedicate yourself to consistent practice and share your musical evolution with our community. Aim for daily practice sessions and upload a minimum of two videos each week to document your progress. This will not only fuel your dedication but will also allow us to partake in your musical expedition within our tonebase family!
- Contribute your most cherished performance or recording that resonates with the "Sor Guitar Soiree." Your contribution will not only motivate but also help curate a diverse anthology of pieces for our members to discover and enjoy..
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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Fantasie Elegiaque Nov 11 update
I have been working a couple days now on sections 1-3 (measures 1-66). It is slowly coming together, I think.
I also just started working on section 4 (measures 67-107; the “consolation”), but that still needs a lot of work. I love the interplay between melody and accompaniment in this section, but I find it challenging to keep the two sorted out, as the melody switches between treble and bass notes.
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Eric Phillips Ouffff.... over 7 minutes of beautiful playing is great Eric. Bravo. I really like the part from 2:10 to the end of the first video. Keeping alive the base line with chords and playing the melody line is so beautiful. Thanks for sharing and again Bravo
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Eric Phillips wow, the first video really brought out beautiful sombre sounds. I'm not familiar with the piece, but I loved what I heard.
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Fantasie Elegiaque measures 67-107 (Nov 13)
I have mostly been working on this fourth of five sections in the Andante Largo, and I just about have it in my fingers. I really love when the melody goes into the bass, but I need to bring it out more, and play the accompaniment quieter.
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Eric Phillips Sounding great Eric - you have an instinctive sense for Sor's style and it really is encouraging to watch. Keep going!
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Eric Phillips Excellent Eric, Bravo
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Les Folies d'Espagne (Theme & Var. I)
I was practicing Giuliani's Folies when this month's challenge started. However, since the challenge is focused on Sor's music, I decided to switch gears and try learning Sor's Folies instead. After one week of practice, I was able to play only the theme and the first variation, but at a slower tempo. I recorded them separately because recording the entire piece again just because of a mistake in the last bar was not enjoyable.
I hope to learn more variations before the end of this challenge.-
Wai Great job, Wai, especially on that first variation. It’s one of the more difficult ones, but you played it very well, with crisp rhythm and articulations.
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Eric Phillips Thank you, Eric. I just discovered that the sheet music I downloaded from IMSLP may contain some errors. For example, in bar 3 of the first variation, it indicates a C#, but I found another version that uses a C double sharp (D), which sounds better to my ears. Now, I'm confused.
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Wai Beautifully played
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Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary Thank you, Nijwm!
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Wai Excellent work on this challenging piece. It is developing in your hands very effectively. Thanks for sharing.
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Wai Great start here, Wai! Those parallel thirds don't seem to be giving you any difficulty at all! About the problematic note you mention in the second full measure of the second variation: It is certainly a C# in the earliest edition, issued by Sor's principle publisher Meissonnier. In the more or less contemporary Simrock edition, which is basically a reprint of the original, the sharp sign is absent, and has been replaced by what looks like a hand-written 'x'. I think it is reasonable to assume that this represents a correction authorized by Sor himself, since it seems unlikely that they (Simrock) would have bothered to make the change without good reason. However, it is interesting to note that no less a figure than Daniel Fortea maintained the original C# in his edition of Sor's complete works, issued in the first half of the 20th c.. Since Fortea's publication was newly type-set, this was presumably an editorial decision. Brian Jeffrey, in his 'authoritative' facsimile edition of the complete works, chose to reproduce the original Meissonier edition, but whether this means he 'endorses' the C# in an open question. Another possibility is offered by the Japanese editor Jun Sugawara, who retains the C# but removes the sharp from the accompanying E, presumably to maintain the pattern of major thirds. (But this might simply represent a printing error, since the missing sharp is restored when the passage repeats in the tenth measure!) In the end, the decision of what to play must be made by the performer - if the double sharp sounds 'right' to you, go for it! (For the record, I concur.)
https://web.archive.org/web/20110116093440/http://homadream.com/eng/CompleteSor.htm [Sugawara edition]
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David Krupka Wai I figured that David would give a very full and well-researched answer to your question. In my opinion, the C double-sharp sounds better.
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Wai Very nice. Enjoyed listening to what you have done already.
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Rick Lord Jim King Thank you so much!
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David Krupka Wow, I had no idea that such a fascinating story could be hidden behind just one note! Thank you so much for always being so helpful for sharing knowledge with us in Tonebase, David.
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Wai Great work Wai. Thanks for sharing your work
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Wai great work, Wai. This is a very good start. Your double stops are handled very smoothly. I am looking forward to further progress on this work.
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Wai great start on this beautiful work not enough played and obscured too many times by Mozart's Op 9! I also hope you'll get some of other variations, good job!
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Wai Nicely done, Wai. I look forward to hearing more!
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Week 2 reading through Andante Op. 45 No. 5. Now up to measure 64 with just one more section to go. This week I will focus more on fingering decisions. There are some tricky resonances that I need to dampen. Metronome up 6bpm this week to 48bpm. Lot's more work to be done but I am loving this little piece!
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Rick Lord Sounds lovely all ready. Looking forward to hearing your progress on this piece.
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Rick Lord Great work, Rick! I am rarely so disciplined in using the metronome. I really love the whole minor section of this piece (especially the second half of it). It feels so dramatic for such a short piece of music.
Good luck with those ornaments in the A' section to come! Those are my downfall, but you will probably nail them very quickly.
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Rick Lord Nicely done Rick. I always use the metronome when learning a piece. It helps me slow and keeps the tempo.
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
