Josep Maria Mangado: Fernando Sor volumes 1 2 and 3

Josep María Mangado’s Fernando Sor volumes 1, 2 and 3 are three books as digital downloads (pdfs) exclusively distributed by Tecla Editions.

Between them they present a great deal of new information about the composer Fernando Sor, much of it here published for the first time, and are the result of rigorous investigation by the author in primary sources. They are:

Fernando Sor volumen 1, Aportaciones biográficas covers much of the same ground as the author’s previous articles in the journal Il Fronimo and elsewhere, but with much new material. It has 552 pages and is written in Spanish.

Fernando Sor volumen 2, documentos inéditos, reflexiones e hipótesis also covers much of the same ground as the author’s previous articles in the journal Il Fronimo and elsewhere, but with much new material, for example about Sor’s family in Barcelona, about the Hullin family in London, and about the dancers who performed in Sor’s ballets especially Cendrillon, with splendid illustrations. It has 338 pages and is written in Spanish.

Fernando Sor volumen 3, la actividad guitarrística en París (1825-1839) covers new ground, namely the Paris years of Fernando Sor from 1825 to 1839, with much detail about the concerts in which Sor played. Particularly interesting are the pages about the Concerts Historiques in Paris which were among the first manifestations of what we would call early music, about the Romanesca that was played in those concerts, and about Victor Hugo’s interest in them for one of his plays, Lucrèce Borgia. Volume 3 has 826 pages and is written in Spanish.