When I first began studying the classical guitar, it was for the purpose of playing Brazilian jazz. I was aware that the Brazilian guitarists played acoustic nylon guitars and played in the classical style - not the electric guitars so popular in this country at the time. As I began my studies, I came across the famous guitar piece by Fernando Sor, Variations on a Theme of Mozart. I foolishly attempted to play it much too early in my classical studies.

No matter, I enjoyed my attempts and today I like to return to the piece in the safety of my home. Some years ago I wrote a book I titled The Operatic Guitar. I must have sent the manuscript out to at least seven different publishers-to no avail. There simply was no market for this genre. The experience, however, was rewarding in that I discovered a wonderful world of music I had never known before.

In the beginning, I wanted to explore Sor's connection with opera to find out how he became familiar with the genre and, hopefully, find the source of his wonderful Variations on a Theme of Mozart. After all, Sor is considered by many to be the father of the modern guitar. Any book on guitar music taken from opera must, I felt, start with Sor. What follows is my research and analysis of the Sor-Opera connection and the source of his famous Variations on a Theme of Mozart.

Fernando Sor was more than just a composer of works for the guitar. He had been a chorister at the monastery of Montserrat, near Barcelona, where he received an education in church music and composition and in orchestral playing, and later in life he composed music for the guitar as well a music for voice, piano, chamber, and orchestra.

Up until 1813, at age 35, he lived in Spain. He fought in the Spanish War of Independence when Napoleon invaded Spain in 1808. After a short stay in Paris in 1813, Sor settled in London where he published his famous set of studies now known as op. 6, and many other works such as Italian arias for voice and piano. After a brief journey to Moscow, Sor spent the rest of his life in Paris. He became a teacher of the guitar and it was there that he composed the many works for beginners on the guitar, which are considered by many to be the finest works ever written. He "retired" in 1827 after which he was most prolific.

As a young man, Sor joined an Italian itinerant opera company, for which he composed music for librettos. His Opus 9 used a theme of Mozart's from the opera Die Zauberflötte (The Magic Flute). We know this piece as the famous Variations on a Theme of Mozart. It is a masterful score demanding virtuoso skill and is a standard on the play list of most of today's performing concert artists-often as an encore to leave the audience charmed and spellbound. Was Sor's opening theme to be found in the score of Die Zauberflötte and simply "borrowed" verbatim?

The theme, it turns out, is actually Sor's own interpretation of one of Mozart's melodies in the opera-not to be confused with a theme and variation on a melody. The opening variation of his delightful piece is presented below:

Listen to Sor's theme: VariationThemeMozart.mp3

So where did Sor find the famous theme he borrowed? He derived his Variations on a Theme of Mozart from a chorus of slaves in the finale of Act 1, namely Das klinget so herrlich. Here is this theme from the original score composed in 1791:

Listen to Mozart's Slave Chorus theme: MozartThemeSlaveChorus.mp3

Note that although the basic melody and chord progression are similar to what Sor produced, the Mozart theme above does not include several important musical features found in Sor's version: a syncopated meter and a steady pedal point below the main melody. In Sor's (variation) theme, we find a syncopated meter in the dotted sixteenth and thirty-second note pairs. In addition, the constant pull-offs to the open second string provide the pedal point. Are these musical features Sor's creations?

Answer: Sor did not invent these features. They can be found elsewhere in the score. Mozart used the syncopated meter and pedal point device, in a variation of his own theme.

Mozart obviously liked this theme. In the first act, the maestro does his own re-use of slave chorus theme. It occurs in the trio Du fines Taubchen, nur hereint between the characters Pamina, Papageno and Monostatos. His reprocessed theme takes place between vocals and is played by the first and second violins:

In this score, the first violin provides a syncopated meter (dotted eighth-sixteenth note pairs) and the second violin provides a steady pedal point below the main melody.

The combining of the first and second violins provides a single two-voice line suitable for a single instrument. The results are on the following page. Note that the composite of the two violins sounds strikingly similar to Sor's theme.

Listen to the Mozart variation composite: MozartTrioCompsite.mp3

Sor exercised artistic license with his interpretation of the Mozart theme. The original key of G didn't serve his purpose. The key of E, on the other hand, was perfect for the guitar effects Sor wanted. For example, he employed downward slurs (pull-offs) to the open E and B strings. He took the somewhat bland slave chorus, which obviously met Mozart's purpose in the opera-after all, they were slaves-and creatively fashioned an exciting, vibrant melody. He added ornaments and harmonies not found in the original. He also added sophisticated transitional notes like the F## (G natural) in the fifth measure to provide an augmented transition from the dominant B chord back to the tonic E. Of course, he supplied his own bass line.

One can only imagine Mozart would have been quite pleased with Sor's rendering of his slave chorus. And he would have equally delighted in Sor's creative and enchanting variations on the opening borrowed theme. We know that borrowing other's music in Mozart's time was not only common; it was considered a compliment (no copyrights to contend with in those days).

This single work from the world of opera brings together the musical genius of Mozart and the inspired genius of Sor to produce one of the truly timeless masterpieces in the classical guitar repertoire.

Please visit Dave Marshall at: http://marshallguitarstudio.com/home

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