Twenty-four Progressive Lessons, op. 31

This set of 24 progressive lessons for the guitar, op. 31, was first published in Paris in 1828. In this work, a mere year after the publication of his studies op. 29 in 1827, Sor radically changed his approach to the writing of instructional music for the guitar. Whereas in his op. 6 and op. 29 he had assumed that the basic level of playing had already been attained, and had devoted himself to writing pieces at a moderately advanced level whose aim was to improve certain technical aspects of guitar-playing, now in this op. 31 he is writing specifically, to quote the title-page, for “les Elèves Commençants” (beginning pupils). To emphasize the difference, he calls the pieces of op. 31 “Leçons” rather than “Etudes”, a distinction which he repeats in the text of his Méthode pour la Guitare of 1830. From being primarily a virtuoso performer, he has become a teacher. His method is a thoughtful work, and his instructional music from now on is among the finest and most melodious of all easy music ever written for the guitar. The full title of the original edition is Vingt quatre leçons progressives pour la guitare, doigtées avec soin, dediées aux élèves commençants (‘24 progressive lessons, carefully fingered, dedicated to beginning pupils’). The fingering is of great interest and should be studied by anyone interested in early nineteenth century technique. Thus, in op. 31, Lesson 19 demonstrates the technique of rapidly alternating the thumb and first finger of the right hand, even on the highest string. Sor specifically referred to this piece in his method: “This observation determined me to execute passages of that kind with the thumb and first finger, and with that view I made my nineteenth lesson...” Sor makes a most interesting comment in his method regarding these twenty-four lessons (op. 31). He writes: “My twenty-four exercises [op. 35] are the easiest which it is possible to write in this genre. I admit that in my twenty-four lessons [op. 31] I did not have enough patience, and that the difference from one to another is too striking; I should have devoted to the pupil the attention which I gave to the music; but even so, after learning the exercises, the lessons become easier.” (Méthode pour la Guitare, Paris, 1830, my translation; the translation by A. Merrick of 1832 is incorrect at this point). It is obvious from the phrase “the difference from one to another” that the sequence of pieces within a given set was important to Sor. Sor’s Complete Studies, Lessons, and Exercises (opp. 6, 29, 31, 35, and 60, together with op. 44) are also published by Tecla in a modern re-engraved edition in one book (Tecla 101). This edition comes from the new 2019 second edition of Sor’s New Complete Works for Guitar edited by Brian Jeffery. The Introduction and Index to the entire series are here in nkoda. This new edition is copyright © by Brian Jeffery 2019. Your cooperation is requested in not making illegal copies for other people. Brian Jeffery