Variations on a Theme of Mozart, Op. 9

One of Sor’s most famous works, this set of variations [op. 9] seems to have been inspired by the first London performance of Mozart’s Magic Flute in May 1819. The theme which Sor used comes towards the end of Act 1, and the original German words are “Das klinget so herrlich”, which in Italian is variously translated as “O dolce concento”, “O dolce armonia”, and “O cara armonia”. It is this last one which is named on the title-page of the English edition of the work, and it is also that used in, for example, the vocal score Il Flauto Magico published by Birchall in about 1813 (copy: British Library).

These variations are dedicated to Sor’s brother Carlos who had also escaped from Spain at the end of the war there and had joined his brother in Paris and then from 1820 to 1821 visited him in London where both brothers taught the guitar. To be precise, a version with only four variations already dedicated to Carlos came out first in Paris probably in 1820, and then Sor developed it into a grander work with five variations and a new coda making a triumphal end to the work, which was first published in London and was registered at Stationers’ Hall on 1 March 1821 while Carlos was in London: a splendid present for Carlos.

The London edition was first published there in 1821 with the title The Favorite Air, “Oh cara armonia”, from Mozart’s Opera Il Flauto Magico, Arranged with an Introduction and Variations for the Guitar. As performed by the Author, at the Nobilities Concerts, Dedicated to his Brother, by F. Sor. The publisher was the Royal Harmonic Institution, and there was no opus number (that appeared only in the later Meissonnier editions). This present edition is based on the London edition.

In Paris in about 1826 another Meissonnier edition appeared, with the note on the title-page “Nouvelle Edition augmentée par l’Auteur”. That it is a “nouvelle édition” is true only in the sense that it is a new Meissonnier edition; the implication that it is an entirely new edition by Sor is false, for on examination it turns out to be identical, note for note and in the same position on the page, with the original London edition.

Sor himself performed the work in public, for the London edition says “As performed by the Author, at the Nobilities’ Concerts”, and the second Meissonnier edition “Exécutées par l’Auteur au Concert donné à l’Ecole Royale de Musique” (for more details, see my book Fernando Sor, Composer and Guitarist). All three editions bear the same dedication, to his brother Carlos Sor. Introduction: the rhythm at bars 10, 12, etc., may well be simply triplets, the dotted rhythm being only a notational convention. For a discussion of this kind of situation, see the New Grove Dictionary of Music (Grove 6), Notation, III, 4 (iii), pp. 381-387, and cf. op. 1 no. 5 above.

Bar 91: the double sharp is editorial.

Bar 117, first note: the first (London) edition has no fingering on this D, and it is likely that it is simply to be played at the twelfth fret so that it may be held for its full value. However, in the Meissonnier edition the first note bears the indication “12e touche” (“twelfth fret”), which could be interpreted (though not conclusively) as meaning that the note in question is to be played as a harmonic at the twelfth fret. Because of the reading of the first edition, and because of the absence of any evidence that Sor had any connection with the Meissonnier edition, it is suggested that the note be played in the normal way (not as a harmonic).

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