Les Adieux, op. 21

This work by Sor, Les Adieux in French or La Despedida in Spanish, op. 21, exists not only in a Paris edition of about 1825 but also in a Spanish edition of similar date. This present text is established on the Spanish edition, but the matter requires further investigation which it will receive in an update to this edition. For the present, a discussion of the two known sources will be found here in this present edition after the music.

It is probable that the piece in fact dates from 1816, because on a copy of the Paris edition which was in the collection of the late Robert Spencer, London, is the handwritten note: “A Dios. F. Sor a su amigo F. Vaccari. Londres 28 de Julio de 1816”. It is likely, then, that the piece commemorates some event which took place on that date, perhaps a concert in London, or perhaps a departure. We know that Sor’s colleague the violinist Francesco Vaccari left London for Spain in 1816, so the event commemorated in this piece may very well have been Vaccari’s departure from London at that moment. For more on this, see below.

16 The final D is E in the original, here altered editorially. 19 The high D on the first beat is B in the Spanish edition. It has been changed here to D because it progresses better melodically. Meissonnier has D. 19 The sharp is added editorially. It is not present in the original but is implied by the natural at the next bar. (The Meissonnier edition has a sharp.) 27 Meissonnier has G in the first chord, not A. 29 Meissonnier has D as the top note of the second chord, not E. 39 The natural on the E is editorial. (It is present in Meissonnier). 44-54 The original edition does not specify exactly how the harmonics in these bars are to be played, only giving the word “arm”. The indications in this edition are therefore editorial suggestions only. It would be possible to play these harmonics as artificial harmonics, but Sor made it clear in his method that he preferred natural harmonics to artificial ones. 44 The sharp on the G is editorial. (It is present in Meissonnier). 45 The sharp on the G is editorial. (It is present in Meissonnier). 69ff. The slurs have been kept as in the Spanish edition where they are precisely notated. Their meaning is not certain. Perhaps they mean to give emphasis to the notes. 118 This bar is corrupt in the original and is here emended. The sharp on the D is editorial. 120 The sharp on the D is editorial.

The Spanish publication on which this present edition is based has the following title:

La Despedida, Andante y Allegretto para Guitarra sola, de D. Fernando Sor, dedicada a su amigo Don Francisco Vaccari, Primer Violín de la Real Cámara, y de la Capilla de S.M.C.

A copy of it is or was in the Fundación Joaquin Díaz in Urueña (Valladolid, Spain). It was published in Madrid at the Establecimiento de Grabado y Estampado de Música, Calle del Turco, that is to say by Bartolomé Wirmbs, and bears his plate number 273, which can be dated at about 1824 (cf. C.J. Gosálvez Lara, La Edición Musical Española hasta 1936, Madrid, 1995, page 193). The French edition published by Meissonnier bears the Meissonnier plate number 304 which can be dated at about 1825 (cf. my book Fernando Sor, Composer and Guitarist, second edition, 1994, page 158). (The handwritten note on Robert Spencer’s copy, by the way, is not in an early hand, but I think it can be trusted: it may well have been copied from an authentic note written by Sor which was on some other copy now disappeared.)

Francisco Vaccari (or Francesco Vacari in the no doubt original Italian form of his name) was a violinist of the highest stature, being the first violin of the Kings of Spain. He was in London in 1815 and 1816. While he was here, on 14 June 1815 (four days before the Battle of Waterloo) he was leader of the orchestra in Sor’s first benefit concert in London, and on 27 June in the same year he was again leader in another concert in which Sor played. On 24 April 1816 he was again leader in Sor’s second benefit concert. Also, interestingly, there exists a London edition of Three Spanish Boleros composed by Sor and with accompaniments arranged by Vaccari, “as sung by Madame Vaccari”. (For all these, see my book Fernando Sor, Composer and Guitarist, London, Tecla Editions). Clearly there were many professional links between Sor and Vaccari. It may be guessed that Sor composed La Despedida and dedicated it to Vaccari on 28 July 1816 in London on the occasion of Vaccari’s departure. Presumably Vaccari then returned from London to Spain in 1816, to the service of King Fernando VII. In August 1822 he obtained leave of absence for one year to go again to London, “con objeto de restablecer su salud y ventilar asuntos pendientes” (‘to reestablish his health and to attend to various pending matters’). At that time Sor was still in London. It is to be presumed that Vaccari then returned to Spain by August 1823 because his leave of absence was only for one year. But 1823 was a dangerous time in Spain: it was the year of the invasion of Spain by a French army under the Duc d’Angoulême, called in by Fernando VII to put down the liberal movement of Riego. The French army stayed for five years. Anyone suspected of liberal sympathies was in danger and many intellectuals fled. One such, for example, was the opera composer José Melchor Gomis (see the introduction to the new edition of Gomis’ Le revenant edited by Tomás Garrido, Madrid, 2000, and the book José Melchor Gomis by Rafael Gisbert, 1988). Vaccari, for his part, was fired from his post by Fernando VII in November 1823 (see the extracts from documents given below). V. Llorens in his book Liberales y Románticos, Madrid, 1968, says: “El primero de octubre de 1823 el régimen absoluto habia quedado restablecido por la intervención de Francia, cuyas tropas siguieron ocupando territorio español durante cinco años, mientras los liberales tenían que expatriarse” (‘By the first of October 1823 the absolutist regime had been re-established by the French intervention, whose troops continued to occupy Spanish territory for five years, while the liberals had to go into exile’.)

In Sainsbury’s Dictionary of Musicians, second edition, 1827, the entry for Vaccari says that “on account of the political troubles in Madrid, he left Spain for Portugal, and in the year 1823 was performing in this country [England] for the second time, having been here previously in 1815”.

The Spanish edition has the word “Paisiello” at the beginning of the second part (where the 2/4 section begins). The word is not present in Meissonnier. I have checked in Paisiello’s works and in Michael E. Robinson’s Giovanni Paisiello: A thematic catalogue of his works (two volumes, 1991 and 1994), but I have not found the tune there, and nor have colleagues recognized it. If any user of this edition recognizes it, it would be much appreciated if they would be in touch.

There is a curious question about the Spanish edition: why does it bear Vaccari’s full title (Primer Violín de la Real Cámara, y de la Capilla de S.M.C.), if by the time of publication Vaccari had been fired and even, perhaps, was in exile? One possibility is that the edition was published slightly earlier, say in the time-span August-October 1823 before the firing: another is that the manuscript bore that title and that the engraver simply copied it even if it was no longer true (although that is hard to believe, given the political climate in Spain at that time).

The Spanish edition, by the way, has been previously known, but not with its present imprint. A later issue of it with the plate number A.R. 2302 (Antonio Romero) has been previously known and I listed it in my book on Sor. However, until now it was not known that it was anything other than a later edition of the work.

Here is the text of two extracts from documents of Barbieri in the Biblioteca Nacional de España in Madrid, regarding Vaccari’s leave of absence in 1822 and his firing in 1823:

Vaccari, Don Francisco (Violín de la Real Camara, 1814¬1822). Mayordomia mayor, Excmo. señor: Condescendiendo el Rey con la solicitud de D. Francisco Vaccari, primer violin de la Real Camara, se ha dignado S.M. concederle licencia por un año para trasladarse a Londres, con objeto de restablecer su salud y ventilar asuntos pendientes. Lo que de Real orden comunico a V.E. para su inteligencia y noticia del interesado. Dios... J. el marqués de Santa Cruz. Señor camarero mayor del Rey. Palacio, 6 de agosto de 1822. En 7 del mismo se comunicó al interesado. (Real Sumillería de Corps. Lib. 3. Registro de Reales Órdenes. Enero 1820 a fin de diciembre 1828) [MSS. 14.046 2-3] (Francisco Asenjo Barbieri: Biografías y Documentos sobre Músico y Músicos Españoles (Legado Barbieri), ed. E. Casares, Volume 1, Madrid, 1986, page 483.)

Real Capilla. El Excmo. señor D. Antonio Allue, patriarca de las Indias, hoy mismo me ha comunicado to siguiente: El Excmo señor conde de Miranda, mayordomo mayor de S.M., me ha comunicado de orden del Rey, nuestro señor, con fecha de antes de ayer, que S.M. se ha servido separar de su servidumbre a los individuos de la Real Capilla siguientes:

D. Hermenegildo Luego, teniente de la parroquia ministerial, D. Francisco Brunetti, D. Francisco Vacari, D. Dámaso Cañada, D. Juan Font, D. Vicente Asensio, D. Santiago Medech y su mujer, D. Calisto Filipo, D. Magín Jardín, D. Mariano Ledesma, D. Matías Tres-Puentes, D. Miguel Maniel, D. Manuel Ducaci y D. Ignacio Ducaci, siendo al mismo tiempo su real voluntad que a estos individuos se les abone sus sueldos hasta el 31 de octubre proximo pasado, y que en adelante no perciban asignación alguna sea qual fuese en procedencia. Por otro oficio comunicado también en este dia me dice que S.M. ha resuelto que su Real Capilla de Música asista a las honras de los militares que se han de celebrar en la real iglesia de San Isidro, mañana domingo 23 a las diez de la mañana en la forma acostumbrada, aunquc no concurre S.M. En su consecuencia dispondrá V. que las voces se suplan en los términos que haya lugar y lo participo a V. para su conocimiento y efcctos consiguientes. Dios guarde a V muchos años. Madrid, 22 de noviembre de 1823. Andrés de Aransay, receptor, -Sr. D. José Liam. [MSS. 14.091] (ibid., volume 2, Madrid, 1988, page 185.)

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