Sor | Mouvement de prière religieuse Op. 31 No. 23 | Patrik Kleemola, guitar

Описание: “What wonder, then, that turning his eyes to the happy times of his childhood, he should miss them, and should desire to hold in his hands, before dying, one of the favourite toys which would most vividly recall to him those innocent years, quietly spent under the beloved and never forgotten skies of his own country?”
Eusebio Font y Moreso, La Opinión Pública (Barcelona, 16-17 January 1850)

In Paris in June 1839, some weeks before the death of Fernando Sor, Sor received a visit from two gentlemen from the city of his birth, Barcelona. The writer of the citation above and a painter Jaime Battle met Sor and brought a present from Barcelona which Sor had fervently wished for: “one of those Holy Week processions, depicted in a long strip of paper, with which children play on their way to school”.

Sor's father died when Sor was twelve years old and his mother had difficulties continuing her son's musical instruction in Barcelona. The new Abbot of Montserrat then heard Sor and offered for him to study at the famous Escolania de Montserrat, the choir school of the Montserrat monastery, where many distinguished Spanish musicians got their musical foundation since the 14th century. In 1835 was published a long article about the life of Sor in the Encyclopédie Pittoresque de la Musique (A. Ledhuy and H. Bertini, Paris). A large part of this article deals with his years spent in Montserrat. The memoirs of Montserrat are written in such a detailed manner with particular warmth and a nostalgic touch that these extracts were probably written by Sor himself.

Mouvement de prière religieuse is the penultimate “lesson” from the 24 Leçons Progressives, Op. 31 (1828). It's written as a four-voice choral piece and one could just imagine it as a reminiscence of the days of his youth spent in Montserrat.

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Fernando Sor (1778-1839)
Mouvement de prière religieuse (Op. 31, No. 23)
from 24 Leçons Progressives, Op. 31 (1828).
Patrik Kleemola, guitar

Guitar: a copy of Fabricatore (c. 1813) by Gioachino Giussani
Microphones: Stereo pair of DPA 4011a Cardioid microphones
Audio interface: Prism Sound Atlas
Videocameras: Canon EOS 200D
Location: Marttilan kirkko, Finland.

Produced by Patrik Kleemola