Bolero a duo

Although this Bolero a duo survives only with parts for two guitars and

nothing else and it has been published as a guitar duet, I wish to suggest that

in fact it may not be simply a guitar duet but rather an accompaniment, for

two guitars, to a bolero for two voices by Sor. I shall explain below why I

believe that this may be so. If this hypothesis is correct, then it is historically

significant because it gives us the only known authentic accompaniment for

two guitars to any of Sor’s songs, and also musically interesting because it

works extremely well as an accompaniment for a bolero. Also, because it has

such character, and because it can easily hold its own against the voices, it

can provide a model for performers of other songs by Sor who may wish to

try their hand at improvising accompaniments in the style of the time. 1 must

emphasize, however, that at this time it is only a hypothesis, and the piece

may of course be played as a guitar duet by anyone who wishes to do so.

The Bolero a Duo is found in only one known source, an edition printed in

Madrid between 1817 and 1824 entitled Colección selecta de música

ynstrumental para guitarra sola de los mejores autores nacionales y

estrangeros. In that source it is entitled Bolero a Duo con dos guitarras

compuesto por D. Fernando Sor. It is a short but lively piece as befits a

bolero, full of zest and colour. It breathes the rhythmic vitality of other

known pieces related to Spanish dance at this time such as Aguado’s

fandango for guitar, Soler’s fandango for keyboard, Boccherini’s fandango,

or indeed the other boleros of Sor for voice(s) and guitar or piano.

There are, however, some questions about what exactly it is. Is it an original

work by Sor? Or perhaps an arrangement from something else? Is it for two

guitars and nothing else, or is it an accompaniment to a song? And if it is by

Sor, then what date is it? We do not have many firm answers, but there are

some clues.

The source

Only one copy of the Colección is known, now in the Biblioteca Nacional in

Madrid, who kindly provided me with photocopies and whom I thank for

permission to reproduce the original in facsimile here, at the end of this

present volume. The reproduction of the original here may be particularly

valuable to scholars in this case because of certain editorial conundrums

which presented themselves in the course of establishing the text. (Another

copy was in the collection of Domingo Prat, who referred to it in his

Diccionario de Guitarristas (Buenos Aires, 1934), p. 302. The present

whereabouts of that copy is unknown.)

When I visited the Biblioteca Nacional de España in about 1973, working on

my biography of Sor, the library was unfortunately not able at that time to

make their copy of the Colección available to readers, so that this piece

could not be included in my earlier edition of Sor’s Complete Works for

Guitar. And indeed, at that time it would not have been easy to explore any

association with Sor’s boleros, because practically none of them had at that

time been published (my edition of Sor’s Seguidillas dates from 1976, and

More Seguidillas from 1999). A modern edition of the Bolero a Duo was

published in Madrid, as a duet for two guitars, in 1994 (Bolero a Duo, edited

by Javier Suárez-Pajares (Madrid, Opera Tres, 1994). In this 1994 edition

the “Fin” and “D.C.” indications were removed and repeats added to the

second half. While these changes are quite defensible for a performance (see

above), the editorial notes of the 1994 edition did not say what changes had

been made from the original, so that it was not possible to know from the

1994 edition what the original form was, and the absence of a complete

facsimile made it impossible to see for oneself.

The Colección may be dated by bibliographical means. Its title-page gives

the address “en el despacho de la calle del Turco”, an address which was

used by the engraver and music publisher Bartolomé Wirmbs between 1817

and 1824 (cf. C.J. Gosálvez Lara, La Edición Musical Española hasta 1936

(Madrid, 1995), p. 192).

The Biblioteca Nacional copy consists of three numbers;

No. 1 (shelf-mark Mp 4203/9) containing Sor’s Andante sentimental y walz

para guitarra [= op. 5 nos. 5 (the well-known “Andante largo”) and 6] (the

opus

numbers given here are for reference only and do not appear in the

Colección);

No. 2 (shelf-mark Mp 4203/8) containing Sor’s La Siciliana, sonata para

guitarra [= op. 2 no. 6], Minuet [= op. 5 no. 3], Minuet [= op. 5 no. 1], and

Wals [= op. 5 no. 2]; and

No. 3 (shelf-mark Mp 4203/10) containing this Bolero a Duo con dos

guitarras compuesto por D. Fernando Sor and a minuet by Roldan.

The wording of the title suggests that the Colección was intended to be part

of a series containing music by various composers, but only these three parts

are known.

The source of the source

Where did the compiler of the Colección get the music? The answer is likely

to be different for the Bolero a Duo than for the solos. All the solos could

have been taken from copies of editions published in London or Paris which

had found their way to Madrid, because opus 5 had been published in Paris

in 1814, and opus 2 had been published in London at some time between

1813 and 1819 and in Paris between 1816 and 1822 (see my book Fernando

Sor, Composer and Guitarist, second edition, Tecla, 1994, Catalogue).

But the Bolero a Duo is of a completely different nature from those pieces

and as such does not lie within the same publishing tradition. Musically, it is

not in the central European post-Haydn tradition like those other works but

rather in the pure idiom of its native Spain. No edition published outside

Spain is known for it, and there is little probability that it comes from such

an edition which is now lost. Almost certainly its source is not an edition

from outside Spain, but rather a native source, which would most probably

have been a manuscript rather than a printed edition.

When the Bolero a Duo was published in Madrid between 1817 and 1824,

Sor was not there but in London. Javier Suarez-Pajares, the editor of the

1994 edition, suggested that the manuscript of the Bolero a Duo may have

been entrusted by Sor at that time to his friend Francesco Vaccari to bring

from London to Madrid—indeed, at one point of his introduction Mr.

Suarez-Pajares appears to present his theory as fact (page 2 of the

introduction, although it is probably because of faulty translation in its

English version, since it does not appear in the same way in the Spanish).

However, I think that that theory is unlikely. One would have to imagine that

Sor, living in London at that time prolifically composing such things as

ballet music, Italian arietts, and guitar music in a new style, would have

selected or newly composed a piece in the old Spanish style which for him

by then lay in his distant past, that he would then have sent it to Madrid for

publication, and that after so much care had been taken, that it would then

have been published there in the kind of omnium gatherum of miscellaneous

pieces which is what the Colección really is. One would also have to

suppose that Sor, only too aware of his political exile, and given the

opportunity to have some music of his published in Spain, would have

chosen to send this scrap of a piece rather than one with more stature. Nor is

it likely that he would have allowed the Bolero a Duo to be published in its

present quasi-improvisatory form if he or even a friend of his had had any

control over the publication. There would be no parallel to it anywhere else

in his works: his other works are usually tidy, thoroughly correct and

finished, not improvisatory. I think it is unlikely that this piece as we have it

today is a finished work by Sor which he knowingly allowed to be published

in the form in which we have it: rather, I think it likely that the publisher in

Spain took it from a manuscript which was already in Spain, from the time

when Sor was living and composing in that country.

The form of the piece

The piece is entitled “Bolero”. To what extent is it in fact a bolero? How far

does it fit the bolero form, and if at all, then what kind of bolero in

particular?

As is known, the bolero came into existence in Spain in the late eighteenth

century, quickly caught on and became very popular by about 1800, and

later in altered form swept through Europe. One of the most important

accounts of its history is given to us by Sor himself in his article “Le Bolero”

(this article by Sor is published in full in my edition of his Seguidillas). In

that article Sor gives us three examples of boleros, one instrumental and two

sung, and of course he also composed many other examples of the genre for

which he is today justly celebrated.

Our Bolero a Duo has a first section ending with the word “Fin” and then a

second section ending with “D.C.”, that is to say, you play again from the

beginning as far as the word “Fin”. The “Fin” and “D.C.” are clearly printed

in both parts. That does not fall obviously into the classic bolero form as

seen, for example, in the songs in the Seguidillas, nor into the variants of it

which we find in the examples given in “Le Bolero” such as “Yo no se lo

que tiene” which has a different form. If we were to assume that the “Fin”

and the “D,C.” were mistakes and remove them, and if we were to add repeat

marks to the second section, which is what Javier Suárez-Pajares did in his

edition, we would then be closer to the standard bolero form, but the piece

would still be a loose expression rather than a precise example of it. Also,

the problem with doing that is that not all boleros of the time, by any means,

followed precisely the same form. There were many different possible

structures, not just one standard one. It is therefore possible that the original

indications of this piece may give us a valuable insight into ways in which

boleros in general, and this one in particular, might have been performed at

the time. This present edition therefore keeps the original form, but anyone

who in performance wishes to remove the “Fine” and the “D.C. al Fine” and

repeat the second section is at liberty to do so and will then be closer to the

form of the bolero of the time as it is found in, for example, Sor’s

seguidillas.

The group of three notes in bar 12 is typical of the beginning of the second

part of a bolero.

Is it a guitar duet? If it is, then no other of its kind is known. We have no

other guitar duets from Sor’s pen before L’Encouragement of 1828—not a

single one of any kind. Nor do we have any instrumental pieces in the

Spanish style by him from an early date. Nor do we have any instrumental

works by him in such an improvisatory style—not a single one, at any date,

in any instrumentation whatsoever. Yes, they could have existed but all been

lost, but the fact remains that at the present time we have no evidence of any.

There does exist one guitar duet by Sor in the Spanish style, namely the

“Allegro dans le genre espagnol” in his Fantaisie for two guitars op. 54 bis,

which dates from about 1833 and is not a bolero but rather a fiery movement

in dance style reminiscent of Aguado’s Fandango. But whereas the Bolero a

Duo has every sign of coming straight from a living native tradition of

dance, the Fantaisie was written many years later in a foreign land.

The Bolero a Duo as an accompaniment to a bolero for two voices?

Merely as a hypothesis, I would suggest that this Bolero a Duo may be in

fact an accompaniment for two guitars to a bolero by Sor for two voices. The

clue lies in the precise wording of the original title. It says: Bolero a Duo

con dos guitarras compuesto por D. Fernando Sor, that is to say a bolero a

duo, not para dos guitarras, but con dos guitarras: not for two guitars, but

with them. The word “con” springs to the eye as soon as you realise that the

two solo guitar works by Sor in this Colección which have the name of the

instrument are both introduced by the word “para”: “La Siciliana, sonata

para guitarra”, and “Andante sentimental y walz para guitarra”. The Bolero a

Duo uses a different word, “con”. The reason could well be that the Bolero a

Duo was a piece which was to be performed not by two guitars but with

them, in other words something else was once there but is now missing.

Armed with that idea, the obvious place to look for further evidence is—

where else?—Sor‘s boleros. I have now published two books of these, his

Seguidillas (1976) and More Seguidillas (1999). A close examination of all

the songs has not revealed any exact correspondence. But there is one song

where the parallels with the Bolero a Duo are close: “Sin duda que tus ojos”,

a particularly beautiful song for three voices in the More Seguidillas. Here

are the parallels.

“Sin duda que tus ojos” has a chromatic passage at the point where the

words describe the poison that lies in the beloved’s eyes; it is found at bars

5-7 and 21-23. The Bolero a Duo also has just such a chromatic passage, at

bars 8 and 20.

“Sin duda que tus ojos” has a striking modulation at bars 12-13—and the

Bolero a Duo has a similar modulation at the same place.

“Sin duda que tus ojos” has a series of grace notes, a kind of breathlessness

of the lover, at bar 14—and so has the Bolero a Duo at the same place.

When you consider that none of these three features is common in Sor’s

seguidillas, then the fact that they are all found in “Sin duda que tus ojos”

and also in the Bolero a Duo does suggest a parallel. What could it be? I

believe a further clue again lies in the very title: Bolero a Duo con dos

guitarras: that is to say, translated exactly: a bolero for two voices or two

people, with two guitars. Not a bolero a duo because it is for two guitars, but

more probably bolero a duo because it is for two voices, in this case

accompanied by two guitars. The omission of the voice parts is a

phenomenon of notation which will be only too familiar to anyone who has

studied such early sources as, for example, the ancient Spanish vihuela

books.

If this hypothesis is correct, then the bolero in question was a bolero for two

voices. The compiler of the Colección will have taken the two guitar parts

from a manuscript or manuscripts containing them and which may also have

contained the two voice parts. I don’t think he misunderstood them and

thought they were a guitar duet, because if he had, he would have been more

likely to have headed the music with a title such as “Bolero para dos

guitarras”, or at any rate with some title which included the word “para”

(“para dos guitarras”) and not “con”. Rather, I think he was publishing what

he knew to be an accompaniment, and a particularly fine one, something

which brings life to a song, and we should be grateful to him for having

done so because it casts a great deal of light on how we can now go about

performing Sor’s boleros with much more insight than was previously

possible. And just as a guess, I think that what we may be looking at is an

accompaniment for a bolero for two voices, either for a two-voice version,

for which as yet no source is known, of “Sin duda que tus ojos”, or else for

some other song, as yet unidentified, of similar character and structure.

Moreover, I don’t think it likely that the accompaniment in the form in

which we have it was composed by Sor; rather, it may be one or two

generations away from the original, perhaps even an arrangement by

someone unknown from an accompaniment for solo guitar or piano which he

had heard Sor or someone else play, or which he had seen in a manuscript.

From a performer’s point of view it is extremely interesting, because until

now the guitar accompaniments in More Seguidillas are not strong enough to

provide a balanced accompaniment to the voices, but this Bolero a Duo is

because it provides two guitars playing at the same time, to balance the three

voices of the song.

A possible performance of “Sin duda que tus ojos” with the Bolero a

Duo as an accompaniment

Working on the hypothesis which I have suggested, there are two ways in

which one might today perform “Sin duda que tus ojos” with the Bolero a

Duo as an accompaniment. One is to take the existing three-voice “Sin duda

que tus ojos” and adapt the Bolero a Duo to it, and the other is first to adapt

the existing three-voice version of “Sin duda que tus ojos” to make a

hypothetical version of it for two voices, and then to adapt the Bolero a Duo

to it. In either case the vocal parts would need to be transposed from D to A.

Either of these could be done reasonably easily, and I eagerly await the time

when a performer will carry it out, and when we may be able to place the

reconstruction on this website. Or perhaps one day another bolero by Sor for

two voices may be found, to which the Bolero a Duo does fit exactly.

This edition

In editing this piece, I have silently corrected obvious errors and added rests,

etc., where necessary. I have not considered it necessary to give chapter and

verse for these editorial details because anyone who is interested in them can

easily consult the original which is reproduced here. Here, however, are a

few notes.

Bar 3, guitar 1, etc.: slurs added on the analogy of bars 1 -2.

Bar 11, guitar 1, slurs are editorial, on the analogy of bar 16.

Bar 14, guitar 1, should the Bs in the second and third beats in the bar be flat

or natural? In the original no natural is given to cancel the flat on the B of

the first beat, and so one would assume that all the Bs in this bar are flat. Mr.

Suárez-Pajares in his edition has added a natural to the Bs in the second and

third beats in the bar, no doubt by analogy with bar 7. However, bar 7 is

quite a different situation. Here in bar 14 I prefer to respect the notation of

the original (also it fits better with “Sin duda que tus ojos”, if this were to be

considered as in any way an accompaniment to that song).

An examination of the notation of the Bolero a Duo in its original edition

shows that it has the character of a performer’s aide-mémoire. In it, legibility

is a priority but exactness of notation is not. For example, at bar 16 in the

guitar 1 part the three notes in the bass are obviously three quavers (eighth

notes) but in the original are written without tails, which makes them appear

as though they were crotchets (quarter notes), and also the scribe or engraver

has not bothered to insert the necessary rest at the beginning of the bar.

Performers’ note for the Bolero a Duo: if preferred, the “Fine” and “D.C. al

Fine” can be removed and the second part of the piece can be repeated (see

above for discussion of this).

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