Coste's version of Sor's Method

[Rob MacKillop]

Has anyone got a copy of Coste's version of Sor's Method? Ideally I would like a PDF or photocopy, but failing that, can anyone review it? Has he added his own music? Added Sor's music with his own fingering? The original Method contains very little music, so I'm wondering if Coste kept it that way, or changed it to suit his own playing. He was a pupil of Sor, but clearly had his own ideas as well.

[Rob MacKillop]

I've just seen his wiki page, which informed me of the full title...

 "Méthode complète pour la Guitare par Ferdinand Sor, rédigée et augmentée [refingered and expanded] de nombreux exemples et leçons par N. Coste".

So, it seems he did 'expand' on the original. I'd still like a copy, in order to see his changes.

[Jelma van Amersfoort]

I believe this is it. I can't seem to remember where it came from though :-)

[Rob MacKillop]

Many thanks, Jelma! I downloaded it and had a quick look. A Sor purist would look upon it in horror, but I'm interested in his changes. Looks like he, like Sor, avoided the ring finger as much as possible, and liked to alternate thumb and index in the bass, index and middle in the treble. Good to see the Robert de Visee suite getting its first publication for six single strings. Also good to see the chapter on the 7th string. All in all, a fascinating historical document!

[Bill Samson]

Avoiding use of the r/h ring finger is hard for somebody brought up on classical guitar - and yet that seems to have been the way of things from the time lutenists abandoned their quills/plectra until Tarrega came along and changed the rules (just so he could play 'Recuerdos'?).

Lutenists and early guitarists who resist 'pinky down' playing are, I suspect, doing so because it makes it more awkward to use the ring finger.

[Lars Hedelius-Strikkertsen]

Hi Jelma.

The method is to be found at the Danish Royal Library in the collection called Rischel & Birket-Smith. You might allready have the link. Maybe it is in other online collections as well I havnt checked.

[Jelma van Amersfoort]

Hi Lars, that must be where I found it. I was confused because generally scores from that collection have a special stamp saying 'Rischel & Birket-Smith'. 

Happy easter weekend guys!

[Lars Hedelius-Strikkertsen]

U2 Jelma

[Rob MacKillop]

Anyone got a date of publication?

[Scot Tremblay]

IMSLP estimates it at 1851. I've heard a little earlier as well. In any case sometime after 1839, date of Sors death.

 

http://imslp.org/wiki/M%C3%A9thode_Compl%C3%A8te_pour_la_Guitare_(S...)

[Rob MacKillop]

Thanks, Scot.

[Martyn Hodgson]

 

Not what you asked for. but perhaps of some relevance: do you know of/have Merrick's English version of Sor's Methode? This was probably published in 1832 (by R Cocks & Co) and thus before Coste's revised version which appeared after Sor's death. The use of English in a contemporary translation is, I think, of real benefit

There are facsimile editions available.

Martyn

[Rob MacKillop]

Thanks, Martyn, but I've had that for years in the Tecla reprint. Matanya Ophee recently published what he regards as a more accurate English translation of Sor's original. 

What I like about the Coste version is how quickly the 'Segoviation' (a horrible word I have just invented) of Sor started. Coste, a pupil of Sor, changed fingerings, and even inserted glissandi, as well as adding his own studies and the first standard notation of the now famous De Visee suite in Dm (kind of - it's not all there). All this almost before the weeds popped up over Sor's grave. Most of the Sor studies he added became Segovia's 'Twenty Studies'. I get the feeling Segovia studied the Coste version in great detail. But the point is, this approach to Sor is something we associate with Segovia (well, at least I did, and probably others too) but here it is deep in the 19th century. 

So, let's hear Robert de Visee on a mid-19th-century guitar! Let's hear glissandi in Sor! Let's put back in everything we've been taking out over the last decade!

;-)