Menuet avec Variations from Op. 48
Fernando Sor
Fernando Sor (1778 - 1839) composed a number of albums with little pieces for the guitar enthusiasts of his day. Just like Op. 48, a collection of 6 pieces titled Est-ce Bien ca? You can translate this as "It this as you like it?"
A weird title perhaps. Possibly Sor was bothered a bit by an impatient publisher.
I used a manuscript like old setting as the basis for the transcription. The original was not quite clear in some aspects and missed a bit of consistency in the notation.Where necessary I have simplified the voicing a bit.
Adding variations to a theme is a well proven way to create a bit longer piece. In this case a minuet is the theme. Sor added three variations in a quite traditional setting. Variation 1 is a version of the minuet in triplets. Variation 2 is a Minore in which the key shifts from A Major to A Minor. The last variation is written in sixteenth note runs which remotely resemble the thematic material of the minuet.
A joyful tempo would be nice, but the actual tempo depends on how fast you can play the sixteenth note runs.