The Spaniard Fernando Sor (1778-1839) was one of the greatest of the composers for the classical guitar. In addition to many "serious" works for one or two guitars, he composed a large number of studies intended for players of lesser virtuosity. Untold numbers of students have worked their way through these studies, which satisfy the elusive goal of providing memorable pieces that, at the same time, enhance the skill and knowledge of the practitioner. Andrés Segovia selected a set of twenty of those studies, each emphasizing a particular aspect of technique. These are now some of the best known of Sor's works. His works include Duets, Theme and Variations, Fantasies, Waltzes, Sonatas and groups of Studies.

    The leading exponents of the "expressionist" school were the Spaniards Fernando Sor and Dionisio Aguado, and the Italian Carcassi. The outstanding figure in the group, Fernando Sor, was the greatest guitarist of the romantic era. Son of a Catalan merchant, he was born in Barcelona in 1778 and received a musical education at the choir school of the nearby monastery of Montserrat. At eighteen, Sor wrote the opera, "Telemachus on Calypso's Isle", which was produced in Barcelona in 1797. Sor was called into the army during the confused period of French occupation. When the French withdrew, defeated by Wellington and the Spanish guerilla armies, Sor had no choice but to leave with them. After 1812, he lived in Paris for the most part, where he gived concerts charming all
Parisians.

    He made his London debut in 1815 where he was the first and only guitarist invited to perform with the London Philharmonic Society. In 1817, he appeared as soloist in his own Concertante for Spanish Guitar and Strings. During the 1820's he went to Germany and then to Russia. He
produced three of his ballets in Moscow. At the death of Czar Alexander I in 1825, Sor composed a funeral march at the request of the new Czar Nicholas I. After his return to France, he worked indefatigably as a teacher and composer.

    His compositions range to more than 250 or 300 works ranging from salon pieces to complete operas. His best-known major scores were ballets - Cendrillon and Gil Blas. Thanks to his dance instincts, he was at his best composing waltzes, minuets, galops, boleros, and so on. For a French encyclopedia he wrote the first authoritative study of such Spanish dances as the bolero, seguidilla, murciana and sevillana. In a more classical vein he wrote sonatas, fantasias, and sets of variations on themes by Mozart, Hummel and Paisiello.

    But Sor's crowning achievement is his Méthode pour la guitare of 1830 - easily the most remarkable book on guitar technique ever written. It represents the fruit of forty years experience.

    Challenged by the developments in guitar technique and the demands for finer instruments, more and more luthiers sought to keep pace with the changing requirements and to produce instruments that would satisfy them.

    Johann Georg Staufer (1778-1853) was an outstanding guitar maker established in Vienna. Besides being credited with the invention of the guitarre d'amour, he also gained a reputation for fine guitars.

Johann Gottfried Scherzer (1843-1870) took over the Staufer workshop. Experimenting extensively to improve the guitar's tone and taking advantage of his contacts with physicists to achieve his aim, he became one of the first guitar makers to have approached his work scientifically, producing as a result fine quality concert guitars.