The Variations on a Theme by Mozart, Op. 9 by Fernando Sor is one of the most celebrated works ever written for the classical guitar — a set of brilliant, inventive variations on a melody from Mozart's The Magic Flute that has enchanted audiences since its publication in London in 1821.
The Mozart Theme
The borrowed melody comes from near the end of the first act of Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute, 1791), where Papageno plays his magic chimes and the slaves of Sarastro are enchanted by the sound — "Das klinget so herrlich, das klinget so schön" ("How wondrously it rings, how beautifully it sounds"). It is one of the most luminous, simply beautiful melodies Mozart ever wrote: just a handful of notes, but entirely inevitable. Sor presents it in E major with a purity that honours its original character.
Theme and Variations
An introduction in E minor — music Sor composed himself — frames the Mozart world before the theme arrives. Five variations follow, each contrasting sharply with the others: a bright, fanfare-like first variation; a decorative and song-like second; a third that shifts to the minor for inward reflection; a dance-inflected fourth; and a fifth that builds to the virtuosic peak of the work, with rapid figurations leading to a brief coda. The first edition, published in London in 1821 and dedicated to Sor's brother Carlos, preserves all five variations and the coda as the authoritative text.
Performed at Siccas Guitars
Playing it
The piece sits at advanced-intermediate to advanced level. The real challenge lies not in raw speed but in the expressive variety demanded across five contrasting characters — from the quiet lyricism of the minor variation to the bravura of the finale. A rite of passage in the classical guitar tradition.
See the full Sor guide and the Studies.
