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The interpretation of appoggiaturas or grace-notes in Classical and early Romantic music is much discussed and contested. This article concerns the appoggiatura in the music of Fernando Sor (1778-1839), a guitarist whose career unfolded in several countries, above all in France, where almost all his known guitar music was published. Although none of this music survives in autograph manuscripts, there are ample autographs of Sor's compositions for voice, piano or orchestra to examine his musical handwriting in general and the notation of appoggiaturas specifically. Notwithstanding inaccuracies and inconsistencies, the notation indicates that the written length of the appoggiatura is often a useful pointer to its approximate duration in performance. It also shows that Sor seems to have envisaged long appoggiaturas in far more situations than commonly considered today. This practice is supported by descriptions in a great number of method books, both for the guitar and other instruments, published in France during the early decades of the 19th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the early 19th century the guitar knew a degree of popularity that has prompted the belief that this was one of the most successful periods in its history. However, despite the apparent success of some individual players, the position of the guitar was uniquely controversial and conflicted. This article examines the guitar’s reception in the specialist music press in Germany, France and England during that period, and the motives behind the frequently negative assessments. Two dominating musical and ideological forces appear to have been particularly influential: the notion of gender-specific instruments and the rise of musical idealism.In 1783 the theorist of bourgeois decorum, Carl Ludwig Junker, described in detail which instruments befitted the respectable bourgeois woman. Such gendering of instruments had massive influence all over Europe, and it placed the guitar in the role of a domestic amateur instrument, first and foremost for women. Being contrary to the demands of the new musical idealism, this was detrimental to the prospect of the guitar finding a permanent place in professional musical life. Thus critics, almost unanimously and irrespectively of national background, took a negative, often outright hostile, stand towards the guitar, in particular when it assumed the role of a concert instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]