Why isn't fernando sor as famous as mozart?

ah,how cruel is time !.
check his music out,you'll be nicely surprised

Someone asked almost the same question at my Music Club yesterday.

Must be because of His name. It sounds too Mexican.

Mozart was a child prodigy, and was famous for writing symphonies when he was 5 yrs old

Naaah ! Try Vila Lobos instead.

Thats simple - Mozart is one of the greatest composers in history. Sor is one of many "also rans."

because Abba only started in 1974!!

Fernando Sor was a guitarist who wrote mostly for the guitar. This instrument is ignored by many people because it is not part of the orchestra. If it were not for Segovia then the guitar would have just about disappeared .
When you say "classical music" to many people they do not think of the guitar.

TO exo-naza below : I was referring to classical music when I mentioned the importance of Segovia. The guitar was no longer being treated as a serious musical instrument like the violin or piano.
And I think you mean "Liszt" as in Franz Liszt.

Mozart is more famou because of hold broard his area was. He wrote music for all kinds of instruments. Fernando Sor is the Guitarists mozart however. When i was learning guitar i learned lots of fernando Sor. If you want a good way to learn classical guitar check a book out by Isolde Schaupp, found in your local "Allans Music".

Ok I went and listened to him. He is a good musician and to brian777 you obviously know nothing about the guitar. You believe that Robert Johnson would not have picked up the guitar had it not been for Segovia? Robert Johnson was born twenty years after Segovia, but long before Robert Johnson would have heard any recording of music and definatly not classical Some varation of the guitar had been the folk standard instrument for hundreds of years (mabey even thousands) nothing has changed in modern rock music. In many ways it is still folk music. Segovia kept the guitar in classical music but it is still not a major instrument in classical. Fernando Sor seems to me to be a great composer for classical guitar. Why isn't Lyst as famous as Mozart? His music isn't even close to the greatness of Mozart and he only wrote for one instrument. Same with Fernando Sor. Had you asked why isn't he as famous as Lyst that would've been a better question, and I think the answer is in the classical world, piano is very important being the composition instrument not to mention it's much louder and in the ninteenth century that counts.

I like his music, but who outside of guitar circles has heard of him?

Op 35 No 22 in Bminor should be much more famous than it is.

He writes wonderful guitar music. But I think that's about it...

Because Sor was primarily a guitar composer, while Mozart wrote for many different instruments in many different forms (concerti, sonatas, quartets, symphonies, operas). It doesn't help that Sor wrote for an instrument that basically fell out of favor in the classical world for about 100 years.

I think dansinger has it. You cant compare a beautiful single dish with a whole banquet or even a whole national cuisine. Mozart was incomparable.