Galanterie: Music for lute by Sylvius Leopold Weiss, Vol. 3

Featuring

Nigel North
Sylvius Leopold Weiss

Did you know?

1/7

Instruments

The recording features a 13-course lute made by Lars Jönsson in 2011, modeled after a 1596 Hans Burkholzer instrument remodelled by Thomas Edlinger around 1719.

Composition History

Sylvius Leopold Weiss's music has survived in over 60 sonatas for solo lute, primarily found in two main manuscripts: London, British Library, Add Ms 3038, and Dresden, Sächsische Landesbibliothek, Ms. Mus 2841-V-1.

Compositional Technique

German musical writers of the time, such as Johann Mattheson in 1739, began to specify the emotional quality, or 'affekt', each key possessed, which influenced composers like Sylvius Leopold Weiss.

Historical Context

In 1727, lutenist-composer Ernst Gottlieb Baron published a study of the lute, praising works that were 'galant' or full of 'galanterie' as fashionable and modern.

Performer Biography

Nigel North, the performer on this album, has been Professor of Lute at the Early Music Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington (USA) since 1999.

Composer Biography

Sylvius Leopold Weiss, a great lutenist, was employed as a royal chamber musician for Elector August II of Saxony in Dresden from 1718 until his death in 1750.

Composer's Artistic Vision

A contemporary poet, Johann Ulrich von König, praised Sylvius Leopold Weiss's lute playing, noting that his music could make the heart tremble with pleasure.