Lindberg, Jakob: Baroque Music for Lute and Guitar

Featuring

Jakob Lindberg
David Kellner
Robert de Visée
Johann Sebastian Bach
Anonymous (17th century)
Ludovico Roncalli

Sylvius Leopold Weiss

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Instruments

During the Baroque era, the guitar was a double-strung instrument, with each string or pair of strings called a 'course'.

Composer Biography

Silvius Leopold Weiss spent six years in Italy, meeting composers like Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti, and later became the highest-paid instrumentalist in the Dresden Hofkapelle.

Instruments

The Baroque lute, tuned in D minor, typically had eleven or thirteen courses, while the Baroque guitar only had five.

Composer Biography

Johann Sebastian Bach, though not a lutenist himself, was drawn to the instrument's sound and helped develop a gut-strung harpsichord called a 'Lautenwerk' to imitate it.

Compositional Technique

Ludovico Roncalli's 'Capricci Armonici' includes a sonata (No. 8) that uses 'campanella', a guitar technique where scale runs are played across several strings, literally meaning 'little bells'.

Composer Biography

Silvius Leopold Weiss, one of the greatest lutenists, was also the most prolific composer in lute history, with nearly 600 solo pieces surviving.

Historical Context

Lute and guitar players in the 17th and 18th centuries were expected to compose and perform their works for the aristocracy, and also to teach their benefactors.