Output details

CD recording of Silvius Weiss's lute music, volume II

This CD aspires both to reveal Weiss’s genius with particular reference to his late sonatas and to highlight his virtuosity and his ingenious writing for the 13-course baroque lute. By examining the main source for this repertoire (Mus. 2841-V-1 in Dresden), two sonatas (or suites) were selected. A swan-necked baroque lute, a type that Weiss helped to develop, was strung in gut of the highest quality to achieve the best possible balance between a singing treble and the long, powerful bass strings.

Weiss’s late sonatas are often well over 30 minutes long. Two extrovert suites in major keys were chosen and complemented with a sombre tombeau in B flat minor, for maximum contrast. Embellishments were added to the repeats of the various movements and daring tempi for the courantes and the presto movements chosen in order to emulate the composer’s unashamed virtuosity. The preparatory process also involved some technical adjustments such as a lowering of string tensions in combination with moving the right hand playing position closer to the bridge, in keeping with contemporary iconographical evidence.

Weiss’s cantabile style is brought into focus with the help of the high quality treble strings made of gut; the projection of the bass lines helps support the supposition that Weiss played these sonatas on a swan-necked lute. The grand style of his late works puts Weiss on a par with J S Bach. They were friends and seem to have influenced one another. Weiss was the more modern composer, incorporating the style gallant to a much greater extent, but striking similarities can be found. (e.g. the ouverture in Sonata No 39 and Bach’s Prelude of the Cello Suite in C minor BWV 1011)

The CD benefits from BIS worldwide distribution and can also be streamed online through various media, including Spotify.