Weiss: Lute Sonatas, Vol. 8

Robert Barto

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Cat No: 8570109

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Release Date: 01 January 2007

Label: Naxos / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 747313010974

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: WEISS

Description
Sylvius Leopold Weiss (1687–1750) Lute Sonatas, Volume 8 The compositions of Silvius Leopold Weiss, the greatest lute-player of his own time, and one of the greatest who ever lived, are principally gathered in two large manuscript collections, in the British Library, London, and in the Saxon State Library, Dresden. Together, these collections contain over half of his surviving music; we currently know a staggering total of around 750 movements. Despite this prolific output, amateur lutenists found Weiss's music notoriously hard to find even during his lifetime. We do not know if, as an employee of the Saxon Elector and Polish King from 1718 until his death, he was at some point explicitly forbidden to distribute his compositions outside Court, as some of his colleagues are said to have been, but this is a distinct possibility, supported by the fact that a few of his early works, those from before 1718, survive in multiple copies, whereas his late music (from after the mid-1720s) is always found as unica. In any case, we are fortunate that a few enthusiasts with good contacts to Weiss managed to assemble large collections of this kind. Unfortunately, in neither case, London or Dresden, is the compiler explicitly identified, and a good deal of scholarly effort has recently gone into tracking down these elusive eighteenth-century collectors.The Dresden collection is the more miscellaneous, in that it was evidently assembled from different sources, possibly partly purchased over some years from a Leipzig music-dealer. There is no doubt, however, that Weiss himself was in direct contact with the compiler, who certainly had lessons with him; at the very end of his life Weiss made several pencilled annotations in a rather shaky hand on some of the pieces, although he did not correct the errors in some of the less well copied movements. The owner may have been the Saxon court official Friedrich Wilhelm Raschke (1706-1761), who is known to have owned two valuable lutes ideally suited for playing this music. His own copying, or possibly that of an expert musical secretary, is meticulous, and was probably done directly from the master's autograph manuscripts, of which several examples are included in the collection. In one case, Sonata No. 36 in D minor, he seems to have deliberately imitated the handwriting of Weiss himself; at first sight this fine, late work looks like an autograph, although it has suffered rather badly from water damage caused during World War II.Although not as extended as the others, Sonata 36 is stylistically rather typical of Weiss's late sonatas. The Allemande opens with a dotted figure somewhat in the manner of an entrée or an overture, but soon settles down to become a typical Weiss allemande, the consistent three-part texture of which is suffused with the cantabile style for which he was renowned. The energetic Courante that follows is simpler in harmony, but full of an e
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