Weiss: Lute Concerti

Only four concertos by Dresden lutenist Silvius Leopold Weiss (1687–1750) are known to survive. Not only was he the greatest lutenist of the eighteenth century, both by contemporary and modern appraisal, he was also a fine composer, bearing favorable comparison to his friend Johann Sebastian Bach for the quality of his compositions and improvisations, a point to which his many surviving lute solos attest. The four works comprising this volume were composed during Weiss’s tenure as lutenist at Dresden, and include a concerto for lute with four-part strings; a concerto grosso for lute, flute, violin, viola da gamba, and cello with ripieno strings; and two concertos for lute with two violins and cello. All were reconstructed from the extant lute tablatures in Dresden and Augsburg; any other accompanying parts or scores are lost. These works can also be heard on the Chandos CD, Silvius Leopold Weiss: Lute Concerti, CHAN 0707.

Howard Posner, LSA Quarterly, May 2005. (review of recording)
Clifford Bartlett, Early Music Review, October 2004