Somewhere, in some now forgotten tape archive, lurks that E minor suite, completely edited but never released! (later re-recorded for an all Bach album.) One of the pieces for this program is the remarkable "Prelude nel quale sono contenuti tutti i Tuoni Musicali," which means "Prelude, which contains all of the Musical Keys." The title sounds a bit funny (it's in antique Italian), because the word "Tuoni" also means "thunder", so it sounds as if there will be lot of musical thunder here, and, in fact, this turns out to be quite true! The style of the music is very much in keeping with the latest musical currents of the 1740's, and you can hear that Falckenhagen's music has much in common with that of the most radical and innovative composer of the period, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, both in its propensity for cyclical and improvisatory forms and in the development of the Empfindsamer Stil.

Beier has paired this with a long, late work by Silvius Leopold Weiss found in the Glinka manuscript in Moscow. While this work is probably nearly contemporary with that of Falckenhagen, it is another world, musically. It comes at the end of the long, distinguished and prolific career of one of the finest lutenists who ever lived. And even though Weiss's musical style is rather old-fashioned compared with that of his pupil Falckenhagen, in this D major suite one can nevertheless detect that the old hand was not entirely immune to new ways of musical thinking, especially in the Courant and the final Minuet.

This album, when it was first released by Stradivarius, had many great reviews in CD magazines of the time, and it was even chosen as "Le Disque Du Mois" (January 1998) in the French magazine Rèpertoire, featuring on its cover. I hope it finds favor at its new home with Magnatune!

1. Opere Per Liuto Preludio Nel Quale Sono Contenuti Tutti I Tuoni Musicali (Adam Falckenhagen)
2. Opere Per Liuto Preludio (Sylvius Leopold Weiss)
3. Opere Per Liuto Partita In D Minor Vivace (Allemande) (Sylvius Leopold Weiss)
4. Opere Per Liuto Partita In D Minor Courente (Sylvius Leopold Weiss)
5. Opere Per Liuto Partita In D Minor Bourree (Sylvius Leopold Weiss)
6. Opere Per Liuto Partita In D Minor Andante (Sylvius Leopold Weiss)
7. Opere Per Liuto Partita In D Minor Presto (Sylvius Leopold Weiss)
8. Opere Per Liuto Partita In D Minor Minuetto (Sylvius Leopold Weiss)

Listen to: the entire album.

Release date: 02/06/2014
Paul Beier lives in Milan Italy

Tagged as: Classical, Baroque, Instrumental, Composer: Adam Falckenhagen, Lute, Composer: Sylvius Leopold Weiss

1. The Melodious Birde - Keyboard Music By William Byrd by Colin Booth: solo harpsichord music
2. Vivaldi Concertos on 8-string guitar by Daniel Estrem: colorful classical guitar
3. Telemann on Guitar by Daniel Estrem: colorful classical guitar
4. Patrons of the Lute by Daniel Shoskes: A feast of Baroque lute
5. Ancient Mosaic with Guitar by La Reverie: Recreating traditional music from a modern perspective
6. SL Weiss on 11 Strings by Paul Berget: renaissance lute, modernized.
7. Debut by AlmaNova: lively flute/guitar duo
8. JS Bach on 8 string guitar, vol 1 by Daniel Estrem: colorful classical guitar
9. Colors of Spain by Daniel Estrem: colorful classical guitar
10. Reverie by Daniel Estrem: colorful classical guitar
11. Old School Old Time by Fiddle Whamdiddle: foot-stomping, heart-pumping, head-bobbing music that snags audiences and reels them in!
12. She Waits by Alan Marchand: Toe Teasin' Jazz Tunes For All Occasions
13. Orpheus by Federico Moscogiuri: Original and evocative lute music
14. Cimarosa on Guitar by Daniel Estrem: colorful classical guitar
15. Elizabeth's Lutes by Alex McCartney: Reflective, historically-informed performance on the lute
16. Mesangeau's Experiments by Alex McCartney: Reflective, historically-informed performance on the lute
17. Les Larmes of Johannes Fresneau by Edward Martin: vihuela, renaissance and baroque lute
18. The Siena Manuscript on renaissance lute by Paul Berget: renaissance lute, modernized.
19. Goldberg Variations (JS Bach) by Andreas Almqvist: elegant classical guitar
20. Dances and Suites of Rameau and Couperin by American Baroque: Spectacular Baroque and Classical chamber music

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