Classical, acoustic folk pop, Rolling Roots Folk Pop, surrealist, modern classical ambient

This week's 4 new albums:

  • Cary Kanno: A Little More Love - Alt Rock
    Uptempo, happy, banjo-driven acoustic folk pop

  • Mark Boulle and the Haba Dudes: Dizzy Street - Alt Rock
    Rolling Roots Folk Pop from the band of Australian singer-songwriter Mark Boulle

  • Mauricio Buraglia: Suites en do mineur et fa mineur de Sylvius Leopold Weiss - Classical
    a marvelous classical spiral of lute sounds

  • Mogilalia: Drops from the Sky - Ambient
    surrealist, modern classical ambient with tranquil trascendence

For just $299 you can become a Magnatune member and can download any of our 20,000 songs at no cost.

-john

 



Description:surrealist, modern classical ambient with tranquil trascendence
Genre:Ambient
Artist:Mogilalia
Album:Drops from the Sky

Mogilalia's album "Drops fom the Sky" is an ambient album consisting of tracks played by classic guitar. It features expansive and deep sounds with influences of classical music, jazz, blues and experimental music.



Description:a marvelous classical spiral of lute sounds
Genre:Classical
Artist:Mauricio Buraglia
Album:Suites en do mineur et fa mineur de Sylvius Leopold Weiss

Silvius Leopold Weiss (1687-1750) was, according to his student Luise Gottsched (the musically talented wife of the author and critic Johann Christoph Gottsched) "the greatest lutenist that Europe had ever heard and admired". What is clear is that his music is of an invention, depth, and virtuosity that neatly rounds out the final flowering of European lute composition,and is easily placed beside the music of Francesco Canova da Milano, John Dowland, and Ennemond Gautier as being quintessentially vital to the canonics of lute history.

Weiss was born in Grottkau (currently called "Grodkow" in Polish), a city that was then the capital of the province of Silesia. He was taught the lute by his father, Johann Jacob Weiss, who was himself a lutenist at the Palatine Court. The young Silvius Leopold proved a prodigy, and played his first royal performance before Emperor Leopold I at the tender age of seven. Perhaps the most important moment of his development came in 1708, when he went to Rome for a stay that would last six years as part of the musical entourage of Prince Aleksander Sobieski. The contact that he doubtlessly would have had during this period with Italian musicians such as Corelli, the Scarlattis, and perhaps with Vivaldi in Venice, places him at the very centre of the dynamic musical culture of his time. The traces of his Italian sojourn can be heard very clearly in his music, which is the most successful adaptation on the lute of the new cantabile style, a type of instrumental composition based on the lyrical qualities of contemporary Italian opera. In 1718, Weiss obtained the post of lutenist in Dresden at the court of August "the Strong", who along with his successor Frederick the Great, gathered some of the best-known musicians of the period, including Johann David Heinechen, Pantaleon Hebenstreit, Johann Georg Pisendel, Francesco Maria Veracini, Johann Joachim Quantz, Adolf Hasse and his wife Faustina Bordoni. Not only was Weiss surrounded by such musical luminaries at court, but in 1739, he is known to have stayed as a guest in the home of J.S. Bach himself.

Weiss was to spend the rest of his life in Dresden - even refusing the incredible offer of an annual salary of 2000 Thaler from the Viennese court in 1736, presumably in order to remain part of the city's vibrant musical life. He eventually became, in 1744, the highest-paid instrumentalist at the court with a salary of 1400 Thaler. Perhaps it was due to his extraordinary talent that one of the most incredible anecdotes of his life came to pass: in 1722, a jealous violinist named Petit tried to end Weiss' brilliant career by biting his thumb off! Luckily, Petit failed in his attempt, although Weiss' hand was seriously wounded in the encounter. After several months of recuperation and much speculation, Weiss was ultimately able to resume playing and composing music such as we hear on the current recording. Despite his success and high salary, when Weiss died he left almost nothing to his family. Perhaps this has to do with the eleven children he had with his wife, Maria Elizabeth, who he married at about the time of his appointment in Dresden.

In 1750 seven of his children were still alive and his impoverished widow appealed to the Elector for financial aid, eventually securing a position as a nursery maid. Indeed, family fortunes do not seem to have improved. Weiss' grandchildren would later ask the Dresden court to return to them the great lutenist's theorbo, in order to sell it for a sum that would permit them to buy firewood. Fortunately, the more than 600 pieces for the lute that Weiss left behind provide an artistic legacy of unparalleled wealth for modern connoisseurs of lute music.



Description:Rolling Roots Folk Pop from the band of Australian singer-songwriter Mark Boulle
Genre:Alt Rock
Artist:Mark Boulle and the Haba Dudes
Album:Dizzy Street

Dizzy Street is the 2017 album from Australian roots/folk artist Haba Dudes, the band of singer songwriter Mark Boulle. The Dizzy Street album features a host of local musicians including Dylan Marshall, Andy Woollard, Neil Macleod, Christian Metzger. The album was recorded and produced by Boulle, and is his seventh album release under Haba Dudes.



Description:Uptempo, happy, banjo-driven acoustic folk pop
Genre:Alt Rock
Artist:Cary Kanno
Album:A Little More Love

Energetic ukuleles, banjos, acoustic guitars, and percussion power this uptempo happy acoustic rock album that bounces and swaggers. It's very uptempo & happy with universal lyrics. Features a lot of ukulele, banjo, and acoustic guitars.