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.
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
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.
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.