The album opens with a Plainte by the great baroque lute composer Sylvius Leopold Weiss. This is not a plainte of love, but rather a complaint to an un-named patron who failed to pay his fee! There are two versions of this piece, one each in the London and Dresden manuscripts. I have tried to use the best features of both.

A Patron who did support Weiss was Prince Hyacinth de Lobkowitz (1680-1734), in fact Weiss dedicated one of his Dresden lute sonatas to the Prince. Lobkowitz was regarded as a fine performer and two of his lute suites survive. The suite in Bb major performed here is tuneful, rhythmic and shows an advanced mastery of technique. It is found in the Vienna 1078 manuscript.

Much less is known about Count Ferdinand Graf von Bergen (1678-1766), although fully five suites of his have survived in three manuscripts. While his music is charming the lute tablature can be awkward to play as written and does benefit from some re-working. His suite in A minor, also from the Vienna 1078 manuscript, contains the rarely used Tournée, a dance in 2/4 time.

Johann Anton Logy (1650-1721) (also spelled Losy) was a Count in Prague and composed for both baroque lute and baroque guitar. He is perhaps best known for a piece written in his honor by Sylvius Weiss following Logy's death (Tombeau sur la mort de Monseigneur Comte de Logi). The solo works performed here are from the Swedish Kalmar manuscript. The four surviving duet movements (in A minor and F major) do fit together well to make their own suite. The chaconnes movement is an amalgamation of two chaconnes, the first in D minor and the second in F major. This pairing was performed this way by the lutenist Toyohiko Satoh during a recital at the Lute Society of America's Summer Seminar and I feel that it works quite well.

The British physician Thomas Campion (1567-1620) was a poet and composer and wrote over 100 lute songs that survive today. Unusual for the period, some are written from the woman's point of view and we include three such examples here.

Finally, to close the loop of Patronage, the album ends with a new piece that I commissioned from the modern day lutenist and composer Ronn McFarlane. Ronn is a prolific performer, founding member of the Baltimore Consort and his album of his own compositions, Indigo Road, was nominated for a Grammy. The Passacaglia he wrote for this album is, I believe, one of his most beautiful compositions and it's my honor to present the world premier.

1. Plainte in B Flat Major (Sylvius Leopold Weiss)
2. Suite in B Flat Major I Allemande (Prince Hyacinth de Lobkowitz)
3. Suite in B Flat Major II Courante (Prince Hyacinth de Lobkowitz)
4. Suite in B Flat Major III Rondeau (Prince Hyacinth de Lobkowitz)
5. Suite in B Flat Major IV Menuets 1 and 2 (Prince Hyacinth de Lobkowitz)
6. Suite in B Flat Major V Gigue (Prince Hyacinth de Lobkowitz)
7. My Love Hath Vowed (Thomas Campion)
8. Your Faire Looks (Thomas Campion)
9. Faine Would I Wed (Thomas Campion)
10. Suite in a Minor I Allemande (Count Ferdinand Graf von Bergen)
11. Suite in a Minor II Courante (Count Ferdinand Graf von Bergen)
12. Suite in a Minor III Menuet (Count Ferdinand Graf von Bergen)
13. Suite in a Minor IV La Tournee (Count Ferdinand Graf von Bergen)
14. Suite in a Minor V Gigue (Count Ferdinand Graf von Bergen)
15. Menuette De La Croix in D Minor (Anton Logy)
16. Bouree in D Minor (Anton Logy)
17. Sarabande and Double in A Minor (Anton Logy)
18. Menuette and Double in F Major (Anton Logy)
19. Chaconnes in D Minor and F Major (Anton Logy)
20. Gigue Qui Imite Kuku in F Major (Anton Logy)
21. Duet I Allemande in A Minor (Anton Logy)
22. Duet II Courante in A Minor (Anton Logy)
23. Duet III Sarabande in F Major (Anton Logy)
24. Duet IV Gavotte in F Major (Anton Logy)
25. Passacaglia (Ronn NcFarlane)

Listen to: the entire album.

Release date: 11/22/2016
Daniel Shoskes lives in Ohio USA

Tagged as: Classical, Baroque, Instrumental, Composer: Anton Logy, Composer: Sylvius Leopold Weiss, Composer: Thomas Campion, Lute

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11. JS Bach on Solo Mandola Volume 2 by Daniel Estrem: colorful classical guitar
12. Alma de Cuerda (Soul of String) by La Reverie: Recreating traditional music from a modern perspective
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20. Vivaldi Concertos on 8-string guitar by Daniel Estrem: colorful classical guitar

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