Contemplations
Being descended from a family of music publishers and lutenists Robert Ballard (ca 1572 - after 1650) possessed all the genetic material required to grow into one of the more prominent lutenists of his time. His father, Robert Ballard senior, founded, together with his cousin Adrian le Roy, the famous music publishing house 'Le Roy et Ballard'. When Maria de Medici, the French regent, was looking for a lute teacher for the Dauphin Louis XIII, she chose Ballard's son Robert. Ballard junior wrote two books of lute music: Premier Livre de tablature de luth (1611) and Diverses Pièces mises sur le luth (1614). From 1618 onward he was allowed to bear the title Musicien Ordinaire du Roi. The Entree's, Courantes and Ballets, which are here performed on a 10-course gut-strung lute (after Gerle, Brian Cohen 1979), are from the first lute book. In addition to having certainly played them, Louis XIII probably used them as a subtle accompaniment to his dance.

Born in Spain, the composer and guitar virtuoso Fernando Sor (1778-1839) received his music education from the Benedictine monks of Montserrat. With the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte he left Spain for Paris, where he soon became well known. Sor is especially famous for his large oeuvre for guitar, but he also wrote operas, symphonies and ballets. Most of these are lost. As a performing guitarist he traveled widely throughout Europe. In addition to his many concerts in Paris, where he remained for most of his life, he gave performances in other large cultural centers such as London, Berlin, Warsaw and Moscow. Sor composed the Fantaisie Elégiaque (1836) after the death in childbirth of a dear friend and pupil. Its melodies, which are moving as well as charming are grouped into sharply contrasting phrases which follow each other in quick succession, a characteristic which might well have pleased his fellow Parisian Frédérique Chopin.

On this album Sor is being played on a Stauffer guitar (1830) copied by Martin de Witte in 2011. Its strings are of gut and silk.

For the 'self-made' composer and Rosicrucian (a secret philosophical society) the music of Erik Satie (1866-1925) was conceived in a very architectural manner: as if assembling a construction kit, he formed his compositions from audible building blocks, not shrinking from seemingly interminable repetitions. Today Satie is mostly famous for his Trois Gymnopédies (1888) and his Trois Gnossiennes (1890) which, because of their long drawn-out melodies and their repeated chord patterns, can easily put Satie's listeners into a trance-like state. To fit them into the range of the 14 course liuto attiorbato the Gnossiennes and Gymnopédies have been transposed down a fourth and a fifth respectively. To preserve Satie's harmonies virtually unaltered it was necessary to develop a new right hand technique. Satie's often soft and mysterious sound combinations translate surprisingly well onto the gut-strung liuto attiorbato (De Witte 2007, after Choc 1630).

1. Fantaisie Elegiaque (Fernando Sor (1778 - 1839))
2. Gnossienne 1 (Erik Satie (1866 - 1925))
3. Gnossienne 2 (Erik Satie (1866 - 1925))
4. Gnossienne 3 (Erik Satie (1866 - 1925))
5. Entree Troisiesme (Robert Ballard (ca 1572 - after 1650))
6. Premier Chant Second Chant Troisiesme Chant Ballet de M le Daufin (Robert Ballard (ca 1572 - after 1650))
7. Entree Sixiesme (Robert Ballard (ca 1572 - after 1650))
8. Courante Quatriesme (Robert Ballard (ca 1572 - after 1650))
9. Ballet des Dieux (Robert Ballard (ca 1572 - after 1650))
10. Courante Cinquiesme (Robert Ballard (ca 1572 - after 1650))
11. Premier Chant Second Chant Troisiesme Chant Entree de Luths (Robert Ballard (ca 1572 - after 1650))
12. Gymnopedie 1 (Erik Satie (1866 - 1925))
13. Gymnopedie 2 (Erik Satie (1866 - 1925))
14. Gymnopedie 3 (Erik Satie (1866 - 1925))

Listen to: the entire album.

Release date: 8/12/2012
Ireen Thomas lives in Den Haag Netherlands

Tagged as: Classical, Classical Period, Renaissance, Avant-Garde, Instrumental, Composer: Erik Satie, Composer: Fernando Sor, Composer: Robert Ballard, Classical Guitar, Lute

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