Contemplations by Ireen Thomas Ireen Thomas : Contemplations.
 Lute sonatas from mozart's time.

How did it all begin.... probably in a long cherished wish to play Erik Satie's Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes (originally written for the piano) on the lute. Having fulfilled that wish and thinking of recording Satie, I asked myself which lute composer could stand next to Erik Satie? The answer came quickly in the form of Robert Ballard, Musicien Ordinaire du Roy. Ballard's music is quintessentially French: as with Satie, his compositions are exquisitely refined and 'courteous'. Perhaps because of this shared quality of serenity, when one hears their music side by side the distance of 300 years which divides these two Parisians quickly fades away. However, when one returns to earth, Paris, as one of the greatest cultural centers of Europe, also took many foreign composers to her heart. Among these was Fernando Sor. His intense and romantic Fantaisie Elégiaque for guitar, with its highly concentrated emotional content, forms a most 'earthy' contrast with the more ethereal and transparent tones of Ballard and Satie.

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).

Songs:

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.

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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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  4. Art of the Lute in Renaissance France by Edward Martin: vihuela, renaissance and baroque lute
  5. The Siena Manuscript on renaissance lute by Paul Berget: renaissance lute, modernized.
  6. Deux Grands Maitres de l'Ecriture pour le Luth Baroque et le Theorbe by Mauricio Buraglia: a marvelous classical spiral of lute sounds
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  8. A Spagna in the Works by Alison Crum and Roy Marks: Ethereal, enigmatic and exhilarating renaissance miniature masterpieces for viol and lute
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  10. The Parisian Delight by Richard MacKenzie: Virtuoso English Lutenist and Guitarist
  11. Toccata - Touched by Alex McCartney: Reflective, historically-informed performance on the lute
  12. Confluentes by Ralph Rousseau Meulenbroeks: virtuoso viola da gamba
  13. Holburns Passion by Jacob Heringman: renaissance lute
  14. Colors of Spain by Daniel Estrem: colorful classical guitar
  15. English Renaissance Music by La Primavera: English Renaissance music.
  16. Courante by Edward Martin and Thomas Walker: French lute duets that represent the pinnacle of the High Baroque
  17. Stile Moderno, Stile Antico by Thomas Walker: Lute music of 17th century France and Italy
  18. Antonio Vivaldi, The Four Seasons in forma di sonata for cello by Vito Paternoster: cellist extraordinaire
  19. Alma de Cuerda (Soul of String) by La Reverie: Recreating traditional music from a modern perspective
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