Sylvius Leopold Weiss (12th October 1687–16th October 1750) was a German c… Read Full Bio ↴Sylvius Leopold Weiss (12th October 1687–16th October 1750) was a German composer and lutenist.
Born in Grottkau near Breslau, the son of Johann Jacob Weiss, also a lutenist, he served at courts in Breslau, Rome, and Dresden, where he died. Until recently, he was thought to have been born in 1686, but recent evidence suggests that he was in fact born the following year.
Weiss was the most important and the most prolific composer of lute music in history and one of the best-known and most technically accomplished lutenists of his day. He wrote around 600 pieces for lute, most of them grouped into 'sonatas' (not to be confused with the later classical sonata, based on sonata form) or suites, which consist mostly of baroque dance pieces. Weiss also wrote chamber pieces and concertos, but only the solo parts have survived.
In later life, Weiss became a friend of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and met J.S. Bach through him. J.S.Bach and Weiss were said to have competed in improvisation, as the following account by Johann Friedrich Reichardt describes:
"Anyone who knows how difficult it is to play harmonic modulations and good counterpoint on the lute will be surprised and full of disbelief to hear from eyewitnesses that Weiss, the great lutenist, challenged J. S. Bach, the great harpsichordist and organist, at playing fantasies and fugues."
Sylvius Weiss' son Johann Adolph Faustinus Weiss succeeded him as a Saxon court lutenist.
Born in Grottkau near Breslau, the son of Johann Jacob Weiss, also a lutenist, he served at courts in Breslau, Rome, and Dresden, where he died. Until recently, he was thought to have been born in 1686, but recent evidence suggests that he was in fact born the following year.
Weiss was the most important and the most prolific composer of lute music in history and one of the best-known and most technically accomplished lutenists of his day. He wrote around 600 pieces for lute, most of them grouped into 'sonatas' (not to be confused with the later classical sonata, based on sonata form) or suites, which consist mostly of baroque dance pieces. Weiss also wrote chamber pieces and concertos, but only the solo parts have survived.
In later life, Weiss became a friend of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and met J.S. Bach through him. J.S.Bach and Weiss were said to have competed in improvisation, as the following account by Johann Friedrich Reichardt describes:
"Anyone who knows how difficult it is to play harmonic modulations and good counterpoint on the lute will be surprised and full of disbelief to hear from eyewitnesses that Weiss, the great lutenist, challenged J. S. Bach, the great harpsichordist and organist, at playing fantasies and fugues."
Sylvius Weiss' son Johann Adolph Faustinus Weiss succeeded him as a Saxon court lutenist.
Gigue
Sylvius Leopold Weiss Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Gigue' by these artists:
Louis- Nicolas Clerambault Aux fumiers d'la première,heur' Qui font la loi comme ell'le…
Louis-Nicolas Clérambault Aux fumiers d'la première,heur' Qui font la loi comme ell'le…
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RubinSunset1930
Greetings from Austin, TX. I love the way you perform that Gigue. You've inspired me ... to keep working on those pieces from Frederick Noad's Baroque Guitar. If you came to Austin I'm sure you could get a gig or two....
jeff davis
Nicely done! I've been working on the noad transcriptions to learn the entire suite as well and your recordings have been a great resource. I've been doing a lot of listening to the original lute recording of the suite in d minor as wel, and it's VERY tempting to do a lot of editing to those noad transcriptions to bring them closer to the original in regards to ornaments and voicings
Shane Singleton
Fantastic. Great work!