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NEWS : New CD Austria 1676


about this release

Composers: Wolff Jacob Lauffensteiner (1676 - 1754), Johann Georg Weichenberger (1676 - 1740)
Artist: Miguel Yisrael, 11c Baroque Lute

 

In the year 1676, Thomas Mace published in England his famous opus Musick's Monument, which contains very detailed information on the use of the baroque lute in the 17th century. The same year, in Austria, two important representatives of Austrian baroque lute music were born: Wolff Jacob Lauffensteiner (1676-1754) and Johann Georg Weichenberger (1676-1740). Because of the stylistic similarities of their compositions to German lute music, made famous by Silvius Leopold Weiss (1687-1750), these composers' works have often been indifferently included as part of the German lute repertoire. It is, however, more appropriate to speak of Austrian lute music, as this music is different, important in its own right, and it had developed independently. This is confirmed, when we consider the fundamental 18th century book on the lute Untersuchung des Instruments der Lauten (Study on the Instrument of the Lute) by Ernst Gottlieb Baron (Nuremberg, 1727). Baron praises the Austrian lutenists, but does not count them among the many lutenists that try to achieve the “Weissian way of treating this instrument”. Baron observes that Lauffensteiner was a chamber servant in Electoral Bavarian service and had composed many fine pieces. Weichenberger, however, is said to be, like Hinterleitner, a Viennese, and to be favoured because of his “fermeté” (assurance).
Even if the names of Lauffensteiner and Weichenberger are not yet well known to music lovers, their music is of high quality and on a par with the music of Silvius Leopold Weiss, the most famous lutenist in the late baroque.