WEISS: Lute Music Sonata 52 / Sonata 32 / Sonata in G minor

When Sylvius Leopold Weiss died (in 1750, the year of Bach's death), he was eulogised as Europe's greatest lutenist and one of Germany's most gifted musicians. This series devoted to his complete lute works continues with the large-scale 'Sonata No. 52'. Thought to be a late work of the composer's full maturity, this Sonata is notable for its extended movements and wide use of adventurous chromaticism and modulation. The 'Sonata No. 32' makes much use of the extra low notes characteristic of the enlarged thirteen-course lute introduced around 1717. In the 'Sonata No. 94' Weiss seems consciously to be experimenting in a style more akin to that of the following generation.