A Swiss Homage to Andrés Segovia
While My Guitar Was Gently Weeping
Music From The Royal Courts Of Germany
Minsk Music - Chamber Music from Belarus

Music from the Royal Courts of Germany

Music of the Renaissance and the Baroque

The Renaissance is doubtlessly the epoch of art history whose influence determined and guided the European intellect most enduringly. Whereas the musicians in the Middle Ages were mostly homeless and unpropertied wandering "minstrels," during the Renaissance and the Baroque the class of the professional musician developed for the first time. The increasing demands made by the princes and lords on the quality of musical performance led to the instrumentalist increasingly having to deal more and more with new "foreign" musical influences. In this way, the differences to the music for the daily needs of the common man became increasingly distinct. Even less well-to-do aristocrats maintained their own "menestrels" for reasons of representation. With the foun­dation of larger instrumental ensembles at the courts, the social standing of the musician also improved. This was a development that reached its climax in the court music ensembles of the Baroque period. Moreover, during the Renaissance, the cult of the virtuoso experienced its first blossoming. Internationally famed instrumentalists and singers found reception and livelihood as liberally endowed guests at princely courts throughout Europe. Every educated "chivalrous" per­son considered the study of music a social necessity.

The present recordings are an anthology, a selection of Renaissance and Baroque music such as was composed and performed at Germany's courts. Taking the principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel under Duke Julius and his successor Duke Heinrich Julius as an example, I would like to shed a bit of light on this development in the music, as well as on that of the social stand­ing of the court musicians. The history of the Wolfenbüttel Hofkapelle (court chapel) is richly documented, and musical luminaries such as Michael Praetorius and Gregorio Huwet were active there.

The Rise and Fall of the Wolfenbüttel Hofkapelle (1571 - ca. 1630)

Throughout Middle and Northern Germany, the Reformation fostered the blossoming of choirs and instrumental ensembles at courts and churches, or their establishment where none existed. Every prince who was favorably inclined toward the new belief made it his responsibility to re­place the Catholic Mass with the Lutheran liturgy, with its strong emphasis on congregational singing. In the principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, this development took place rather late, since the court became Protestant only with Duke Julius's accession to the throne in 1568.

Duke Julius - Heinrich Julius's father - was open to both the arts as well as to the sciences. He is also credited with the establishment of the University of Helmstedt. In 1571 Duke Julius founded the first Wolfenbüttel Hofkapelle. The letters of appointment, that is to say, the documents from 26 November 1571 concerning the duties and payment of the chapel members, reveal the Duke's frugal character. Besides musical services, additional duties as chancery clerk were required. Through this double office, a reduction in the number of court servants was achieved. Moreover, the Duke was thus certain to obtain only well-educated persons for his musical establishment. Before the signing of a contract of employment, he required a handwritten resume from the ap­plicant, in German and Latin.

In 1571 the Duke bought "four of the best lutes from Zittau" for one and a half talers, as well as further instruments. After a very promising start, the court chapel did not, however, survive very long. Already after three years there is no more mention of the instrumentalists. The reason for this might be found in the above-mentioned founding of the University of Helmstedt in 1576, which brought enormous additional demands upon the budget. Eleven years later, in 1587, Duke Julius again decided to establish a Hofkapelle. In spite of a better financial situation, this time too, he wanted to keep the expenditures to a minimum.

On 2 October 1587, Thomas Mancinus from Schwerin was appointed Kapellmeister with the following duties: "...the 'diligent' provision of 'Musica vocali et instrumentali' on Sundays and feast days in our castle church, as well as at our wish at dinner in our chambers, for us and our guests.... To take charge of his colleagues, to oblige them to lead a sober and moderate life, to practice diligently, and to do clerical work. From time to time, appropriate to the feast day, to provide new songs, it being expressly prohibited to publish them without our permission.... On work days, and when there are no guests visiting, administrative work is to be done in the chan­cellery, and the administration of the library to be assumed.... The prince's daughter is to be in­structed every day for an hour in reading, writing, and arithmetic..."

The instruction of the choir boys also appears to have been initially in the hands of the Kapell­meister, since the position of Kapellknabenpräceptor (master of the choir boys) was first estab­lished under Heinrich Julius.

Thomas Mancinus received a yearly salary of fifty talers, paid semiannually at Christmas and Whitsuntide, in addition to free board, court-dress for winter and summer, an ox, two wild boars, and two bushels each of rye and barley. The other musicians were paid even worse. To be sure, they received twenty talers, two suits of court-dress, and free board, but neither money for their rent, nor perquisites (payment in kind). Moreover, besides music, they had to do clerical work. The musicians' letters of appointment expressly state that Duke Julius is to be accompanied on his travels by his Hofkapelle, whether to provincial diets, local town meetings, and inspections, or for recreation. In the summers he often went with his consort up the Oker to his country seat Hedwigsburg, this, too, with "trumpets, timpani, and a musical ensemble." Duke Julius died on 3 May 1589, and was buried in the parish church "Beate Mariae Virginis" on 11 June.

Julius's eldest son, Heinrich Julius, succeeded him. Very much interested in literature, Heinrich Julius is considered to be the creator of the oldest German prose-dramas. Together with Landgrave Moritz of Hesse, he was among the first German princes to establish English theaters, staffed with the appropriate actors, at their courts. As the Protestant bishop of the principality of Halberstadt, he was very much inclined to the Lutheran confession. At the same time as in Rome the portal of St. Peter's rose up, the main church "Beate Mariae Virginis" in the residence town Wolfenbüttel was being built as the world's first important Protestant church. Its initiator was Heinrich Julius. He led an extravagant life style, and was notorious both for his addiction to drink as well as his witch-hunting. At the death of his father, he inherited 700,000 talers; he himself left behind debts totaling 1.2 million talers!

Soon after Heinrich Julius's accession to the throne, the Hofkapelle was reorganized. Musically less-talented musicians were released, for example the lutenist Tobias Kuen, who had been hired by Heinrich Julius's father. Thomas Mancinus remained Kapellmeister, and also received better conditions of employment: His salary was doubled, and the Hofkapelle was enlarged from nine to twelve musicians.

In 1590 Heinrich Julius traveled to Copenhagen to marry Elisabeth, the sister of the as yet under­aged king Christian IV of Denmark. During Christian's reign, music experienced an unparalleled blossoming at the Danish court. In Copenhagen, Heinrich Julius became acquainted with the English actors appearing there, and with English instrumental music. As a result, Wolfenbüttel was also to have an English theater troupe and, in its wake, English musicians.

On 22 May 1591, the lutenist Gregorius Huwet from Antwerp joined the Hofkapelle. At first only with an average salary, and without perquisites, he later became an especially honored and richly rewarded favorite of the Duke's, earning the second highest salary.

Through his interest in English instrumental music, Heinrich Julius became aware of John Dowland and sent him a written invitation. Dowland had just unsuccessfully applied for a posi­tion at the English Royal Court, and was about to depart on a journey that was eventually to take him to Rome. Before that, however, he decided to accept Heinrich Julius's invitation, and arrived in Wolfenbüttel in the autumn of 1594. He was received with great honors, and Heinrich Julius attempted in vain to secure Dowland's services for his court.

Some time later, Dowland and Gregorius Huwet were sent to Landgrave Moritz of Hesse in Kassel. Heinrich Julius wanted to get an expert's opinion of the abilities of the two lutenists. It is difficult to determine exactly when this event took place, since there were different calenders in use in Europe at the time. The only thing certain is that the visit ended on 21 March 1595. Landgrave Moritz gave an account of the lutenists' visit in a letter to Heinrich Julius, in which he diplomatically wrote: "I beg your pardon that the two musicians remained so long in Kassel.... Dowland stayed of his own free will, and seized every opportunity to make music... As far as their art is concerned, we have heard and compared both lutenists, and although we understand not very much about lute playing, they seem to us to be very good. We consider Georgius Hawitt to be an experienced and accomplished lutenist, and with respect to the playing of motets and mad­rigals, even perfect and well skilled. Johannes Dulandt, on the other hand, is a good composer. If Dulandt has belittled your lutenists, and in any way looked down upon them, he protests and apologizes most fervently... - Cassel, the 21st of March 1595 - Moritz Lg Hesse"

A very circumspect letter lacking clearness, since we know from Dowland's reports how hard Moritz tried to keep Dowland at his court. The Count even composed the Pavan recorded on this CD for Dowland, providing it with the following dedication: "Mauritius Landgravius Hessia fecit in honorem Johanni Dowlandi Anglorum Orphei." Dowland, however, continued on his way to Rome, and only on the return journey did he again stay for a while in Kassel. Only in 1598 was he to receive a permanent appointment at the court of Christian IV in Copenhagen, where his annual salary was 500 talers. Neither Heinrich Julius nor Landgrave Moritz would have been in a position at that time to pay such a salary.

Heinrich Julius took great pains to hold Gregorius Huwet in his Hofkapelle. In 1595, Heinrich Julius "made a present of" or made over to him a house in Halberstadt worth 1200 talers, so that he remain with him for life. Huwet probably married here, since in 1607 he filed for divorce from a certain Marie Uleman "propter adulterium commisum," i.e., on the grounds of adultery (as noted in the diary of Mathias von Oppen, the dean of Halberstadt Cathedral). An offspring of this marriage was apparently Huwet's son Henricus, who enrolled in the University of Halberstadt in 1611, and whose godfather was Duke Heinrich Julius. Gregorius's presence in the Hofkapelle can still be documented in 1614, although there was no longer any need for lutenists. Even in 1616, he is still listed in the pay register. Gregorius Huwet probably died in 1617.

The hiring of Michael Praetorius around New Year 1595 provided the pre-condition for the greatest artistic blossoming of the Wolfenbüttel Hofkapelle. Initially, he was engaged as organist. Conspicuous is the great increase in salary, about twice as much as before, that the musicians received. Thomas Mancinus received a new salary of 260 talers, followed by Huwet and Praetorius with 150 each, and most of the others with 100 talers. These were salaries that even surpassed those of the Dresden Hofkapelle. The reserves of the state treasury, which amounted to 700,000 talers, were however soon exhausted, and already in 1601 the salaries were no longer paid out regularly. But because there were no more major changes in the make up of the Hofkapelle, better results than ever before were assured. In the last ten years of Heinrich Julius's life, that is to say, from about 1603 onwards, the Hofkapelle was made up of three basses, three tenors, three altos, eight choir boys, five instrumentalists, an apprentice instrumentalist, two or­ganists, and two lutenists.

The greatest musical impulse, however, came from the change in the direction of the Hofkapelle. The new Kapellmeister was Michael Praetorius, who assumed this position on 7 December 1604. His predecessor Thomas Mancinus was retired because of health reasons, and received an annual pension of 200 talers. He died between October 1611 and May 1612.

The death of Duke Heinrich Julius on 20 July 1613 quickened the decline of the Hofkapelle. His successor, Duke Friedrich Ulrich, was at the mercy of his councillors, the notorious "Landdroste" (state bailiffs). Not only the inherited burden of debt, but also the increasing mismanagement and the devastating effects of the nascent war resulted in the expenditures and the number of musi­cians being continually reduced in spite of Michael Praetorius's protests.

From a musical point of view, a new period began. It did away with the old structures in the or­ganization of the Kapelle, and let the court musical establishment blossom again in a new form. What was new was the autonomy of the instrumental and the solo vocal music. However, this independence was only able to prevail after the devastating damage from war had begun to be cleared away.

Michael Praetorius (b Creuzburg, 1571; d Wolfenbüttel, 1621)

Kapellmeister in Wolfenbüttel from 1604-1621

Michael Praetorius was born in 1571 at Creuzburg an der Werra (near Eisenach). His father was a strict Lutheran. The conflicts in the Protestant camp repeatedly forced the family to change their lodgings. Michael Praetorius later studied in various German cities, and went to Frankfurt an der Oder in 1585.

From 1595 until his death in 1621, he was active at the court of Wolfenbüttel, at first as organist, and from 1604 as Kapellmeister. As a systematic person, he undertook an ambitious program of publications. The catalogue of his works is extremely wide-ranging, above all in the area of church music. Praetorius died as a wealthy man, leaving his property to the needy.

In 1612 Terpsichore appeared, named after the Greek Muse of dancing. The only volume of his projected series of secular and instrumental collections was commissioned by "...His Highness, Right Honorable Prince and Lord, Lord Friedrich Ulrich, Duke of Braunschweig and Lüneburg, composed in five and four voices..." The title page promises "...all kinds of French dances and songs... as they are played by the French dancing masters in France... and can be used very well at princely dinners... for recreation and amusement."

These dances were given to Praetorius by Anthoine Emeraud, the dancing master of Duke Friedrich Ulrich, so that he could set the melodies in several parts. Praetorius was apparently not certain if he should publish such music, for he makes his apologies in the dedication to the Duke: The "melodies and arias, as they are called," were composed by French dancers, at the same time very good violinists and lutenists, for the most part, to instruct their great lords, persons of the aristocracy and of rank, in dancing with this musical accompaniment.

For most of these dances he wrote a bass line and the middle voices, signing them with his initials M.P.C. (Michael Praetorius Creuzburg). The dances that already had bass lines he labeled "Incerti" (i.e., anonymous). Other pieces carry the abbreviation "F.C.," which would seem to in­dicate the authorship of the French violinist Pierre Francisque Caroubel, who had just spent some time at the Wolfenbüttel court.

At French courts, one was accustomed to using violins for official dances and for dance lessons. This leads to the supposition that Praetorius composed this music for stringed instruments. In Germany, on the other hand, the music was performed for entertainment, at banquets, and other festive occasions, so that the instrumentation was determined more by the occasion and the pos­sibilities of the available musicians.

In 1619, Praetorius published his Syntagma musicum. Already in the title of this three-volume encyclopedia, Praetorius's desire to have music understood as a comprehensive system comes to the fore. A syntagma is a collection of writings on related subject matter. With this work, he wanted to summarize the musical knowledge of his time in its multifarious forms.

The first volume, in Latin and with many source references, is addressed to the "learned music directors," and contains essays from all periods on themes concerning sacred and secular music.

In the second volume ("De organographia"), the thematic focal points are the specifications of famous organs, a comprehensive overview of the instruments, and discussions about tonal con­cepts. Praetorius wrote this volume in the "German language, since most organ and instrument makers, organists, and instrumentalists do not have a command of Latin." The appendix of this volume carries the title "Theatrum Instrumentorum seu Sciagraphica" ("Theater of the instru­ments or perspective drawings") and, with its forty-two pages of copperplate engravings, is of invaluable importance for musical instrument research.

The third volume deals with musical terminology, notation, and questions of performance prac­tice.

The fourth volume, which was to contain a theory of composition, never appeared in print.

Moritz Landgraf von Hessen (b Kassel, 1572; d Kassel 1632)

Reigned 1592 - 1627

If ever there was a chivalrous and educated "uomo universale," it was certainly Landgrave Moritz of Hesse. Besides his duties as ruler, he composed, played music, wrote poetry, and phi­losophized. Moreover, he wrote plays, made architectural drawings, and was active as a practic­ing surgeon and alchemist. He built schools and patronized the natural sciences. Both his knowl­edge of French, Italian, and English, as well as his large, black eyes and dark brown hair make him seem an engaging and winning personality. The Englishman Edward Monings described him in a letter to the Countess of Warwick, dated 1596 as "a perfect man (in my opinion), and a most perfect prince."

Landgrave Moritz was successor to his father Wilhelm IV. Moritz loved hunting. A report from 1595 documents that whoever refused to take part in the hunt had to reckon with a heavy penalty. In 1591 the men of the towns of Allendorf and Verna arrived too late to hunt, and accordingly each was fined eighty talers. Landgrave Moritz was also known for his addiction to drink. At times, this took on grotesque forms: After a ten-day visit to the Elector of Brandenburg, Moritz left, together with his entourage of three thousand riders and servants, to go to Spandau. But he could not find the town gate! His drunken condition -- and apparently that of his subordinates -- must surely have been responsible for this. In 1604, Landgrave Moritz became a Calvinist. The attempt to convert his subjects to the Calvinist doctrine almost resulted in a civil war. Moritz ab­dicated in 1627, after having lost the confidence of his people.

Landgrave Moritz studied music with Georg Otto, Kapellmeister in Kassel from 1588 to 1619. For his own Kapelle, he wrote Italian madrigals, villanellas, and, as an accomplished lutenist, music for this instrument, too. It is to his great credit that he patronized Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672). Schütz came to Kassel as a choir boy, and received a scholarship from Moritz in 1607 to study with "Maestro Giovanni Gabrieli" in Venice.

English consort music without a doubt served as the model for the collection of five-part pavans by Landgrave Moritz, for the connections between Hesse and England were close. English theater troupes repeatedly made guest appearances at the Kassel court, and, as already mentioned, John Dowland also spent time there. First in 1595, then a year later, and again on 9 March 1598, the Landgrave offered him a position. But Dowland chose to go to Copenhagen, and the lutenist Richard Machin took his place. The first court lutenist was, however, Victor de Montbuysson, who had to instruct the Landgrave's daughter Elisabeth.

Landgrave Moritz and his court lutenists played on six- to ten-course lutes in Renaissance tuning. They appear to have preferred a nine-course lute. According to an inventory, the Landgrave's daughter Elisabeth also played pandora and four-course guitar. Other plucked instruments of the time also found use at the court, for example, the cittern, the theorbo, or the archlute, which was suitable for basso continuo playing, and had just come into fashion.

The collection Varietie of Lute Lessons, compiled by Robert Dowland, John's son, was published in London in 1610. The pavan by Landgrave Moritz recorded here is found in this collection. Robert Dowland's commentary: "Here beginneth the Pavins of which the first was made by the most magnificent and famous Prince Mauritius, Landgrave of Hessen, and from him sent to my Father, with this inscription following, and written with his GRACES owne hand: Mauritius Landgravius Hessia fecit in honorem Johanni Dowlandi Anglorum Orphei."

The technically demanding Pavan reveals a talent for lute composition, and Landgrave Moritz as an accomplished lute player. Four times at the opening of his Pavan he used Dowland's Lachrimae theme.

Gregorius Huwet (b Antwerp, before 1550; d Wolfenbüttel, after 1616)

Lutenist at the court of Wolfenbüttel 1591-1614

We know nothing about Gregorius Huwet before his arrival in Wolfenbüttel, where he joined the Hofkapelle on 22 May 1591. John Dowland praised him in the First Booke of Songes or Ayres (London 1597) as a great musical talent and an amiable person. By 1614 the Hofkapelle no longer had any need for lutenists. In spite of this, Kapellmeister Praetorius retained Huwet to frame concertos with coloratura lute playing. Some experts, for example, Diana Poulton, claim that Huwet was dismissed by Duke Friedrich Ulrich after he had become too old to play, and that he died in poverty.

George Frederic Handel (b Halle, 1685; d London, 1759)

I will not go into the details of Handel's life here, but only touch upon aspects that have to do with the Sarabande.

Handel's harpsichord music dates for the most part from his early years, when he became aware of his talent as an instrumentalist. He played for the Duke of Saxon-Weissenfels, who then en­couraged him to study music. In 1703, Handel moved to Hamburg, becoming Kapellmeister at the opera there already after a short time. In 1706, he undertook a journey to Italy. From 1711 to 1716 he held the position of Court Kapellmeister in Hannover.

The Sarabande recorded here is taken from the Suite No. 4 in D Minor for harpsichord, and was written before 1706. The magnificent harmonies are reminiscent of "La Folia." Recently, it achieved great popularity, in a modernized orchestral version, through its use in Stanley Kubrick's film Barry Lindon. The Cantata spagnuolo a voce solo e chitarra, in which the guitar is employed as a continuo (i.e., accompaniment) instrument, is from the time of Handel's last journey to Italy.

Esaias Reusner the younger (b Löwenberg in Silesia, 1636, d Berlin, 1697)

Of the various arts, music certainly suffered the most from the Thirty Years War. The economi­cally difficult times and the intellectual impoverishment silenced a whole generation of artists, and brought cultural development to a standstill. Only toward the end of the war did a new gen­eration of musicians emerge. Representatives of this period are Dietrich Buxtehude and Esaias Reusner the younger. In southern Germany and Austria, one oriented oneself toward Venice and Rome, while the north and "Protestant" middle looked to France. Esaias Reusner the younger descended from a patrician family. He was born on 29 April 1636 as the son of the lutenist of the same name, the "illustrious lutenist" of the Prince of Bernstadt, and Blandina Reusner. The father took his son's education very seriously, and began to give him lute lessons very early on. With this, he lay the foundation-stone for the work of one of the most outstanding German lute com­posers of the sixteenth century. In 1645, the elder Reusner had published the last collection of music for the lute in Germany. The disorders of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) forced father and son to leave their hometown of Löwenberg.

In 1646, as a ten-year-old child prodigy, Esaias the younger played in Danzig for the Queen of Poland, Maria Luisa Gonzaga, who was passing through. Father and son finally moved to Breslau, where the twelve-year-old Esaias served Count Wittenberg as a page for two years. In 1651, Princess Radziwill took Esaias into her services as a personal servant, and had him in­structed in composition and lute playing by a musician whose name we do not know. Three years later, suffering from homesickness, he resigned and returned to Breslau, where the following year he was to receive a summons to the court of Duke Georg III of Silesia in Brieg. When nine years later Georg's death ended his employment, he returned to Breslau for a year, until the new ruler, Duke Christian, re-engaged him in 1665. It was there that he "surpassed many others on his in­strument," so that the Duke gave him leave of absence for a successful appearance before Emperor Leopold I in Vienna.

After the death of Duke Christian in 1672, Esaias Reusner worked for a short time in Leipzig. He taught lute at the university there, and at the Thomaskirche he had a position as theorbo player under the direction of Kantor Thomas Knüpfer. He subsequently traveled to Berlin to play for the great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg. In 1674 he received a position as chamber lutenist, with the high salary of three hundred imperial talers. After Esaias Reusner, a man of small stature and weak constitution, had "honorably performed his duties into the seventh year," he died on 1 May 1697 in Berlin. He was survived by his widow and three small sons.

The Paduana recorded on the present CD is taken from the first collection of lute suites, entitled Delitiae Testudinis, which was written in Brieg and published in 1667. With its profundity of feeling and the majesty of the "broken style," it largely overshadows what was available until then from the French lute composers. This was the first collection of music for the lute in Germany since his father's, which had been published over twenty years before. The success of this volume soon made a new edition necessary. His most mature collection of suites, with the title Neue Lautenfrüchte ("New Fruits for the Lute"), was composed in Berlin and published in 1676. This was followed two years later by the Hundert geistliche Melodien evangelischer Lieder ("One Hundred Sacred Melodies of Protestant Songs") arranged for lute, which was to be fol­lowed by a never realized collection of psalms for the lute.

Johann Sebastian Bach (b Eisenach, 1685; d Leipzig, 1750)

The small Prelude in D Minor for lute BWV 999 (originally in C Minor) was probably written during Bach's Köthen period (1717-1723). The only source of this prelude is a copy by Johann Peter Kellner (1705-1772) with the title Praelude in c-moll pour la Lute di Johann Sebastian Bach. It is possible that this prelude was intended as an introduction to a fugue, since it ends on the dominant, A Major.

The Fugue in A Minor comes from the Sonata No. 1 for violin solo BWV 1001 (originally in G Minor), which was composed around 1720 and is also known in a contemporary arrangement for Baroque lute. The latter is found under the title Fuga del Signore Bach (BWV 1000) in a tabula­ture version from 1730 by Johann Christian Weyrauch. In this version the polyphonic structure is supplemented or accentuated by additional voice entries. The arrangement for organ BWV 539 was made at a later time.

Bach's six Suites for violoncello solo were composed between 1717 and 1723, and form a sort of counterpart to the six Sonatas and Partitas for violin solo, which were written around the same time. Bach composed the Suite No.3 in A Major for violoncello BWV 1009 (originally in C Major) for Ferdinand Christian Abel, who served as gambist and cellist in the chapel of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen.

Transcriptions and Authenticity

Strictly speaking, the transcription of compositions for instruments other than those intended by the composer is as old as composing itself. The dances from Praetorius's Terpsichore are already transcriptions of works by other composers. He merely adapted the instrumentation to the possi­bilities and the instrumentarium of his court ensemble. In the case of J.S. Bach, we have to ask ourselves how it is possible that such a great composer could write works that are only partially playable on the respective instruments. The technical demands of both his violin partitas as well as his lute suites are so great and complex that one can almost speak of characteristics of an ar­rangement. Bach himself arranged the C-Minor Cello Suite for the lute, transposing it into G Minor, an arrangement that can serve as a model for the transcription of the other cello suites.

The present-day concert guitar can be traced back to the work of the Spanish guitar maker Antonio de Torres (1817-1892), and has thus existed in this form for only about 150 years.

The transcription of Renaissance and Baroque music for the modern guitar has a long tradition. A great development can be discerned in the manner in which the works have been adapted for the concert guitar over the past 150 years. At the beginning stand the Bach transcriptions by Francesco Tarrega (1852-1909), in which one can clearly recognize the Romantic spirit of the time. This finds expression in the string indications, which frequently demand a warm vibrato, as well as the filling in of individual chords, and the use of expressive markings (in Bach's time one was more economical with such things). This tradition of the late Romantic era found its em­bodiment in the person of Andrés Segovia.

This recording takes into account the new understanding of Renaissance and Baroque music and of today's performance practice of early music, and in this way contributes its share toward a contemporary concept of transcription.

Han Jonkers

translation: Howard Weiner

Han Jonkers

The Dutch guitarist Han Jonkers, born in 1958 at Eindhoven, studied guitar with Hans-Lutz Niessen at the Maastricht College of Music. After earning a music education degree and a solo­ist's diploma, a scholarship made it possible for him to study for several years with Oscar Ghiglia at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, where he was awarded the "Diploma di Merito." Further studies followed at the Basel Academy of Music with Konrad Ragossnig and Oscar Ghiglia, where he also graduated with a soloist's diploma.

Han Jonkers was prizewinner at several international competitions, 1983 in Viña del Mar, Chile, and in 1985 at the Competition "Maria Canals" in Barcelona, Spain. Since 1981 resident in Switzerland, he performs as a soloist and in chamber music formations. A number of composers have written works for guitar at his behest. His activities include the founding of guitar festivals and courses as well as the authoring of musicological contributions for specialist journals. The publication of the earliest manuscript of Frank Martin's Quatre Pièces Brèves was due to his ef­forts.

Han Jonkers gives workshops at colleges of music at home and abroad, and summer courses un­der the auspices of the Arosa (Switzerland) Music Festival. Within the framework of the Swiss canton of Aargau's partnership with Belorussia, he plays concerts there regularly and gives mas­ter classes at the Minsk College of Music. An invitation to the "Festival Internacional de Música de Natal" led him to Brazil as well as to teaching at the "Universidade Federal da Bahia" in Salvador de Bahia. Han Jonkers lives in Basel, and is instructor of classical guitar at the Teachers College of the Canton of Aargau in Zofingen, and at the Cantonal School Olten in Canton Solothurn. Musikverlag Nepomuk, Aarau, publishes a series of music for guitar, of which he is the general editor. His CDs have been issued on CADENZA RECORDS and PAN CLASSICS, and have received praise from the critics.