SILVIUS LEOPOLD WEISS Fantasie No.9
Declan Zapala brings us a charming ‘fantasie’ from the most accomplished lutenist of the Baroque era. With its ‘improvised’ feel, this piece is a real roast for your fingers.
If Paganini had played the lute and lived during the Baroque era then he may well have been hailed as the greatest lutenist of his time. But he wasn’t alive then, and he certainly didn’t play lute. No, that crown belongs to the Poland-born composer and virtuoso Silvius Leopold Weiss. Thought to have written over 1000 pieces for lute during his life, Weiss led an exceptionally accomplished musical career which saw him receive appointments as court musician for a multitude of Polish and German princes and counts. His longest appointment was in Dresden as chamber musician for Prince Elector of Saxony ‘August the Strong’ which is where this month’s arrangement would have been composed.
At points Weiss resided in the same vicinities as other eminent Baroque composers including Scarlatti and Handel and was regarded by his peers (including one JS Bach) as a formidable improvisor of Baroque counterpoint. Despite being closer in age to JS Bach (only two years his junior), Weiss was a friend of Bach’s eldest son Willhelm Friedemann Bach and through him it is said that Weiss and JS Bach met and engaged in competitive improvisation.
Despite Weiss being one of the most prolific lutenists of his age he preferred to keep his notation to himself and published very few pieces during his lifetime. In fact he is only documented as having had one short piece, Sonata No.49, published prior to his death. Although many of his manuscripts have been lost it’s likely they’ll be unearthed at some point, as often happens with music of this era (one of the original manuscripts used for Bach’s Allemande - see GT328 - was found in 1984 in an antique books shop!).
The Baroque era is perhaps remembered more for the composers who wrote for louder instruments like harpsichord and organ, as well as violin - Bach, Haydn, Vivaldi, and Purcell to name a few. Their chosen instruments remained popular after their deaths, as did their notoriety. Unfortunately for Weiss the popularity of the lute waned in the years that followed his death and didn’t see a real resurgence until the 20th century and Julian Bream’s enthusiasm for it. Enjoy this piece!
NEXT MONTH Declan arranges another Catalan folk song, El Noi de la Mer by Miguel Llobet
Beat two of bar 15 involves holding a barre on the 3rd fret. It’s tricky to hold but thankfully very brief, so practise it in short bursts so you don’t risk burning out your fretting hand. As you pass from bar 16 into 17 make things easier by taking it in pairs of notes separated by a shift. Hold the shape between the first and third fingers as you shift up, and then open the third finger down onto the third string as the first finger shifts up to the high C# of bar 17.
[Bars 20-46] As we move into the fugal section at bar 21 this changes to two independent melodic voicings. To bring these lines out clearly we must connect the notes legato where changes in one line does not affect the other. Playing the separate voicings in isolation, then once you have a feel for how they sound, start practising them in unison. A nice way of playing bar 37 is to shift first and fourth fingers up from first position up to the fifth position notes while holding the same fretting-hand shape. Achieve bar 40 by holding a barré at the 3rd fret for the first two notes then shifting that down to first position for the 1st-fret C, while adding the second finger onto the bass E. Bars 43-46 build to a fiery repeated arpeggiated figure from bar 47.
[Bars 46-end] During the ascending sequence it is very easy to carry tension between bars only to lose control as you enter the final bar. This is the perfect opportunity to try out my regularly parroted ‘click fix’ idea whereby you play through all the notes with zero fretting-hand pressure (as though you’re trying to play everything as a harmonic). Once you get used to the movements with zero pressure, gently start to add it back and you will find you can move into bar 47 with ease. Bars 47-54 are very much the climax of the piece and despite being quite busy are relatively simple under the fingers. The section alternates between a single broken chord and a descending scale. Ensure the opening bass note of each bar sustains throughout its bar (though we cheat at the end Bb of bar 51 where we hold the on the 8th fret of the fourth string; but don’t worry, by that point there will be sympathetic resonance of the note coming from the sixth string). Use the slur during the descending scale bars to help punctuate the line and give your picking hand a breath!