The Baroque lute master who rivaled Bach. Discover the life and legacy of Sylvius Leopold Weiss, the Baroque era's most influential lutenist. Learn about his international fame, his interactions with J.S. Bach, and his impact on lute music.
Thanks so much! I'm not sure whether or not he wrote any pieces for voice. To my knowledge, Weiss' chamber music that is performed has been reconstructed based on his surviving lute parts. While it is certain that he composed chamber music featuring more than just the lute parts, one could consider the possibility of including voice in some of these compositions. Sadly, there is no explicit evidence that this was the case. Historically, lute continuo to accompany voice was a long held practice, even in the Baroque period.
His manuscripts are quite dispersed. There is one housed in London, another in Salzburg, one in Moscow.. you can find a catalogue of known existing manuscripts here: http://www.slweiss.com/an_oeuvres.html
Great article! You mentioned Weiss composed some chamber music—do you know if there are any pieces for voice?
Thanks so much! I'm not sure whether or not he wrote any pieces for voice. To my knowledge, Weiss' chamber music that is performed has been reconstructed based on his surviving lute parts. While it is certain that he composed chamber music featuring more than just the lute parts, one could consider the possibility of including voice in some of these compositions. Sadly, there is no explicit evidence that this was the case. Historically, lute continuo to accompany voice was a long held practice, even in the Baroque period.
That makes sense. You mentioned that his works survive in manuscript form…do you know which library has most of his manuscripts in their collection?
His manuscripts are quite dispersed. There is one housed in London, another in Salzburg, one in Moscow.. you can find a catalogue of known existing manuscripts here: http://www.slweiss.com/an_oeuvres.html
A copy of his London Manuscript is available on the US Lute Society website: https://lutesocietyofamerica.org/tree-editions/the-london-manuscript/ (there may be others available as well, I searched explicitly for the London MS).
I also suggest exploring IMSLP: https://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Weiss,_Sylvius_Leopold
:)