SKU: IS.G6761EM

ISBN 9790365067619.

This sonata (WeissSW No. 48, Dresden) is one of a new series of eight sonatas by Silvius Leopold Weiss arranged for the first time for guitar and published by Metropolis Music. Sonata XXIII comes from a set of tablature manuscript volumes in the Sächsisches Landesbibliothek in Dresden (Ms. Mus. 2841-â?V-â?1). There are five volumes with a total of 34 sonatas of Weiss for solo lute. The sonatas are ordered by key and further sorted by size or complexity. Sonata XXIII is a large and mature piece. It probably dates to the last period of the life of Weiss. The Sonata has seven movements: Prelude, Allemande (andante), Courante, Bourée, Sarabande (andante), Menuet, and it ends with a Presto. The use of tempo indications for French dance movements is characteristic for the later work of Weiss. The purpose of beginning a lute sonata with a Prelude is to introduce the specific key and the harmonic design of the sonata. However, not every sonata in the Dresden manuscripts has a Prelude. About one third of the 34 Dresden Sonatas opens with a Prelude, but only six of them may be considered truly integral to the sonata. The other Preludes are composed in a rather â??rudimentaryâ?? style, as a model for the less experienced lute player to improvise on the central key and theme. They may have been added later in the copying process. The Prelude of this particular Sonata is regarded as spurious, in respect to composition, a rather weak addition. I have included the Prelude in this Edition, leaving it to the guitar player to judge whether it fits with the musical style and idiom of the Sonata or not. Originally, the Sonata is written in F sharp minor, a key often used by Weiss as it is appropriate for playing the lute, but rather awkward with the guitar. For ease and effectiveness of playing, I have transposed the Sonata a major second lower to E minor. To create more concordance with the baroque tuning of the lute, the G string is lowered by a semitone to F sharp. I suggest using a capodastro to achieve the original pitch. Based on the present standard of A at 440 Hertz, the capo should be placed at the 2nd fret. However, during Weissâ??s lifetime, it was more common in many parts of Germany to use a standard of A at 415 Hertz -â? a semitone lower. So, to hear the pitch heard by Weiss and his contemporaries, the capo should then be positioned at the 1st fret.

SKU: IS.G6765EM

ISBN 9790365067657.

This sonata (WeissSW No. 4, Dresden) is one of a new series of eight sonatas by Silvius Leopold Weiss arranged for the first time for guitar and published by Metropolis Music. Sonata XXIV comes from a set of tablature manuscript volumes in the Sächsisches Landesbibliothek in Dresden (Ms. Mus. 2841-â?V-â?1). There are five volumes with a total of 34 sonatas of Weiss for solo lute. The sonatas are ordered by key and further sorted by size or complexity. Sonata XXIV comes from Weissâ??s late â??productiveâ?? period, after 1730. The Sonata has six movements: Prelude, Ouverture (including allegro and largo), Courante, Bourée, Menuet and Gavotte. There is another copy of this Sonata, known as Parte (or Partita) no. 11, in a London Manuscript (British Library Ms. Add. 30387). The London Manuscript seems to be incomplete. It does not include a Menuet and a Gavotte. The Sonata in this Edition is based on the Dresden Manuscript. However, both the Prelude and the Bourée are coming from the London copy. The Dresden Prelude is regarded as spurious, and the London Bourée is more lively and in balance with the other movements. In a few passages of the Ouverture and the Courante I have made some adaptions on the basis of the London manuscript, to create the best of the two versions. In the Ouverture I have omitted the repeat indications. There are two Menuets in the Dresden Sonata. One has been crossed in the original manuscript with the accompanying note: ist nicht von Mr Weis. The other one has been added later, probably by the compiler of the volumes. The original London Prelude of this particular Sonata is composed in a â??simplifiedâ?? style; a common practice for adding preludes to lute sonatas in the 18th century. I have added the original example to my transcribed version. Perhaps it invites others to make their own arrangement. Originally, the Sonata is written in B flat major, a key often used by Weiss as it is appropriate for playing the lute. With the guitar, however, the key is rather awkward. For ease and effectiveness of playing, I have transposed the Sonata a minor third lower to G major. To create more concordance with the baroque tuning of the lute, the G string is lowered by a semitone to F sharp. I suggest using a capodastro to achieve the original pitch. Based on the present standard of A at 440 Hertz, the capo should be placed at the 3rd fret. However, during Weissâ??s lifetime, it was more common in many parts of Germany to use a standard of A at 415 Hertz -â? a semitone lower. So, to hear the pitch heard by Weiss and his contemporaries, the capo should then be positioned at the 2nd fret.

SKU: DZ.DZ-4244

ISBN 9782898521614.

La Sonate n° 6 Kharkiv pour guitare solo a été composée en 2021, à la fin du confinement lié au COVID-19. � ce moment-là, ma famille et moi étions restés dans notre ville natale de Kharkiv (également connue sous le nom de Kharkov), en Ukraine, pendant près de deux ans. Nous considérions cette période de pandémie comme un désastre, mais nous avons réalisé plus tard que c'était en fait un moment plutôt heureux, car la guerre est arrivée dans notre pays quelques mois plus tard. Depuis 2022, une fraction considérable des 1,5 million de citoyens de Kharkiv ont quitté leur foyer, ceux qui sont restés vivent sous des attaques incessantes de missiles, et beaucoup ont été tués. Je voudrais dédier cette Sonate à la ville frontalière de Kharkiv et, surtout, à ses citoyens souffrant de la guerre.

Pourtant, la musique de la Sonate n'a aucun programme spécifique. Ici, je donnerai un bref aperçu de ses principaux éléments de composition pour faciliter les interprétations futures.

Les premier et quatrième mouvements de cette Sonate sont basés sur l'interaction entre le principe dodécaphonique et le centre tonal de sol majeur, naturel pour la guitare. En particulier, le premier mouvement est basé sur l'interaction de la triade de sol majeur Solâ??Siâ??Ré des cordes de guitare à vide 2â??3â??4, le motif ascendant 1 impliquant les notes Miâ??Fa#â??Laâ??Do# (à l'origine sur la première corde), et le motif descendant 2 utilisant les notes Miâ??Doâ??Sibâ??La (à l'origine sur la corde de basse 6). Ces éléments se complètent presque pour former douze tons (à l'exception du Fa manquant), et les motifs alternent avec des fragments ostinato où chaque note de la triade de sol majeur est déplacée pas à pas d'un demi-ton vers le haut ou vers le bas.

Le deuxième mouvement est un Scherzo impliquant de nombreux demi-tons dans des accords accentués et des passages rapides, ainsi qu'un mouvement mélodique chromatique dans la voix de basse. Il est presque atonal dans certains fragments, mais a un centre tonal global de la mineur.

Le troisième mouvement est un Adagio méditatif basé sur un thème composé dans l'échelle hexatonique Réâ??Miâ??Faâ??Sol#â??Laâ??Si et des accords ostinato impliquant les cordes de basse à vide Miâ??Laâ??Ré et le demi-ton Siâ??Do.

Enfin, le quatrième mouvement est basé sur le thème dodécaphonique complet composé de deux phrases comprenant les motifs 1 et 2 du premier mouvement : Solâ??Faâ??Sibâ??Labâ??Doâ??Mibâ??Ré et Miâ??Siâ??Do#â??Laâ??Fa#. Ce thème est présenté dans ses formes prime et rétrograde. Il y a des dialogues entre la première corde, les basses et les cordes médianes à vide, similaires au premier mouvement. Ã? son apogée, le thème dodécaphonique est interprété en utilisant le mouvement parallèle de l'accord de sol majeur standard de la guitare avec les cordes médianes à vide sur douze positions.

La Sonate a été créée en première et enregistrée (CD Naxos No. 8.574630) par le célèbre guitariste ukrainien Marko Topchii, qui a également vécu et étudié à Kharkiv. Je lui suis extrêmement reconnaissant pour l'interprétation brillante de cette pièce.

Je suis très redevable envers Productions d'Oz d'avoir conservé mes notations originales là où celles-ci ne correspondent pas au style de l'éditeur.

Sonata No. 6 Kharkiv for guitar solo was composed in 2021, in the end of the COVID-19 lockdown. At that time my family and I were staying in our home city of Kharkiv (also known as Kharkov), Ukraine for almost two years. We considered that pandemic period as a disaster, but later have realized that it actually was a rather happy time, because a war came to our homeland just a few months later. Since 2022 a considerable fraction of the 1.5 millions of Kharkiv citizens have left their homes, those who stayed have been living under ceaseless missile attacks, and many have been killed. I would like to dedicate this Sonata to the frontier city of Kharkiv and, most of all, to its citizens suffering from the war.
Yet, the music of the Sonata does not have any specific program. Here I will give a brief overview of its main composition elements to facilitate future interpretations.
The first and fourth movements of this Sonata are based on the interplay between the twelve-tone principle and the G-major tonal center, natural for the guitar. Namely, the first movement is based on the interaction of the G-major triad Gâ??Bâ??D of the open guitar strings 2â??3â??4, ascending motif 1 involving the notes Eâ??F#â??Aâ??C# (originally on the first string), and descending motif 2 using the notes E-â??Câ??Bbâ??A- (originally, on the bass string 6). These elements supplement each other to almost make up twelve tones (apart from the missing F), and the motifs alternate with ostinato fragments where each note in the G major triad is step-by-step moved by a semitone up or down.
The second movement is a Scherzo involving numerous semitones in accented chords and fast passages, as well as chromatic melodic motion in the bass voice. It is almost atonal in some fragments, but has an overall tonal center of A-minor.
The third movement is a meditative Adagio based on a theme composed within hexatonic scale Dâ??Eâ??Fâ??G#â??Aâ??B and ostinato chords involving open bass strings Eâ??Aâ??D and semitone Bâ??C.
Finally, the fourth movement is based on the complete twelve-tone theme consisting of two phrases including motifs 1 and 2 from the first movement: Gâ??Fâ??Bbâ??Abâ??Câ??Ebâ??D and Eâ??Bâ??C#â??Aâ??F#. This theme is presented in its prime and retrograde forms. There are dialogues between the first string, basses and open middle strings, similar to the first movement. In the culmination, the twelve-tone theme is performed using the parallel motion of the standard guitar G-major chord with open middle strings across twelve positions.
The Sonata was premiered and recorded (CD Naxos No. 8.574630) by the prominent Ukrainian guitarist Marko Topchii who has also lived and studied in Kharkiv. I am extremely grateful to him for the brilliant performance of this piece.
I am greatly indebted to Productions dâ??Oz for keeping my original notations in places where these do not conform to the publisherâ??s style.

SKU: IS.G6764EM

ISBN 9790365067640.

This sonata (WeissSW No. 23, London) is one of a new series of eight sonatas by Silvius Leopold Weiss arranged for the first time for guitar and published by Metropolis Music. Sonata XVII comes from Weissâ??s middle â??productiveâ?? period, thought to have taken place between 1719 and 1725. The original tablature manuscript is in the British Library (London Ms. Add. 30387). It is the only London Sonata with a title: Divertimento à solo. The Sonata has ten separate movements: Prelude (PrÇ£lude), Entrée, Bourée I and II, Gavotte I and II, Sarabande, Menuet I and II, and Saltarella. The Entrée is nothing more than an Allemande. The Saltarella resembles the Scottish Gigue. The pairs of the middle â??dancesâ?? are intended to be played side by side, as one coherent movement in which the second part complements the musical notion of the first part. There are concordant copies of the first parts of the Bourée, Gavotte and Menuet in the Sächsisches Landesbibliothek in Dresden (Suite XXVI). Bourée I can also be found in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in München, although it is quite different from the London version. Originally, the Sonata is written in B flat major, a key often used by Weiss as it is appropriate for playing the lute, but rather awkward with the guitar. For ease and effectiveness of playing, I have transposed the Sonata a minor third lower to G major. To create more concordance with the baroque tuning of the lute, the G string is lowered by a semitone to F sharp. I suggest using a capodastro to achieve the original pitch. Based on the present standard of A at 440 Hertz, the capo should be placed at the 3rd fret. However, during Weissâ??s lifetime, it was more common in many parts of Germany to use a standard of A at 415 Hertz -â? a semitone lower. So, to hear the pitch heard by Weiss and his contemporaries, the capo should then be positioned at the 2nd fret.