Guitar Solo
SKU:
IS.G6766EM
Composed
by Silvio Leopold Weiss.
Arranged by Ben Beuming.
Plucked - Guitar.
Metropolis Music
Publishers #G6766EM.
Published by Metropolis
Music Publishers
(IS.G6766EM).
ISBN
9790365067664.
This
sonata (WeissSW No. 52,
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 XXXIII is a
unique copy. It 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 XXXIII
is in the fifth volume.
It belongs to a group of
large and mature Sonatas
of the late
â??productiveâ?? period
of Weissâ??s life,
probably after 1740. The
Sonata has six movements:
Ouverture , Courante
assai moderato,
Bourée, Siciliana (a
slow dance, but more
cheerful than a
Sarabande), Menuet, and
it ends with a Presto.
The Ouverture substitutes
the traditional
Allemande. It is more
complex in structure, and
includes a Largo, an
Allegro (in the style of
a Fugue), and a Vivace.
The use of tempo
indications for French
dance movements is
characteristic for the
later work of Weiss.
Originally, the Sonata is
written in C minor, a key
appropriate for playing a
Baroque lute tuned in the
D minor chord. However it
is rather awkward with
the guitar. For ease and
effectiveness of playing,
I have transposed the
Sonata a minor third
lower to A minor. 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.
