Guitar Solo
SKU:
IS.G6764EM
Composed
by Silvio Leopold Weiss.
Arranged by Ben Beuming.
Plucked - Guitar.
Metropolis Music
Publishers #G6764EM.
Published by Metropolis
Music Publishers
(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 (Prǣlude),
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.
