Guitar Solo
SKU:
IS.G6763EM
Composed
by Silvio Leopold Weiss.
Arranged by Ben Beuming.
Plucked - Guitar.
Metropolis Music
Publishers #G6763EM.
Published by Metropolis
Music Publishers
(IS.G6763EM).
ISBN
9790365067633.
This
sonata (WeissSW No. 25,
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 XXIX 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 XXIX
comes from Weissâ??s
middle â??productiveâ??
period, around 1720. The
Sonata has seven
movements: Prelude,
Allemande (andante),
Passepied, Bourée,
Sarabande, Menuet, and it
ends with a Gigue. There
is another copy of this
Sonata, known as Suite
XIX, in a London
Manuscript (British
Library Ms. Add. 30387).
The London version does
not include a Prelude,
and the Sarabande is
completely different. The
other movements are
similar to those in the
Dresden Manuscript. The
Sonata in this Edition is
based on the Dresden
Manuscript. 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 and London
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. The Prelude in
this particular Sonata
cannot be regarded as
integral. It has been
added later, either by
the compiler of the
volumes or perhaps by
Weiss himself.
Originally, the Sonata is
written in G minor, a key
not often used by Weiss,
but considered
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 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 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.