Biography of Silvius Leopold Weiss - Research Paper Example

full Biography of Sylvius Leopold Weiss (Arts Studies) 02 March Sylvius Leopold Weiss was a German composer born on October 12, 1687 in Grottkau (near Breslau, Silesia) now a part of modern-day Poland and he died on October 16, 1750 in Dresden, Germany. His claim to eternal fame is being considered as the finest lutenist of his time and perhaps even until today. His father Johann Jacob Weiss was also a lutenist and was the one who first taught Sylvius how to play the lute. The lute is a wooden musical instrument that originated in Africa and was believed by historians to be imported or introduced into Europe by the Moors when they conquered and occupied Spain between the years 711-1492.

The lute resembles a guitar and was the most important instrument during the Renaissance Period. Sylvius Leopold Weiss was also a very prolific composer of lute music, having composed around 600 pieces for lute in the form of sonatas or suites. In addition, he also made chamber music and concerto pieces. Even his own contemporaries considered him to be the best lutenist as he could play on the lute with relative ease many difficult harmonic modulations and for this alone, he is considered as a musical virtuoso (Lenneberg 55).

In his heyday, he was in great demand among the royal courts of Europe and traveled to various regions to play his famous brand of chamber music to the delight of his audiences. For his musical talent, he was a favorite companion of members of the Bohemian aristocracy. His early compositions were intended as solo performances using the eleven-course lute but in later years, he preferred the thirteen-course lute. Many of those who had heard him perform attest that he is without equal and for this alone, he was the highest-paid instrumentalist in the city of Dresden during the height of his fame and popularity (Carlton para. 12).He engaged the great Johann Sebastian Bach, who was very famous being a harpsichordist and organist, in a friendly competition once and both were great musicians during their era (Geck 266).

Works CitedCarlton, David. “Detailed Biography: Sylvius Leopold Weiss.” Classical Net, 2000. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. .Geck, Martin. Johann Sebastian Bach: Life and Work. Orlando, FL, USA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006. Print.Lenneberg, Hans. Witnesses and Scholars: Studies in Musical Biography. Boston, MA, USA: Taylor & Francis Group, 1988. Print.