Latest posts
-
Hans Neusidler
Life Hans Neusidler was a German composer and lutenist of the Renaissance, born around 1508 in Pressburg (now Bratislava, Slovakia). He settled in Nuremberg in 1530, received a residence permit, married, and became a citizen in 1531, buying a house on the Zotenberg. Working as a lute teacher and later a luthier, he published eight…
-
Melchior Neusidler
Life Melchior Neusidler was a German lutenist and composer, born in Nuremberg in 1531, the eldest son of lutenist Hans Neusidler. Around 1552 he settled in Augsburg, giving up his Nuremberg citizenship, and became a leading figure in the city’s musical life, directing chamber music at patrician households and forming close ties with the wealthy…
-
Esaias Reusner
Life Esaias Reusner was a German lutenist and composer, born on 29 April 1636 in Löwenberg, Silesia. Taught by his lutenist father of the same name, he was a child prodigy who toured and performed at various courts from an early age. From 1655 to 1672 he served the dukes of Silesia at Brieg, and…
-
Sylvius Leopold Weiss
Life Sylvius Leopold Weiss was a German composer and lutenist, born in 1687 in Grottkau near Breslau, the son of lutenist Johann Jacob Weiss. He served at courts in Breslau and Rome before settling in 1718 at the Dresden court of the Elector of Saxony, where he remained a highly paid virtuoso until his death…
-
Adam Falckenhagen
Life Adam Falckenhagen was a German lutenist and composer of the late Baroque, born 26 April 1697 in Groß-Dölzig near Leipzig, Saxony, and died 6 October 1754 in Bayreuth. He moved between courts for much of his career, serving at Weissenfels (1720–27) and later Jena and Weimar (1729–32), before settling permanently in Bayreuth, where in…
-
Robert de Visée
Life Robert de Visée was a French lutenist, guitarist, theorbist, and singer active at the court of Louis XIV and Louis XV, born around 1655, possibly in La Flèche. First documented in 1680, he soon became a chamber musician to Louis XIV, performing frequently for the king, reportedly at his bedside in the evenings. In…
-
Nicolas Vallet
Life Nicolas Vallet was a French lutenist and composer, born around 1583 at Corbeny in Aisne, France. A Huguenot, he fled France around 1613 for reasons that remain unclear and settled in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic, where he worked as a self-supporting musician, lute teacher, and owner of a dance school. His major achievement,…
-
Jean-Baptiste Besard
Life Jean-Baptiste Besard was a French lutenist, composer, and anthologist, born around 1567 in Besançon. He studied law at the University of Dole before traveling to Rome, where he studied medicine and also learned lute from the celebrated virtuoso Lorenzino del Liuto. He later worked in Cologne and Augsburg within the Holy Roman Empire. In…
-
Diomedes Cato
Life Diomedes Cato was an Italian-born lutenist and composer who spent his career in Poland and Lithuania, born between 1560 and 1565 near Treviso, possibly at Serravalle. His Protestant family fled Italy to escape the Inquisition around 1565 and settled in Kraków, where Cato received his entire musical education. He was hired as a lutenist…
-
Adrian Le Roy
Life Adrian Le Roy was a French lutenist, guitarist, composer, music publisher, and pedagogue, born around 1520 in Montreuil-sur-Mer to a wealthy family. With his cousin Robert Ballard, he founded the Parisian printing firm Le Roy & Ballard, which obtained a royal privilege to print music from Henry II in 1551 and was named “Imprimeur…