Sunday morning music

A couple of weeks ago, I put up a classical guitar video.  It seems to have been favorably received, so I thought I’d combine two loves – baroque music, and medieval/Renaissance stringed instruments – and devote a Sunday morning music post to them. Here are four pieces that caught my fancy.

First, using a replica of a baroque guitar with 9 strings made by Peter Biffin of Australia, here’s Miguel Rincón playing “Fandangos”, a piece by Santiago de Murcia from his Codice Salvidar.

Here’s the same artist playing two pieces, both titled “Passacaglia”, on a medieval lute.  The first is by Robert de Visée;  the second is by Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger.

Next, here’s Jordi Savall, renowned for his revival of the medieval viol, an ancestor of modern stringed instruments such as the cello and double bass.  He teams with lute player Rolf Lislevand to play a medieval version of, and variations on, “Greensleeves”.

Finally, to end on an upbeat note, here’s part of the L’Arpeggiata ensemble performing “Tarantella Napoletana” by Athanasius Kircher, a polymath who in his day was compared to Leonardo da Vinci for the depth, range and scope of his interests.

Lovely pieces, aren’t they?

Peter