Biography of Silvius Leopold Weiss Research Paper

Biography of Silvius Leopold Weiss - Research Paper Example 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