I have a Bolin model made by Sanden in Sweden. It's a nice instrument with a good sound. I keep it in renaissance lute tuning.

I understand that he made only three of them and has not made any more after them.

I also have an 11 string standard scale guitar made by D. Hippner. I keep in in baroque lute tuning.

Robert

Hi,

It is very interesting to hear and see a guitar with dmoll tuning, I look forward to hear your CD. I am also very fond of Weiss and transcribes his music for my 11-string altoguitar, but I often have to compromise even if I try to follow the string changes as closely as I can - it is a different tuning and two basses short...

Regards,
Sven-Bertil

Hi Sevn,

Glad to hear you found the Dresden interesting. Yea there seems to really be no solution to Weiss, other than playing it on 13 strings in d-minor. Although quite a few sonatas can be played on 11. It seems Weiss himself went back and arranged alot of his earlier peices writtin for 11 course to use the last 2 basses. In paticular the very first sonata in the London MS. comes to mind.
There is a real flow and ease to his peices in the original tuning of d-minor. However, I think Bach is a different matter, and the d-minor tuning may not make it easier to play than the standard guitar tuning... but thirteen and in Bach's case 14 course sure sound better than most Bach ( except Sollscher) I've herad.I don't have that much experiance playing Bach on the lute actually.
I'll do the CD just as soon as I figure out how to splice on my Akai DR4. My freind told me they teach a 6 month course on just how to operate this thing.
All the best,
Michael Thames

Hi again!

Well I surely would like to try a Dresden someday. Some music of Weiss sounds good on an 11-string altoguitar I think, but you have to transcribe them. The main problem, of course, isn't the lack of basses but to get the flow of the music as you mention. I have the London Manuscript and some of the suites (or parts of the suites) I find quite suitable for the 11-stringed altoguitar. I think his music is underestimated compared to Bach but it is probably due to the fact that it is so hard to play on an ordinary guitar - and most guitarists doesn't listen to music on the lute...

Bach, as you mention, is a different thing. We don't really know if he wrote his "lute suites" for the lute (some of them aren't really in a good key for d-moll tuning). Besides I think he often wrote music more like "the idea of music" without special instruments in his mind. That is why I think his lutemusic also sounds good on guitar, especially on the 11-string altoguitar in the hands of Söllscher.

I am an amateur musician who also have played a little lute, in my case a 10-course renaissance lute, but I found it hard to combine with guitarplaying. So the 11-string is perfect to be able to play all the renaissance literature from the original tabulatures.

Regards,
Sven-Bertil

Hi Sven and all,
Once I'm across the pond, perhaps I can make a trip to Sweden with my guitar. Europe seems alot smaller than the American southwest.
Yes, I think most guitarists are in fact, just becoming aware of Weiss within the last few years. The exception is of course "His greatest hits". The real problem is that it's very difficult if not impossible to play most of his more profound sonatas in there intirety, and so most guitarists stick to Bach, even though I believe some of Weiss later sonatas equal or excel Bach for the plucked string family. I do agree Bach is the universal musical language that can sound equally good on any instrument.
There seems to be a trend latley, at least here in the USA for guitarists to include Weiss now instead of Bach in there programing. Manual Barareco (sorry for sspelling) performed Weiss Sonata 11 London this year at the GFA, and David Taunenbaum had L Infidel on his programing. Combine that with a fantastic performance by Robert Barto of all Weiss, and one would have to say that Weiss was the most played music at the GFA!
All the best,
Michael Thames

I'm thinking of buying a Per Hallgren altoguitar, does anybody have any experience woth them?