Sylvius Leopold Weiss, German lutenist and theorbo player (1687-1750), was one of the most important and most prolific composers of lute music in history and one of the best-known and most technically accomplished lutenists of his day. He was a teacher to Philip Hyacinth, 4th Prince Lobkowicz, and the prince’s second wife Anna Wilhelmina Althan. In later life, Weiss became a friend of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and met J.S. Bach through him. Bach and Weiss were said to have competed in improvisation, as the following account by Johann Friedrich Reichardt describes in 1805: “Anyone who knows how difficult it is to play harmonic modulations and good counterpoint on the lute will be surprised and full of disbelief to hear from eyewitnesses that Weiss, the great lutenist, challenged J. S. Bach, the great harpsichordist and organist, at playing fantasies and fugues.” ¤ “[Ernst Gottlieb] Baron, bon juge de tout ce qui concernait le luth, dit, dans son livre sur cet instrument que cet artiste fut un des premiers improvisateurs de son temps, et qu’il y eut peu d’organistes qui pussent jouer sur l’orgue une fugue aussi bien que lui sur le luth. Ses ouvrages, composés de onze recueils de solos pour cet instrument, de dix trios et de six concertos, sont restés en manuscrit.“(Fétis, 1878)

Contents: Prélude, in C [WeissSW 29] ¤ Allemande, in C [WeissSW 38.1] ¤ Courante, in C [WeissSW 38.2] ¤ Bourrée, in C [WeissSW 38.3] ¤ Sarabande, in a [WeissSW 38.4] ¤ Menuet I, in C [WeissSW 38.5] ¤ Presto, in C [WeissSW 38.6]