Hubert Hoffmann – Züffer Undt Buechstaben – The Klosterneuburg Lute Book (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Hubert Hoffmann – Züffer Undt Buechstaben – The Klosterneuburg Lute Book (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 54:26 minutes | 580 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Fra Bernardo

Codex Claustroneoburgensis 1255 ist eine in mehreren Handschriften verfasste Tabulatursammlung für elf-chörige Barocklaute aus der damals im Bau befindlichen herrschaftlichen Klosterresidenz des kulturbegeisterten Kaisers Karl VI. (1685-1740). Dieses «Klosterneuburger Lautenbuch», dessen Inhalt erst infolge der Übertragung des ganzen Buchs 2006 ans Tageslicht gebracht wurde, enthält etwa 120 Arien, Lamenti, Tänze, Variationssätze und Präludien aus der Blütezeit der barocken Lautenkunst: exemplarische Werke französischer, italienischer, deutscher und österreichischer Meister aus dem späten 17. wie auch frühem 18. Jahrhundert, zum großen Teil nur aus dieser Quelle bekannt. Ein bisher unbekanntes Werk des kaiserlichen Hofkomponisten Giuseppe Porsile (ca.1672-1750) – dessen Lautenwerke sonst fast gänzlich verschwunden sind -, sowie ebenso unbekannte Variationssätze über das Lied «Die güldene Freiheit» von Kaiser Leopold I. (1640-1705) befinden sich im Codex.

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Hubert Hoffmann – From Heaven on Earth: Lute Music from Kremsmünster Abbey (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/352,8kHz]

Hubert Hoffmann – From Heaven on Earth: Lute Music from Kremsmünster Abbey (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/352,8 kHz | Time – 01:01:32 minutes | 3,64 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Challenge Records

Hubert Hoffmann: When I visited the Benedictine Abbey of Kremsmünster in Upper Austria some years ago to look at the lutes stored in the abbey archives, I could not guess that this visit would radically change my life as a lutenist. I learnt that the writer of tablatures I discovered was a member of the abbey named Pater Ferdinando (Fischer). It soon turned out that much of the music set down by this scribe was not to be found in the numberless lute manuscripts from this period scattered around the world. These were unique manuscripts. Moreover they contained quite extraordinary works of striking compositional quality: new lute music in the form of cyclical poems of a lute enthusiast – a padre – at the turn of the 17th/18th centuries.

In one of the quietest recording studios in all of Europe – the Galaxy studios in Mol, Belgium – we finally brought the long since faded lute-poems of Pater Ferdinando back to life. Through the wonderfully delicate sound of my lute, Bert’s immeasurable sensitivity and the most advanced recording technology that I have ever had the privilege of using, the lutenist-pater began speaking to us once more.

Contextually Fischer’s putative original compositions are only distinguishable from the other anonymous works through their stylistic features. The first clue is to be found in the considerable proportion of previously completely unknown cycles, whose exquisite quality, high degree of originality and compositional autonomy, together with the considerable technical demands they make upon the player, lead us to assume a common authorship.

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