Lute Music for Witches and Alchemists / Lutz Kirchhof
The mellow German lutenist Lutz Kirchhof advises listeners not to turn the volume up too high on his latest Sony solo disc. The delicate lute tone charmed 16th- and 17th-century listeners by its simple acoustic beauty. The gentle plucked notes could affect the mood, altering one's emotional state. Kirchhof suggests that such potential made music invaluable to witches and alchemists, who were held in high regard in the irrational centuries before the Age of Enlightenment. This theory enables Kirchhof to make an eclectic selection of 30 short pieces covering 200 years and four different lutes--renaissance lute, vihuela, baroque lute, and theorbo. He does not claim that any of the items were actually put to any alchemical or satanic use, but he does not need to. ThePresto and Galanterieby S. L. Weiss speak for themselves. Dufaut's Suite in A minor might not otherwise have reached the public; Hagen's Sonata in C minor would have remained obscure; and Holborne'sThe Fairy Round Galliardwaited in vain for the revival of alchemy as a science. An eccentric disc all-round.--Rick Jones