On Saturday 22nd January 2022 the Concertzender is starting the new series ‘Battuto and Pizzicato’. Baroque guitarist Lex Eisenhardt will take you in five episodes through the world of the Spanish, Italian and French music for baroque guitar. The episodes will be broadcast every 4th Saturday from the month between 11.00 and 12.00 .
You probably already know that the Spanish guitar played today by millions of people worldwide derives from a 17th century instrument. Less well known is that at the same time especially in Italy and France well-known composers wrote serious music for the baroque guitar.
‘Battuto en Pizzicato’ will be covering this music. By placing their music against the background of more famous composers their place in music history will become clearer .
At the Habsburgs court
The first episode on 22nd January will be about Spain and Italy. We’re going back to the Spain of the Spanish Habsburgs Charles the Fifth and his son Philip the Second.
We’ll be playing among other things music by Luis de Narváez, Miguel de Fuenllana, Diego Ortiz, Estéban Daza, Francesco Corbetta and Giovanni Paolo Foscarini.
Lex Eisenhardt
Lex Eisenhardt has a strong preference for direct contact with the strings, without interference from a bow or pick. That’s why he chose to study the guitar and lute in the 70’s at the Utrecht Conservatory. An extra advantage: on a guitar you can play complete, multiple voices music, so you keep all the aspects of performance under your own control.
After finishing his studies Eisenhardt became a teacher at the Conservatory in Amsterdam,where he worked until his retirement 2018. He gave concerts on various continents, accompanied by a number of rather unwieldy guitar cases.
The crowning moment of his lengthy research into the baroque guitar was the publication of his book ‘Italian Guitar Music of the Seventeenth Century’, published by The University of Rochester Press, in 2015. Want to know more? Go to the website van Lex.
Broadcast Battuto en Pizzicato, episode 1:
Saturday 22nd January 2022, 11.00 – 12.00