Lute Music for Witches and Alchemists / Lutz Kirchhof

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
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. The Presto and Galanterie by 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's The Fairy Round Galliard waited in vain for the revival of alchemy as a science. An eccentric disc all-round. --Rick Jones

Amazon.com

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. The Presto and Galanterie by 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's The Fairy Round Galliard waited in vain for the revival of alchemy as a science. An eccentric disc all-round. --Rick Jones

Customer Reviews:

Ahah! I found you, my precious!!.......2006-07-27

I am sorry that the 11-year-old child found this sad music!!
That is truly within the realm of Herr/Herra Parent to educate the child that there is quite a universe of music that is out there.

The reason I call this 'My Precious', is that I had lost a lot in Hurricane Katrina, including my music library, which i am still slowly rebuilding, thank the Goddess!!

I owned this CD when it became released, and found it to be a collection of music that is most suited for comtemplative study, note-taking, journalling, writing memoirs with tea/coffee/mead/or aperitif. For me, it is also good music to use when busy scripting in my book-of-shadows, or rhyming wordings to be used later for some good works, by tensor light if not by candle.

As one who has self-taught guitar and medieval instruments, i appreciate the talent behind, and the hard work to play this collection.

I will place this among my 'workings' collection, once i receive it ... although not quick enough!

Nothing bad, nothing special........2003-06-11

Kirchhof invariably finds interesting repertoire to entice us, but just as his jangly Bach pales next to North's, and his Weiss can't compare to Smith's, here he ends up trailing again.
While this disc might be attractive to newcomers to the lute and its magical attractions, I am sure that most who are familiar with the skills and taste of the other aforementioned artists will know that plenty of the music on this disc can be found, sounding better, elsewhere.
There's nothing bad about this disc, but nothing special, either.

Beautiful, Stately Music By A Master.......2003-01-02

Sorry folks, but the title of this CD might be a bit misleading. You will not hear Halloween sound effects, or "A Night on Bald Mountain" Disney-style. Instead you will be treated to meditative music based on the theories of Ficino, Agrippa, and others. Kirchof does us all a favor by fleshing out what has previously been locked away in archives and rare publications and allowing us to hear each composition as it was originally meant to be heard. A good book to buy with this CD would be D.P. Walker's classic Spiritual and Demonic [as in Socrates' daemon, not the kind from the uh-oh place] Magic (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000). This music is meant to heal and not to hurt; meant to uplift and enlighten the mind and not to drown it in darkness. And besides all that folks, it's just plain pleasant to drink wine and eat cheese to. In addition, Lute Music For Witches and Alchemists has great liner notes that give the low-down on each Hermetic ditty. M & M it's not, thank Plato, Plotinus. Ficino, and the stars!

TOTALLY AWESOME!.......2002-02-14

I felt as if I was back in the Middle Ages! It is well worth the $$$!!

Exquisite!.......2001-12-22

This CD is a wonderful selection of period lute pieces, very soothing to listen to, very exquisitely played. Even friends of mine who have no interest in period music find it enjoyable and ask me about it.

Track Listings:

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

Very Best Album Ever [Import]

Canon de Pachelbel y Otra Música Barroca

Cracker

The Kollege of Musical Knowledge

A Song for Me

Color Me Funky

Best of Sarah Brightman: 1990-2000 [Import]

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 / G. Jones, Schwarz, Kollo, Moll; Bernstein

Boas Festas 2: Feliz Natal [Import]

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2, Schumann: Kinderszenen

Blue Man [Original recording remastered] [Import]