Brayssing: Complete Music for Renaissance Guitar

Rossignoli, Federico

96448

Very little is known about Grégoire Brayssing, except that he was probably of German origin and that his only surviving work, the Quart livre de tablature de guitarre, was printed in Paris in 1553.

The Quart livre, although containing only 20 pieces, represents one of the pinnacles of Renaissance guitar literature, comparable to that of Mudarra and Fuenllana. We find six contrapuntal fantasies, true "gems" of the repertoire, in which he demonstrates his ability to exploit the technical-expressive resources of the instrument to the maximum, including the octaved fourth chorus, to which the upper voice is passed on more than one occasion (an expedient used throughout the book), without however "throttling" the instrument. This is followed by psalms, fluent and beautifully ornamented. The book continues with six chansons by the best-known composers of the time (Maillard, Sandrin, Boyvet, Arcadelt and Sohier), and a frottola, the famous O passi sparsy by Festa. The book closes with two long, curious pieces, true unicums in the repertoire: L'Alouette and La Guerre faitte à Plaisir.

Played on the Renaissance guitar by Federico Rossignoli, who is particularly devoted to lesser-known instrument repertoire, such as renaissance guitar or renaissance cittern.

CD x 1

Brilliant Classics

3/31/22

5028421964485