Johann Hieronymus Kapsberger, Alessandro Piccinini, Rolf Lislevand

On Libro primo the Norwegian lutenist Rolf Lislevand plays archlute and chitarrone in solo music from the first half of the 17th century, much of it taken from composers' first printed books. Johann Hieronymus Kapsberger, who pioneered the toccata on the lute, is at the core, with Giovanni Paolo Foscarini, Bernardo Gianoncelli, two Recercadas by Diego Ortiz and a passacaglia of Lislevand's own. After the French court music of La Mascarade in 2016, he turns to Baroque Italy.

Lislevand recorded the album himself at Moosestudios in Evje, Norway, between 2022 and 2023. It was mixed in Munich in 2024 with Michael Hinreiner and produced by Lislevand and Manfred Eicher. The two instruments set light against shadow: the archlute bright and rich in overtones, the chitarrone sombre and heavy in the bass. For the archlute he chose a tuning other than the one common today. In his words it gives the music "an adventurous timbre, more in line with the nuove musiche". He also improvises freely, as players of the time did.

Kapsberger's pieces come from his books of 1604, 1611, 1626 and 1640, and the Toccata terza opens the disc. Foscarini's Tasteggiata, from his guitar book of 1640, is transcribed for archlute and given added harmonies in rondeau form. Gianoncelli's Corrente con le sue spezzate comes from Il liuto, printed in Venice in 1650. The Ortiz Recercadas, from his Trattado de glosas of 1553, are the only music here from before 1600. Lislevand's Passacaglia al modo mio, over seven minutes long, is his own study of the form. Kapsberger's Folias, credited jointly to him and Alessandro Piccinini, brings variations on the old dance pattern near the end of the programme.

In his performer's note Lislevand writes that "the new style marked a departure from traditional Renaissance polyphony", opening the way to bold harmony and new rhythmic intricacy. Tyran Grillo of ECM Reviews heard the Toccata terza as a piece that "greets the dawn" and singled out the Passacaglia, which changes face several times and nods towards Barbara Strozzi, Bach, Beethoven and Keith Jarrett. Lislevand's earlier ECM New Series albums include Nuove musiche and Diminuito.

This is the CD edition, ECM New Series 2848, released in August 2025.