One of the great lute players of the late Baroque period turns out to have been an aristocrat. Jan Antonín Losy was a German (well, Bohemian) nobleman, the Count von Losinthal. His castle in the Czech town of Štěkeň is shown here.
Nice place.
Unusual for a noble of the day, he attended University in Prague. Typical of a noble of the day he traveled extensively as a young man. During these travels he seems to have spent considerable time with musicians, developing a talent for the lute. His talent was such that he developed a reputation as one of the finest lute players in Europe.
Despite this reputation, he published very few of his compositions during his lifetime. Likely this was because music was a hobby to him, rather than a profession.
1 comment:
Good lesson today. I knew nothing about lutes until now.
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