Sylvius Leopold Weiss (1687-1750) was arguably the greatest composer for the baroque lute and certainly one of the most prolific. His compositions exist in handwritten manuscripts, often incomplete and mixed in with pieces by other composers. This CD focuses on these pieces of uncertain parentage and includes reconstructions of duets by modern composers writing in the idiom of Weiss. The CD opens with a suite of pieces for lute that are attributed in at least one manuscript to Weiss but are almost certainly by another composer. These pieces, written in gallant style, are likely by Wolff Jakob Lauffensteiner (1676-1754), Johann Georg Weichenberger (1676-1740), Placide Marie Pichler (1725-1796) and Johann Andreas Bohr von Bohrenfels (1663-1728). The Weiss evidence is softest for 2 pieces: the chaconne by Weichenberger only has a “W” as the composer and the Gigue from the Strasbourg Ms is anonymous. Pat O’Brien said it might be by Weiss, and that’s good enough for me! JS Bach and Weiss knew each other and by account even competed in improvising fantasias and fugues. Few violinists are aware however that the harpsichord accompaniment of Bach’s sonata for violin BWV 1025 is actually an intact complete Weiss lute sonata which is a fine standalone composition. In this recording, we present 3 of the interior movements. Several existing Weiss sonatas are likely duets without a surviving second part. The sonata in g minor in the London Ms has many such features. Michel Cardin has written a lovely duet part for baroque flute which we (with his permission) perform here with violin. Both the London and Dresden Ms have lute duets and Karl-Ernst (Charlie) Schröder wrote beautiful and tasteful reconstructions of a second lute part. He recorded the Dresden duets with Robert Barto but nobody has yet recorded his d minor duet from the London Ms which we present here. Following Charlie’s tragically untimely death in 2003, the reconstructions were posted to the public domain One of the most famous works by Weiss is his Tombeau sur la Mort de M. Comte d’Logy, written following the death of lutenist and nobleman Jan Antonin Logy. Following the death of our beloved teacher Patrick O’Brien (1947-2014), composer Roman Turovsky has written a beautiful and heartfelt tombeau in his honor. It is only fitting to conclude with this piece and to dedicate the CD to his memory. About the Performers Daniel Shoskes is a lutenist in Cleveland Ohio. His instruments include Baroque lute, Renaissance Lute, Archlute, Vihuela and Baroque Guitar. He has performed continuo with the Case Western Reserve Baroque Orchestra and with Apollo's Fire, The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Apollo's Fire and Early Music America. Violinist Johanna Novom appears as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician with ensembles across the US, and tours internationally. A first prize winner of the American Bach Soloists' Young Artists Competition in 2008, Johanna has been Associate Concertmaster of Apollo's Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, since completion of her Master's degree at Oberlin Conservatory. She also performs with Trinity Wall Street Baroque Orchestra, the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Clarion Music Society, Washington Cathedral Baroque Orchestra, TENET, the Sebastian Chamber Players, Concert Royal, and ACRONYM, among others, and is a founder of Diderot String Quartet, a new ensemble dedicated to the performance of 18th and early 19th century repertoire. Johanna was also a 2010-11 fellowship member of the Yale Baroque Ensemble under the direction of Robert Mealy, and is currently based in Brooklyn, NY. Daniel Swenberg specializes in historical plucked strings: Renaissance and Baroque lutes, theorbos, and baroque and 19th-century guitars, and baroque mandolino--and yes, it takes a lot of time tuning. He performs regularly throughout North America with ensembles:ARTEK, REBEL, The Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Jones & the Engines of Destruction, Ensemble Viscera, New York City Opera, Opera Atelier/Tafelmusik, Catacoustic Ensemble, Orchestra of St Luke’s, Apollo’s Fire, The Green Mountain Project, with soprano Nell Snaidas, and Lizzy & the Theorboys. He has accompanied Renee Fleming and Kathleen Battle at Carnegie Hall. Daniel received awards from the Belgian American Educational Foundation (2000) for a study of 18th century chamber music for the lute, and a Fulbright Scholarship (1997) to study in Bremen, Germany at the Hochschule für Künste. He studied previously with Pat O’Brien at Mannes College of Music, receiving a Masters degree in Historical Performance (Lute).