Something about a recording of 18th-century lute music (or 17th or 16th, for that matter) just lulls you into a sort of reverie–a “fanciful musing”–after about 10 minutes. It doesn’t challenge you in any particular way but it certainly keeps you listening. And notwithstanding 17th-century English lutenist/composer John Dowland’s efforts, even the most melancholy lute music ends up casting a mood-brightening light that can actually make you feel good about feeling sad. This is true whether the piece is one of Dowland’s most delightfully dreary pavans or one of German composer Joachim Hagen’s (1720-1787) artfully written, agreeably tuneful sonatas. When you’ve listened to a lot of these works, by different composers from different centuries, you realize that this effect has less to do with the actual music than with the nature of the instrument itself. Is it possible to make a lute sound anything but pleasing? Combine that with the fact that the best composers for the instrument also were expert players, and you get an abundant and appealing repertoire that would fill many dozens of CDs.
Although Hagen was employed at the Bayreuth court as a violinist, he was a virtuoso lute performer and his respectable output of compositions for the instrument includes those on this recording plus a number of chamber works and concertos. When I heard the opening of the first piece, the Sonata in B-flat major, I knew I’d heard it before somewhere. I still don’t know where, but Hagen’s music has that effect: it’s so easy to listen to, so perfectly proportioned and harmonically well-developed, that it sounds familiar–the musical equivalent of a pair of shoes that fit the first time you try them on. The Locatelli Variations are Hagen’s own transcription of some selections from a piece for violin written by the Italian master, with an additional original variation by Hagen. Lutenist Robert Barto really captures the style of this ardent, graceful, often eloquent music. His technique, his richly resonant instrument, and the fine sound engineering bring clarity to the melodic lines and a glowing warmth to the lower registers, while allowing the top notes to ring.
