The chitarrone is one of the more spectacular instruments of the
early baroque. The name probably means ‘large kithara’, after
the instrument played by the Classical Greek poets, and it was
first developed as a bass lute to accompany singing and
recitative Between 1604 and 1640, Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger
(also known as Johann Hieronymus Kapsberger), Alessandro
Piccinini and Bellerofonte Castaldi published a number of
collections of chitarrone music, from which Jakob Lindberg has
chosen some favourite dances, arias, toccatas and passacaglias.
Combined into seven suites, they provide rich opportunity to
enjoy the particular timbre and the special playing techniques
of this instrument. Jakob Lindberg has a long-standing interest
in the many varieties of lutes and has now dedicated himself to
researching their relative – research which informs both the
performances and Lindberg’s own liner notes.