Leonardo da Vinci - L'Amore Mi Fa Sollazar. Renaissance Music played on instruments designed by Leonardo da Vinci:
Obrecht, Tintoris, Isaac, Petrucci, Des Pres

“L´amore mi fa sollazar” (love gives me solace), is a pun invented by Leonardo that plays on the names of the notes in the musical scale. Amo (bait/hook) re, mi, fa, sol, la... The title itself of this CD has been our guide in this work.

The selection of music chosen for this recording demonstrates the sonority of the instruments designed by Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519), which have been specially reconstructed for the occasion: the hand organ, the lyra da braccio and the viola organista. The repertoire concentrates on music that is contemporary to this universal genius, and to accompany these unique instruments, a small renaissance chamber orchestra was created to include lute, vihuela de mano, vihuela de arco (bowed vihuela), viola da gamba, recorders and a hearty group of percussion instruments, as well as the voice.

This recording is a continuation of the 1998 edition entitled “Concierto de Música Europea del siglo XV interpretado en el extraordinario Órgano de papel de Leonardo da Vinci” (“Concert of 15th Century European Music played on Leonardo da Vinci’s extraordinary paper organ”) published in Madrid in 2000 on a Villamonte Editores’ CD book.

The reconstructed instruments invented by Leonardo belong to the itinerant exhibition “Leonardo and Music” shown and produced in 2003 by Alfredo Melgar, director of Villamonte Editores in Madrid.

Eduardo Paniagua has conducted and performed early music since 1966 in ensembles that include Atrium Musicae and Cálamus. He currently leads Música Antigua and Ibn Baya (Arab- Andalusian music). He is the founder and director of Pneuma record label and winner of the Spanish Academy of Music’s 2009 Classical Music award.