Silvius Leopold Weiss

Polish lutenist and composer Sylvius Leopold Weiss (1686-1750) brought the lute to such a high level of artistic fluency that his instrument did not survive him. Through 1718, Weiss worked as a traveling musician, only briefly accepting positions, drifting from the Polish to Roman to German courts; Weiss ultimately settled in Dresden in 1718. Weiss was a friend to the Bach family and is known to have visited Johann Sebastian Bach on one occasion, possibly inspiring Bach's Lute Suites. Nearly a hundred suites of Weiss exist, though most are missing their introductory preludes, as Weiss usually improvised these elements.