From Heaven on Earth

When I visited the Benedictine Abbey of Kremsmunster in upper Austria some years ago to look at the lutes stored in the abbey archives, I could not guess that this visit would radically change my life as a lutenist. I learnt that the writer of tablatures I discovered was a member of the abbey named Pater Ferdinando (Fischer). It soon turned out that much of the music set down by this scribe was not to be found in the numberless lute manuscripts from this period scattered around the world. These were unique manuscripts. Moreover they contained quite extraordinary works of striking compositional quality: new lute music in the form of cyclical poems of a lute enthusiast - a padre - at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. In one of the quietest recording studios in all of Europe - the Galaxy studios in Mol, Belgium - we finally brought the long since faded lute-poems of Pater Ferdinando back to life. Through the wonderfully delicate sound of my lute, Bert's immeasurable sensitivity and the most advanced recording tchnology that I have ever had the privilege of using, the lutenist-pater began speaking to us once more. - Hubert Hoffmann