The Charm of the Lyre Guitar

An exclusive and fascinating instrument, the lyre-guitar was created in Paris by the luthier Pierre-Charles Mareschal, who claimed to have invented it around 1780. Composer: A.A. Rougeon-Bauclair, Charles Doisy, Jean Antoin Meissonier, Pierre Joseph Plouvier Artists: Domenico Lafasciano (lyre-guitar) 🎵 Purchase or streaming (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music): 💎 More Information: 🎬🎮 These tracks are available for sync licensing in videos, films, tv-shows, games, advertising and more. For more information and to request a license go to: The lyre-guitar was a fascinating, upmarket instrument that originated in Paris. Its inventor, luthier Pierre-Charles Mareschal, dated its creation to around 1780. It was very popular in the elite salons of Napoleonic era-Europe, between the late 18th and early 19th century. Its refined, elegant shape recalling the ancient Greek lyre, made it a much-vaunted status symbol among women, who believed it enhanced their grace and beauty. As well as being played by noblewomen, it was also used by musicians to accompany singers, including the French tenor Joseph Dominique Fabry-Garat and the Austrian baritone Johann Michael Vogl, a close friend of Franz Schubert. The lyre-guitar used on this recording comes from Domenico Lafasciano’s private collection. It was built in Paris in 1806 by Henry Lejeune, part of an important dynasty of luthiers dating back to the 18th century. Lafasciano’s lyre-guitar is an original and very rare instrument: it has only 12 frets, and they are made of gut like on the lute or baroque guitar, making it suitable for playing works from the early 19th-century guitar repertoire. It is a brilliant example of the transition between the 18th and 19th centuries, a period when guitarists were still playing instruments with five double or single courses of strings, as well as six-string models. It appears that the lyre-guitar, which had six single strings from the outset, gave a definitive push to the addition of the sixth string to the guitar. This album contains some lovely musical gems written in the early 19th century by guitar-playing composers who remain largely unknown today. The first French publications, including the pieces featured on this recording, all contained the words ‘pour Lyre ou Guitare’ or ‘pour Guitare ou Lyre’, indicating very clearly that the works could be performed on either a lyre-guitar (‘Lyre’) or a five- or six-string guitar (‘Guitare’). Tracklist: Charles Doisy: 12 Petits airs faciles: 00:00:00 I. Moderato 00:01:10 II. Walse 00:02:05 III. Walse 00:03:25 IV. Sérénade (Maestoso – Presto) 00:07:01 V. Andante 00:08:36 VI. Kosak 00:10:51 VII. Polonoise 00:13:08 VIII. Andantino – Variation 00:16:23 IX. Andantino (Sicilienne) – Variation) 00:20:30 X. Rondo (Allegretto) 00:22:40 XI. Walse 00:23:54 XII. Walse A.A. Rougeon-Bauclair: 12 Walses et un thème varié, Op. 8: 00:25:22 I. Walze 1 00:26:39 II. Walze 2 00:27:56 III. Walze 3 00:29:30 IV. Walze 4 00:30:45 V. Walze 5 00:32:02 VI. Walze 6 00:33:18 VII. Walze 7 00:34:49 VIII. Walze 8 00:36:05 IX. Walze 9 00:37:29 X. Walze 10 00:38:34 XI. Walze 11 00:39:49 XII. Walze 12 00:40:52 Thème varié Pierre Joseph Plouvier: Allemandes, rondeaux, sauteuses & anglaises: 00:47:46 I. Moderato 00:49:06 II. Allegretto 00:50:12 III. Moderato 00:51:23 IV. Allegretto 00:52:22 V. Poco andante 00:53:14 VI. Allegretto 00:54:46 VII. Poco allegro 00:55:46 VIII. Andante 00:57:56 IX. Allegretto 00:59:14 X. Allegretto 01:00:08 XI. Tempo giusto 01:02:16 XII. Poco andante Jean Antoin Meissonier: 4 Nocturnes: 01:03:25 I. 1er Rondo (Gratiozo) 01:05:25 II. 2ème Rondo (Escherzando) 01:08:18 III. 3ème Rondo (Allegretto con gusto) 01:11:13 IV. 4ème Rondo (Andante expressivo – Andantino) 👉 Social media links: Instagram: Facebook: TikTok: Spotify: Spotify Playlists: New Classical Releases: The Best of Bach: Most Popular Piano Music: Beautiful Classical Music: Thank you for watching this video by Brilliant Classics, we hope you enjoyed it! Don’t forget to share it and subscribe to our YouTube channel. And visit our channel for other pieces by more of the greatest composers. We upload daily with complete albums and compilations with the best classical music. #BrilliantClassics #ClassicalMusic #Classical #LyreGuitar #DomenicoLafasciano