With Orbus ille Germanus, L’art du luth allemand au XVe siècle, lutenist Esteban La Rotta explores the emergence of polyphonic playing on the lute at the end of the Middle Ages. Inspired by a famous description by the theorist Johannes Tinctoris referring to a mysterious “blind German”, the album delves into an instrumental tradition in which certain musicians were able to make several voices sound simultaneously on the lute. This moment represents a decisive step in the instrument’s history, as it moves from a primarily melodic role toward a rich and expressive polyphonic language.

Drawing on major fifteenth-century sources such as the Buxheimer Orgelbuch, the Lochamer Liederbuch, and the Wolfenbüttel lute tablature fragments, Esteban La Rotta offers a vivid reimagining of this repertoire. Some pieces are adapted for lute from keyboard works, while others take the form of intabulations or new realizations built on historical tenor lines. Through an approach that is both musicological and creative, the album seeks to evoke what the sound of the German lute may have been like at the end of the fifteenth century. Born in Colombia, lutenist Esteban La Rotta has been active on the international early music scene for more than twenty years.