Ralf Bachmann   Wed, 12 Jan 2000 08:20:50 -0500 (EST)
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Hello Friends,


at the age of 16 I had my first real motivation to start playing 
classical guitar:
Siegfried Behrend was in town and made a very deep impression on me.
First, he did not look at the guitar while he was playing, but read all
the music from staff.
That was kind of interesting to me. He looked relaxed and turned
sometimes the page in the middle of a piece.
Hey, this did no harm to the music at all!
Then he made a full special efects show playing like a slide guitar with
a cup ( with a ping - pong ball in it!), drum-like sounds with the
crossing over of the strings 5 and 6, etc.
He even signed a record I had from him (that was the one with Robert de
Visee Suite d-minor and Bach BWV 996).
OK, years later came the next interesting experience:
Narciso Yepes and his ten string guitar.
I liked the sound and buyed an 8 string guitar to include renaissance
lute music as well as the other things I was playing. I reached the
level of beeing able to perform Choros #1 of Villa Lobos and Dowland's
The King of Denmark his Galliard quite fluently.
Next influence: Julian Bream
Somehow I lost interest in the guitar and decided to make a total break.
I simply sold everything related to the guitar and bought a 10 course
reaissance lute.
I continued to play like a guitarist on the lute (Dowland, Vallet, etc.)
and was not happy with the music I produced.
Finally I found the music I was always looking for:
This record by Eugen M. Dombois "Die Barrocklaute" was so extraordinary,
that I switched to the Baroque Lute and I know this time it is for real:
You see, my Baroque Lute is now twenty years old, it reads H.H.Herb,
Erlangen, 1980, and I have been playing it for 19 years now (1 year for
delivery...).
I am a fan of SLWeiss, but I also am open minded to all good music of
the period.

Now, to me:
Ralf Bachmann, age 44, wife and 2 small children,
PhD in Chemistry, live in Lima, Peru.
Play the lute for fun.
At present I work ten hours a day and play 1 hour the lute. I hope to
reverse this numbers some day :-)

Saludos
Ralf Bachmann