Matthäus Waissel (also Waisselius; born c. 1535/1540, probably in Bartenstein, East Prussia, present-day Bartoszyce, Poland; died c. 1602 in Königsberg) was a German lutenist, composer, and music theorist of the sixteenth century, whose work is of particular significance in the field of lute tablature.
Life
Only sparse sources survive concerning Waissel’s early years and training. He spent most of his life in Königsberg (Prussia), where he worked as a teacher of the lute and appears also to have had connections with the local university, the Albertus University. Königsberg was at this time an important center of Protestant scholarship and musical cultivation in the northeastern German-speaking region.
Work
Waissel made a name for himself chiefly as an editor and author of lute tablature books. Among his most important publications are several collections entitled Tabulatura or Lautenbuch, which appeared in Frankfurt an der Oder during the 1570s to 1590s. These volumes contain arrangements of dances (including pavanes, galliards, and Polish dances), intabulations of vocal models, as well as original compositions for the lute.
Of particular musicological interest are the Polish dances preserved in his collections, which number among the earliest printed testimonies of this dance genre and offer valuable insight into the cultural exchange between the Duchy of Prussia and Poland-Lithuania. Waissel also composed instructions on lute-playing technique and tablature notation, which mark him as a music pedagogue as well.
Significance
Although Matthäus Waissel is a relatively little-known name in present-day musical life, he is regarded by music historians and lutenists as an important source for instrumental music of the late sixteenth century in the East-Central European region. His tablature prints continue to be consulted by performers of historically informed practice today.
Note: Only few reliable sources exist concerning Waissel’s biography; certain life dates and details are given differently across scholarly literature.
