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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Richard Foster

‘It needs to be loud’: Jozef Van Wissem’s one-man mission to make the lute rock again

Lutes rock … Jozef van Wissem.
Lutes rock … Jozef van Wissem. Photograph: Courtesy: Jozef van Wissem

Nobody can accuse Jozef Van Wissem of doing things by halves. The musician, very likely the world’s most notorious contemporary lutenist, owns a sonic arsenal of eight of the string instruments: some bespoke, and all boasting remarkable features. With them he has created a huge body of work, nearly 50 titles to date. Another album, This Is My Blood is released this May.

Each Easter, Van Wissem settles down to compose a new record. He finds the peace of Warsaw, where everyone has “gone away for the holidays”, more amenable for work than “noisy” Rotterdam, where he also has a flat.

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