Drop 1 of 4
Dear Friends,
It amazes me to be writing this, but it’s been well over 50 years since my passion for all things cittern was sparked while leafing through my parents’ new-acquired set of Encyclopaedia Britannica. As I recall, the cittern entry featured a black and white photo of the Virchi “Lucretia” cittern. It seemed impossible in the late-60s suburbs of Detroit to find a cittern, let alone buy one, so I got some wood from a local furniture maker and tried to build one. I had no idea what I was doing, ofcourse, so it didn’t work, but I did manage to get a similar instrument a few years later while at university, and I was away.
Fast forward 20 years or so, and I’m living in Rome, taking lessons on an original 18-century Hintz cittern from Andrea Damiani, learning all I can from the great maestro about plucking technique, ornamentation, and what he calls “a different kind of virtuosity”, that of expression and dynamics rather than speed and dexterity. We recorded an album together that I released on my own label, Cetra, in 2004: Six Sonatas for Cetra or Kitara, written by the London-based cellist and composer Peter Pasqualino de Marzi. This was followed up with Cetra Galante, a potpourri of cittern music in the Galant style.
Cetra has lain dormant for many years now, mostly because making a living as a musician necessitated my playing a wider variety of music - and citterns - than I had originally planned. I now have the time to develop Cetra into what it was always meant to be - a label and publisher dedicated to the cittern and its music. This means not only maintaining a label that will feature recordings by several artists, but setting up and maintaining an archive of recorded cittern music, as well as study scores and performance editions, so that this wonderful “sprightly and cheerful music” will be available for decades to come.
There are several people involved now: Ian Dean, MBE, is our excellent in-house producer; his advice and enthusiasm have been and continue to be indispensable. Ted Delano and his team at Made by Sea are handling the look of the label and the website – full brand to be revealed with Cetra’s official launch date. Andrew Hartig and André Martins are valued advisors.
The official launch of Cetra will happen on 1 November 2024. A remastered version of Six Sonatas for Cetra or Kitara will be released on this date, along with a new recording of the complete The Art of Playing the Guitar or Cittra by Francesco Geminiani. Watch out for updates throughout the summer and early autumn.
To celebrate the realization of this life-long dream, and the small recording studio - New Bag End - that is its base, I’ve recorded an album of solos and duets on a variety of 18c citterns - some original, some modern recreations - that I will be releasing in small sections over the summer, absolutely free, so please stay tuned!
Sincerely,
Doc Rossi
The songs from our previous drops are no longer available for free download, but you can now enjoy them all in one place by purchasing the album or streaming them on your favorite audio platforms!