Giovanni Antonio Terzi

These selected works by Giovanni Antonio Terzi represent a last flowering of the lute fantasia in a motet-imitative style. They stand at a halfway point between being dependent upon vocal forms and being a product of pure instrumental fantasy. Of the sixteen pieces with "fantasia" in the title, eleven are of Terzi's own invention. Five fantasias are attributed to other composers (nos. 13-17) as indicated in their titles, and adopted for solo lute by Terzi. When arranged for guitar, something special about the character of these fantasias emerges through the instrument. In addition, they are all wonderful works that offer many musical and technical lessons for guitarists.