On this release Skip Semp� performs Gustav Leonhardt's transcriptions of Bach's unaccompanied violin and cello works for the harpsichord, along with a selection of 17th century harpsichord repertoire in styles influential to Bach. The American harpsichordist, Skip Semp�, studied music, musicology, organology and the history of art at the Oberlin Conservatory in the USA, and completed his training in Europe with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam. His distinctive harpsichord playing, musicianship and interpretive flair were quickly noticed by Reinhard Goebel and William Christie, who encouraged him to remain in Europe and embark on his own pioneering reconsideration of well and lesser-known repertoire ranging from 1500-1750. As a solo performer, Skip Semp� has focused on developing a superb sense of idiomatic harpsichord touch and a finely tuned ear for achieving variation in the instrument's sonority. Performing and recording on the world's most prestigious harpsichords, made by Ruckers, Skowroneck, Kennedy and Sidey, Skip Semp� is particularly known for his interpretations of the French classical harpsichord literature.

Canto a mi Caballero is a celebration of instrumental virtuosity at the height of Renaissance humanism. As Franco-Flemish polyphony and the Italian madrigal spread their influence throughout Europe, the most brilliant Spanish musicians (among them the legendary harpsichordist, harpist and organist Antonio de Cabezón, Morales, Mudarra and Narvaez) were inspired by their foreign contemporaries, as well as by the expression of native Spanish melody such as the mystical ‘Canto de Caballero’. This program presents the Caballero melody in various secular and sacred versions, entwined with some of the most famous music and poetic texts of their time.

Canto a mi Caballero retraces that special moment in Renaissance music in which the humanist tendency in instrumental music first attains its singular goal: expressivity that rivals that of the human voice. Capriccio Stravagante's instrumentation, featuring the consort of viols and plucked strings (guitars, harp, vihuela, along with Skip Sempé's solo harpsichord selections), provide for a touching portrayal of the classic Spanish concept of the ‘Duende’.

Gustav Leonhardt was one of the finest and most influential musicians of the entire twentieth century. On the harpsichord and the organ, from the music of Byrd to that of the sons of Bach, he was simply incomparable. The present release is a rare, remastered organ recording of Gustav Leonhardt from 1962, on one of Holland's most important historic instruments. This is his only anthology of English Renaissance repertoire on the organ, including works unique to this recording. This recording has not previously been available on modern formats, and has not appeared in any of the various ‘Gustav Leonhardt Editions’ issued by the labels for which he later recorded.