The beauty of the collection The Rhetoric of the Gods, intended for the lute by Denis Gaultier (1603-1672), was revealed in 1976 by an Astrée disc by Hopkinson Smith, an issue so important that it had been included under license by Teldec in its reference edition “Das Alte Werk”. Smith was then playing a unique example of an Italian lute by Pietro Railich (1644) with 11 courses. By approaching this work at the age of 80, Toyohiko Satoh does not insist on the nature of the instrument and chooses a more intimate sound recording, in phase with his almost hypnotic and very personal approach (see “Canarie” by there Suite in F major). “Why most of these pieces are so short seemed mysterious to me. My doubts disappeared when I started playing them as slowly as possible. In doing so, Satoh abolishes time (in an intelligent, not provocative slowness). The meeting of the XVIIeFrench and the fruits of Japanese “zazen” can irritate or literally transport you to another world. We chose the second option.
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