Bálint Bakfark

Valentin Bakfark ( Valentinus Greff Bakfark, Bálint Bakfark [ba ː lint bɒkfɒrk ] * 1507 or - more likely - 1527 in Kronstadt / Transylvania (then Hungary); † August 15, 1576 in Venice ) was a Transylvanian Saxon lutenist and composer of instrumental music of the Renaissance.

Life

Valentin Bakfark was taught at the court of the later Hungarian king Johann Zápolya. He then lived in Italy and later at the French court. From 1549 to 1566 he was a lutenist of the Polish King and Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund II August in Vilnius. Until 1568 he was Hoflautenist the Emperor in Vienna. He then returned to his Transylvanian homeland. Finally, he moved to Venice, where he died on August 15, 1576 the plague.

Bakfark was known for his collections of lute music, the arrangements of contemporary madrigals, chansons, motets and dances included. As his own compositions, several fantasies and a Passamezzo, they are characterized by significant instrumental technique and an elaborate polyphony at the height of his time.