We, Martina and Lutz Kirchhof, have been playing, as a duo with lute and viola da gamba since 1996, music from the great treasure of lute literature, the biggest repertoire there is for a musical instrument.
It is our wish to bring this wonderful, aesthetic and beneficial music to the attention of those who seek balance, refinement and a clear mind; those who do not orientate to mainstream but follow their intuition and go their own ways.
Through the founding of our label LutzLute® we are able to release musical art from the world of Quiet Music without having to allow for the mercantile requirements of big record label companies.
We wish to take you into the fantasy worlds of a timeless musical universe that fascinated such great men as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei or Johann Sebastian Bach.
Find out more about our music here:
Duo Kirchhof
Lutz and Martina Kirchhof have been giving concerts playing old European music since 1996.
They live in an old half-timbered farmhouse from the 17th century near the baroque town of Weilburg, where they can concentrate quietly and undisturbed on their studies and interpretation of old musical treasures.
Lutz Kirchhof is one of the internationally most renowned lutenists. His virtuosity and expressiveness have been acclaimed by the largest record label companies for many years. Concert tours led him to all the continents. His particular merit is the research into and rediscovery of old lute playing techniques which enable him to interpret so brilliantly.
Lutz Kirchhof is the founder of the German Lute Society and various lute festivals. For a CD production of his World Festival of the Lute he was awarded the prize of the German record critic. In Dresden in 2000 he founded the Festival of the Lute. It was the largest lute festival in the world. Lutz Kirchhof has been invited to numerous radio- and television- productions. Reviews emphasize the expressivity and virtuosity of his lute playing. The Süddeutsche Zeitung called him " the modern reincarnation of Sylvius Leopold Weiss" who was acclaimed the greatest lutenist of all times.
In 2014 he founded, together with Martina Kirchhof, the label LutzLute that releases (publishes) fine European solo- and chamber-music.
He found his dream partner in Martina Kirchhof.
She, a gifted virtuoso, developed a way of playing, based on the "Tout en l'air" technique, that imparts the strings tone rhythmic conciseness and jazz-related drive in the manner of old viola da gamba masters. The dance-like intensity of the lute works are enriched by her playing. With her warm, colourful sound she shapes solo works of this royal string instrument emotionally and deeply touching.
At four years old she began her musical education with Martin Schirrmeister and studied later with distinguished musical instructors for example Rainer Zipperling and Michael Schneider.
Particularly inspiring for her was a course of studies with Wieland Kuijken at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague.
During an intensive international concert career as well as many radio, television and CD productions she has become known as one of the most distinguished viola da gamba virtuoso of our time.
It is the wish of the Duo Kirchhof to bring to life again for a wide audience, the profoundness and vibrancy of Ancient Music whose sources today are to be found in collections and libraries.
They would like to convey the dance-like vitality and contemplative calm in which our ancestors perceived and shaped the foundations for modern civilization.
Their fine, mystical instruments were preferred by humanism because their colourful sound made possible a maximum of subtlety and diversity. One wanted to depict the delicate emotion of the soul and at the same time induce a high clarity of the mind.
The interplay of lute and viola da gamba counts as particularly touching and salutary and can enchant a modern public with its unusual charm.
Kevin Wood
Here is an official description of our duo:
About us
To the former website
LutzLute GbR
Martina & Lutz Kirchhof
®
© Lutz Kirchhof