Der Schweizer-Amerikaner Peter Croton unterrichtet Laute, Gitarrengeneralbass und Historische Aufführungspraxis an der Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, sowie an den Hochschulen für Musik in Basel und Bern. Sein Repertoire umfasst Werke des 16. bis 21. Jahrhunderts, Eigenkompositionen, sowie "folk music" aus verschiedene Ländern. Peters musikalische Wurzeln in Folk und Jazz wurden durch eine profunde Ausbildung in Alter Musik am Oberlin Conservatory of Music (USA) und an der Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Schweiz) mit Eugen Dombois und Hopkinson Smith ergänzt. Unter seinen Auszeichnungen ragen der erste Preis beim internationalen Wettbewerb für Alte Musik 1984 („The Erwin Bodky Competition") in Boston, USA, und Preise beim internationalen Lautenwettbewerb „Guitar 84" in Toronto, Kanada und 1983 beim internationalen Wettbewerb „Concert Artists' Guild" in New York City heraus.

 

Seit 1984 hat er mehrere CD- und Rundfunkaufnahmen als Solist und Kammermusiker vorgelegt (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Virgin, Channel Classics, Guild, u.a.). Peter Croton gibt Konzerte in ganz Europa und den USA als Solist und im Ensemble. Er konzertierte mit Künstlern wie Theresia Bothe (www.bothecrotonduo.com), Derek Lee Ragin Andreas Scholl, Rene Jacobs, Susanne. Rydén, und Nigel Rogers. Auftritte an den folgenden internationalen Festivalen: Rheingau Musik Festival, Kissinger Sommer, Festspiele Europäische Wochen Passau, Tage Alter Musik Regensburg, Staufener Musikwoche, Innsbrucker Festwochen der alten Musik, Niedersächsische Musiktage, Mosel Festwochen, Kultursommer Nordhessen, Les Arts Jaillissants – Savoie, Festival des Cordes Sensibles, Early Music Vancouver, Early Music Guild Seattle u.a.

 

Peter Croton tritt auch als Komponist verschiedener Stilrichtungen in Erscheinung. Im Jahr 2001 wurden sechs seiner Werke von der Deutschen Lautengesellschaft veröffentlicht, und im 2009 wurden vier von seinen Lautenliedern mit Texten von William Shakespeare herausgegeben (Tree Edition). Er ist Autor des Lehrbuches "Generalbass auf der klassischen Gitarre - ein praktischer Lehrgang nach historischen Prinzipien", neulich beim Amadeus Verlag erschienen.

 

 

                                   Peter Croton: Pressestimmen (Konzerte)

 

"Peter Croton demonstrated effortless technical command and a high degree of refinement."

   The Boston Globe

 

"Lyrisch und virtuos... Erstaunlich die breite Farbskala und die dynamischen Abstufungen. Erstaunlich auch der Abwechslungsreichtum zwischen lyrischer Intimität und extravertierte, anspruchsvollster Virtuosität."

   Nürnberger Nachrichten

 

"Sensible seine Begleitung, prickelnd extravagant seine Solostücke, vor allem die hoch virtuosen Toccaten des Alessandro Piccinini."

   Der Tagesspiegel (Berlin)

"Mit Toccaten von Girolamo Kapsperger und Alesandro Piccinini outet sich Croton als Lyriker der Laute."

    Saale-Zeitung (Festival Bad Kissingen)

"Croton demonstrierte hohes virtuoses Können und ein ausgeprägten Sinn für spannungsreiches, dramatisches Spiel."

   Badische Zeitung (Freiburg in Breisgau)

 

"Honniggoldene Lautenklänge... Sanft, wie feinst Spinnweben erklangen dessen Motive unter Crotons Händen... "

   Basellandschaftliche Zeitung

As well as providing Ragin with sensitive accompaniment, Croton demonstrated consummate musicianship as soloist, composer, and arranger."

   The Georgia Straight (Vancouver, B.C.)

 

"Sein (Derek Lee Ragin) Begleiter war der ebenso renommierte Peter Croton, der auf der Laute eine feine, fast orchestrale Palette entfaltete. Croton spielte ausdrucksstark, sehr variantenreich und in feinster Geläufigkeit."

   Main-Echo (Würzburg)

 

                                                Pressestimmen (CDs)

 

 Bach on the Italian Lute

"Bach zum Geniessen

...Mit verblüfendem Ergebnis: Es stellte sich heraus, dass die Musik von Bach ganz gut zur italienischen Laute passt... Wie wunderschön Bachs Lautensuiten auf der italienischen Laute klingen können, demonstriet die vorliegende Einspielung, die vom ersten bis zum letztn Stück ein exklusives Hörerlebnis ist... Die wohl  schwermütigste Musik von Bach - die Lautensuite in g-Moll BWV 995 - wirkt dank des subtilen und transparenten Spiels von Croton überhaupt nicht bedrückend, sondern äusserst anregend: zum Nachdenken, zum Innehalten, zum konzentrierten Zuhören. Das Präludium aus der Cello-Suite Nr. 1 BWV 1007, die Croton für die italienische Laute neu bearbeitet hat, markiert den Übergang zu einer helleren, extrovertierteren Stimmung, die Croton durch seine elegante und ansprechende Musizierart zwar hervorhebt, aber nie übertreibt. Und in den Tanzsätzen nutzt er die ganze Palette dynamisher Möglichketen, die der Liuto attiorbato bietet um der abwechslungsreichen Bach'schen Tonsprache gerecht zu werden. Am Ende der Einspielung steht ein Arrangement von "Bist du bei mir" aus dem Clavier-Büchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach... es bildet einen passenden Abschluss dieses Programms, in dem Peter Crotons überaus feine und gesangliche Spielart ganz besonders gut zum Ausdruck kommt"

   CONCERTO - Das Magazin für Alte Musik Juni/Julu 2009

"Croton's performances are superb. Not only does he play very cleanly, with very few loud finger squeaks or mis-struck notes, but his solid, round tone and measured, unrushed manner allow the instrument's dark, sonorities to saturate Bach's harmonies."

   International record review

“Modern lutenists have for years been faced with the challenges of adapting Bach’s lute suites for the German baroque lute. On this album, the excellent Peter Croton sheds new light on these works by presenting them on an Italian Lute, an instrument also used in Germany during Bach’s lifetime. The selected works are performed without modification and in the original keys. This is a recording of intimate timbres and subtle expression, evoking the Lautenwerk, a keyboard instrument for which J.S. Bach apparently composed these works. In addition to performing three original lute works, Peter Croton has transcribed Bach’s delightful first cello suite for the Italian lute. The CD closes with his arrangement of Bist du bei mir, one of the most beautiful and popular songs of the Baroque era. These are intelligent, sensitive and lyrical performances of some of the most challenging and expressive music ever written for the lute. The beautifully recorded pieces are wonderfully calming and prove beyond doubt that ‘Bach teaches us how to be pious’.”

   www.new-classics.co.uk

 

Seine Haltung betont das sprechende, rhetorische Musizieren und die Anwendung des

richtigen Affektes auf die Tanzsätze und resultiert in einer sehr warmen, lebendigen

Interpretation, die der Musik oft erstaunlich viel Raum zum Atmen erlaubt, einen Tanz

aber auch in federnde Bewegung setzen kann. Das Resultat ist eine ausserordentlich

differenzierte Einspielung, die das ungestörte, konzentrierte Zuhören zu einem

Vergnügung macht.

   Deutsche Lautengesellschaft, Lauten-Info 1/2009

 

"Goal of this innovative CD: to play Bach on the archlute … The overall result is that Bach’s music sounds particularly easy and comfortable in the original keys… the Suite BWV 997  is tranquil, the resonances of the long bass strings permitting moderate tempi and therefore a good understanding of the compositional structures. The Suite BWV 995 in g-minor (especially the Prelude) sounds even better, being rich in noble harmonies and solemn cadences. The très viste sounds clear, and the dances flow naturally, with good spirit, good rhythmical sense, and particularly well-realized and well-integrated ornaments. The Suite BWV 1007 for cello (arranged by Peter) reconciles us with the single strings because they approximate more closely the deep and compact sonority of the original instrument. The interpretation is very lively (Courante, Menuets) and even more fluid and less heroic than on the cello! The disc concludes with “Bist du bei mir” from the Anna Magdalena Bach Book, a beautiful song of popular origin, arranged here with majestic arpeggios which become more and more luminous. Bravo to Peter Croton for this innovative and pleasing CD!

   The French Lute Society, March 2009

 

“Musically the performances work very well… very liquid phrasing with a minimum of noise. Croton writes that his early background as a folk and jazz guitarist enabled him to understand the rhetorical modes of Baroque music, and indeed his performances have a uniquely expressive, rhythmically flexible quality… It's not a question of direct jazz influence, but of an effort to embody a mood and communicate it to a listener. The sound is another strong point. Grasping the point, seemingly elusive for so many musicians, that pieces of this kind would have been performed in a small "chamber" with likely wooden walls, not in a church, Croton chooses a wood-paneled room in a Basel studio and creates an intimate sound environment that perfectly complements his performances…”

   All Music Guide, James Manheim

 

Croton is good, clearly enjoying and understanding the music… The Guild recording is good, catching the darker tones of Croton’s instrument very well… The inclusion of a transcription of Bist du bei mir as the short closing item is a real bonus. It’s well played and correctly attributed to Heinrich Stölzel. I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed with the purchase of this Guild recording; I’ve enjoyed hearing it.

   musicweb-international

Italian lute songs

"...tantalizingly programmed and brilliantly executed."

   Classic CD

 

Die Renaissancelaute - gestern und heute

"Peter Croton beschränkt den Ausdrucksradius seines Instrumentes nicht auf zurückgenommene Dezenz.  Bei ihm klingen die Fantasien des Francesco da Milano ungemein frisch und lebendig, geraten die Stücke John Dowlands zu Musterbeispielen ideenreicher und geschmackvoll differenzierter Gestaltung."

   FonoForum

 

Music with her Silver Sound

"The one common feature is Croton's excellent lute playing...he makes the most elaborate passages sound effortless"

   Lute News (The Lute Society, London)

 

 "Croton displayed his mastery of the lute with some very agile finger work and excellent projection of the themes in the contrapuntal sections, bringing out the interplay of the melodic lines with clarity."

   The Recorder Magazine

 

I'll Sing a Song For You

"Irish-Canadian vocalist Theresia Bothe grew up in Mexico. Guitarist/vocalist Peter Croton is a U.S. native who was trained at the Oberlin Conservatory, and has won awards all over North America during his travels. Both live in Switzerland, and while all of these facts may account for the folk/pop/jazz mix you hear on this recording, it does not tell the complete story. While heavier on the folk/pop component, there's a sweetness and light to the original material heard throughout. Bothe is distinctively Irish in her vocal style, rolling r's and brandishing the clipped, bold and bright bonnie tones associated with Celtic singing. Croton is similar to Gordon Lightfoot vocally, while on the guitar his approach is fairly basic within the folk tradition, though at times it's clear he's heard his share of the mellower side of Kenny Burrell. The most surprising ideas, though much less traditionally mainstream jazz than one might think, are the tributes to Langston Hughes and Billie Holiday. The duo play an homage to the legendary poet "On The Death Of Langston Hughes," while the sad "Song For Billie Holiday" is in 3/4 time. A New Orleans shuffle in a quartet setting shows the best improvisation and swing during "Life Is Fine" as sung by Croton, Bothe's feature on the lullaby "Song To A Sleeping Child" is the most tender tune of the date, and during the rock oriented song of departure "You're Running Away Again," both sing in harmony. The remainder of the program leans to folk, especially Croton's impressive acoustic guitar finger style triplet forms on "Land Of Dreams" with a more ethereal Bothe, while "Just Another Shoulder To Lean On" markedly molds the swing and pop shells into a unified whole. "

  All Music Guide, Michael G. Nastos

 

"Bothe sings from her heart with a strong rich voice that will excite folk music lovers as they expand their envelope. Our favorite was "Another day in life with you" with a cool guitar intro by Peter."

  O’s Place Jazz Newsletter, D. Oscar Groomes

 

"This band creates a unique blend of folk pop and jazz. Bothe and Croton's music is formed from the stylings of Billy Holiday and Kenny Burrell. The voice of Theresia Bothe is a bit like Judie Collins and Joan Baez, so that definitely fits with the theme of folk jazz.

 

There also seems to be a dose of poetry-laced lyrics infused in some of these songs. "On the death of Langston Hughes" has a slow melodic sound that is more folk than jazz, but incorporates both styles. "Song for Billie Holiday" has impressive guitar accompaniment with strong lyrics. The chordings chosen by Croton fit this song to a tee. A subtle echo effect lends merit to this track. The guitar tone is good and a slight tremolo sound is present. "I'll Sing a Song for You" has an intro with jazz chords. It moves into a faster ballad sung by Bothe and has cool jazz drumming and upright bass on the track.

 

The CD "I'll Sing a Song for You" has impressive vocals and jazz guitar playing, which will make it appeal to fans of folk-laden jazz."

  Metro Spirit, Rich McCracken II

 

"Two talented pros travel the singer/songwriter route, with a little genre splicing for flavor, and deliver a nice set of originals that goes down well and never comes across as over reaching.  Tackling life’s big questions in song, this is the kind of under the radar, neo-folk that gives you the easy kind of music you can kick back with but isn’t fluff."

  MIDWEST RECORD, Chris Spector

 

"I really like Croton's guitar work, very much in the tradition of many jazz guitarists throughout the years."

  The Run-Off Groove,  John Book