“It’s just astounding to hear,” guitarist and radio star Helmut Jasbar marveled on occasion of the bestowal of the renowned Ö1-Pasticcio-Prize on Martin Mallaun in 2006.

The fragile Elizabethan compositions of lutenist John Dowland and the magnificent Baroque works of the lutenist of the royal chamber Silvius Leopold Weiss undergo a fascinating, unexpected acoustic revival within the ambience of sound emitting from Mallauns concert zithers. Such performances are proof in point that this St. Johann musician has full command of the historic tonal language communicated to him by such teacher-experts as Rolf Lislevand, Hopkinson Smith and Hubert Hoffmann.

Mallaun is just as capable of tapping new sound spheres with his instruments, using contemporary compositions as vehicles.

solo repertoire

• contemporary New Music
  pieces by Dieter Schnebel, G. F. Haas, Manuela Kerer, Werner Pirchner, Bernhard Lang, Franz Hautzinger, Leopold Hurt, Peter Kiesewetter, Helga Pogatschar, Robert Zollitsch, Fredrik Schwenk, Dorothea Hoffmann
• Baroque lute music
  suites and pieces by Sylvius Leopold Weiss, Johann Sebastian Bach, Esaias Reussner d. J., Ernst Gottlieb Baron, Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger, etc.
• Renaissance music
  lute music by John Dowland, William Byrd, Francesco da Milano, Hans Neusiedler, Luys Milan, etc.
• Alpine folk music
  wide repertoire of traditional Alpine music, mainly from Tyrol/Bavaria