Silvius Leopold Weiss was born in 1687 , in Breslau, Silesia. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most technically accomplished lute players of all times. He learned to play the lute from his father, Johann Jakob, who was also a lute player.

Weiss soon became the leading lute player of Bach's time. He formed an acquaintance J.S Bach. It is speculated that Bach may have written the Lute Suites for Weiss. His virtuosity is best described in this account by JF Reichardt of a competition between Weiss and Bach in Dresden: "Anyone who knows how difficult it is to play harmonic modulations and good counterpoints on the lute will be surprised and full of disbelief to hear...