Lute, Official Digital Download

The lute by Sixtus Rauwolf heard on this recording was probably built in the last decade of the sixteenth century. Some hundred years later, in 1715, it was converted to suit the musical tastes and demands of the baroque period. For this disc, Jakob Lindberg has chosen works that could have formed part of the repertory of the presumably German owner of the instrument at around the time of its final conversion.

In this first of a series, the vocal ensemble Music Ficta chronicle 100 years of music at Kronborg Castle, Shakespeare's Elsinore. The Danish kings Frederik II and Christian IV lived at Kronborg during Denmark's most prosperous period, when guests from abroad enriched it's musical life. This album features the music of one of these visitors, composer John Dowland, interspersing his Lachrimae with songs and lute music. Musica Ficta, based in Copenhagen, is a professional vocal ensemble, founded in 1996 by the composer and conductor Bo Holten. With this group he has realized his vision of a highly flexible ensemble, where the classical Oxbridge early music ideal is combined with the warmth of the Scandinavian choral sound.

One of the few professional lute song duos in the United States, Mignarda's fresh and engaging approach to historical music has set a new standard for interpretation, authenticity and musicianship.

Wondrous Machine is the title of an air from Purcell's Odes for St. Cecilia's Day, a hymn of praise to the music of which Cecilia is considered the patron saint, and to the instruments from the flute to the organ, of which she is considered the inventor. Not as an inventor, but as an innovative rediscoverer and ambassador of an equally "wondrous" instrument, namely the historical harp and its "entourage", is Margret Koell. She programmatically places the title "Wondrous Machine" above a project that focuses on the tonal mutability of the triple harp. The programme focuses on George Frideric Handel: the Concerto Op. 7 No. 1 for harp, lute and orchestra is Koell's arrangement of the original concerto for organ and orchestra. The Concerto Op. 4 No. 6 is presented here for the first time in the extremely rarely heard version of 1736 for harp and lyrichord (viola organista) - the latter, a bowed keyboard instrument, is based on sketches by Leonardo da Vinci.

The German "Lautenschläger" were known throughout Europe for their complex compositions and high level of playing technique. One of them was Hans Judenkönig, who was one of the most important pioneers of German Renaissance music. In 1523, Judenkönig published Ain schone künstliche Underweisung, an early school in German lute tablature with many exemplary pieces. It forms the core of this informative program with Max Hattwich, which takes us into the music rooms of the bourgeois and aristocratic houses of the German Renaissance.

The German musician Christian Zimmermann, on two historical copies of Renaissance instruments, is delivering to us this interesting anthology dedicated to the lute works by the Galilei family: Vincenzo and Michelangelo, respectively father and brother of the famous Galileo. Vincenzo, also harpsichordist, gamba violist and theorist, introduced both his sons to the art of music and, although we have news that Galileo himself was an excellent lutist, no traces of his compositions remains, while his father and brother were authors of various collections printed from 1563 to 1620.

The Italian Renaissance is the golden age of the lute; in quality and quantity, the lute pieces from this period are comparable to the piano works of the 19th century.

Francesca Torelli is considered among the best Italian lutenists in today’s Early music scene.
After earning a degree in lute with the highest marks at the Conservatory of Verona under the guidance of Orlando Cristoforetti, Francesca completed her studies with Nigel North at the Guildhall School of Music in London.

The lute became the instrument of choice at European courts around 1500, the time of their greatest cultural and spiritual importance.

“The Classical guitarist who as a performer and developer of repertory was a towering figure in the history of the instrument: Julian Bream’s love affair with the classical guitar began after he heard a recording of Andrés Segovia.