The Song of the Lute

Details

Charles Iner full profile / Theorbo, Renaissance Lute, Baroque Lute / 1 musician

Full program notes

This program is in some ways a survey of lute music. I’m playing works from a mix of national styles and time periods on three different instruments, the theorbo, renaissance lute, and baroque lute. However, the program is more than just a lute-music primer, it is a journey through the expressive development of the lute and its music over 150 years, focusing on virtuosic toccatas and fantasies, both styles of composition that emulate improvisation, along with a number of lighter, dancier pieces, for a fun and accessible, but also varied and dynamic, concert experience. Featured composers are big names (for the lute anyway) like John Dowland and Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger, but also deeper cuts by David Kellner, Galileo Galilei's brother Michelangelo, Jacques Gallot, and Denis Gaultier.

Historical context

The instruments I play are modern reproductions of instruments played in the 17th and 18th centuries, and I play them using techniques derived from period-specific historical source material, in an attempt to reproduce ancient sounds in as authentic a way as possible. The pieces on the program are all drawn from original manuscript and print sources from 1500's England, 1600's Italy and France, and 16- and 1700's Germany.

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