Music for Guitar, Lute and Vihuela

Through the Ages

"The Lutinist" Hendrik Martenszoon Sorgh (circa 1610–1670)
(Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)

...‘Taking leave of a repertoire abundant in diversity and invention, the curtain closes on the Renaissance to reopen on the next era of the lute from the Baroque period.’
As the concluding lines from the last page on the lute of the 16th century in this series, echoes from the Renaissance music rang on. Those sprightly instrumental dances, galliards, almains, retained a hold awhile, notably in England. The indelible imagery they summon still is of cavorting figures in stone-clad halls. While from another point of view the graceful unfolding of a pavan stirs in the mind’s eye a measured ceremonial tread. Recalling fantasias too, those most introspective creations, extended their life as well, notably in Italy as ‘touch’ pieces at the keyboard.
Against the fading rays of the 16th century and at the dawn of the Baroque, new musical movements were astir. One revolutionary departure took place in the performance of Italian songs. The entwined lineworks of former vocal ensembles gave way to just one singer now with a single instrumentalist alongside clasping an imposing long-necked lute. And there were other breakthroughs, with the lute as their carrier. Dances in abundance sprang up, now of a Baroque vintage. Taking their turn in pages ahead, they bear French stamps, idiosyncratic with peculiar turns of line. This is the fare of salons, of lute music touched with nuances, of tonal plays of light and shadow.
Among other advances of the musical Baroque was one of expansion, of lute compositions enlarged in breadth and content. National seams extended from Italy with lutenists participating in grandiose stage productions and opera. In France they propagated dance suites and court airs; from England, songs and instrumental eccentricities. From the Central Lands stylistic cross-fusions were nurtured, alive in variety.
After glimpsing the broader musical fronts of the Baroque, the repertoires of the lute take turn, in step with the experimental verve and stylistic tangents of this age.