The Orpheus' Lute - Improvisation & Wonder in Humanist Italy

The lute became the instrument of choice at European courts around 1500, the time of their greatest cultural and spiritual importance. The lute was considered by the Humanists to represent Orpheus's lyre, as it embodied the metaphysical ideal of the power of music and was also closely linked to improvisation. Here we revive this tradition for the first time on record: this programme is almost entirely improvised and presents the Renaissance lute with all it's surprising colours and sonorities as a living instrument.