Customer Reviews

Greensleeves: A Collection of English Lute Songs

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Incredible! Stunning musicianship from beginning to end. For fans of Dowland, this recording is a gem. The blend of lute and voice on 'In darkness let me dwell' is downright haunting. This recording is an absolute pleasure. 5 stars just might be an understatement here...

The lute is a string instrument with a fretted neck and a deep, round back. In many ways, it is related to later similar instructments such as the guitar and banjo. It descends from a Middle Eastern instrument similar to the oud. The lute was one of the major musical instruments of the Middle Ages, and much music was composed for the lute, both as a stand-alone instrument as well as an accompaniment for singers.

This disc has some samples of both. Some songs are anonymous compositions, often derivative of much older folk tunes. Others are original compositions whose composers are known by name. Among these names are John Dowland, Thomas Morley, Alfonso Ferrabosco, Michael Cavendish, Thomas Campion, Nicholas Lanier, and Anthony Holborne, all of the 1500s/1600s. The music here involves both the 8-course lute and the 10-course lute (during the later Baroque time, lutes could have as many as 28 strings!).

The lute was eventually displaced by keyboard and other instruments, so in many ways its life is that of the music of the past. However, with recordings such as these, the lute lives again in vibrant form. Ronn McFarlane learned to play on a cheap steel-string guitar, but continued to study in a rather eclectic fashion, eventually studying at the Shenandoah Conservatory and the Peabody Conservatory prior to settling upon the lute as his primary instrument. In this recording, he is paired with Julianne Baird, a soprano with significant recording experience.

McFarlane and Baird emphasise the simplicity and lightness of the songs here; while some lute music and some folk tunes can be very elaborately arranged, here the performers strive for a more direct elegance. The particular period emphasised is Elizabethean; McFarlane and Baird sound as if they have come directly from the Queen's court directly.

This is a beautiful recording.

Soprano Julianne Baird is well known in the US as a specialist in Early Music, but I'm ashamed to admit until this CD came my way I had never heard of her, though I had heard of Ronn McFarlane. If I'd been actively looking for the music represented here I would almost certainly have gone straight for Emma Kirkby. Judging from the singing on this CD, however, Julianne Baird deserves her popularity in America. From the moment she started on IT WAS A LOVER AND HIS LASS (which our school choir used to torment) I was won over. The programme is carefully chosen to avoid the melancholy songs swamping listeners, thus leaving their spirits down instead of uplifted. And to add to the variety seven lute solos are evenly interspersed among the songs. Baird and McFarlane are a perfectly matched duo in this recital and it's such a delight to listen to songs in English whose lyrics match the quality of the music that my only disappointment stems from the omission of two stanzas in IT WAS A LOVER AND HIS LASS. It seemed like a desecration to chop away half of Shakespeare's lyrics!

This Cd came as a pleasant surprise. It was as if I had stepped through the gates going back in time.The minstrels sound as if they are seated to greet the visitors above the gate as they enter the Faire.This would be welcome at any Renaissance gathering,for relaxation,or even for ritual. I love it and Greensleeves has always been one of my favorite songs.I highly recommend this disc!

i should have read the description more clearly...this is partially vocal, not all instrumental. Nothimg wrong with the CD, but I only like instrumental.