The Lutenist's Garden

Abstract

This work provides insight into Lute and guitar music produced in sixteenth-century France. The lute, the most serene of renaissance musical instruments, is always a welcome visitor in the garden of polyphony. As an instrument of measured tranquillity, the lute blends smoothly into the verdant surrounds, so much at home in its protected microcosm that the garden of polyphony becomes indistinguishable from the garden of the lute. Moreover, gardens and lutes have much in common. Above all, they are both places of repose, of peace, and of tranquillity. Secondly, their history has much that is shared, and that relates very closely to the deeper meanings hidden in this recording.