The seeds of this recording were planted many years ago. As a teenage classical guitarist, I used to spend a lot of time playing other peoples’
transcriptions of renaissance and baroque music. Little did I know, that many of the pieces I played were actually taken from the ‘Varietie of Lute Lessons’.
When I discovered the lute (accidentally) in my first year as an undergraduate at the Royal Academy of Music, I found myself returning to some of the same pieces, except this time, in their proper context. Not only did I have to develop a Braille system for notating lute tablature (with the help of Tim Crawford), but I then had to spend hours manually writing the pieces out on a clunky old braille typewriter. I taught a number of my student friends to read tablature, and we would spend valuable and precious time each week writing out one or two new pieces.
I used to spend hours in the basement of the library, listening to recordings of one of my great idols, Julian Bream – deciding which piece to write out and learn next. Since then, it has always been a burning ambition of mine to one day record the Varietie of Lute Lessons, and some 15 years after my initial forays into this stunning repertoire, it felt right to finally commit the pieces to disc.
Tracklist
Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.Total time: 01:01:46
Additional information
| Label | |
|---|---|
| SKU | 25408 |
| Qualities | |
| Channels | 2ch Stereo, 5 Channel Surround Sound, 2ch Stereo & 5ch Surround |
| Artists | |
| Composers | Anonymous, Ballard, Batchelar, Dowland, Ferrabrosco, Holborne, Huwet, Laurencini Of Rome, Moritz. Prince Of Hessen, Morley, Saman |
| Genres | |
| Cables | van den Hul |
| Digital Converters | Meitner DSD AD/DA |
| Mastering Engineer | Jared Sacks |
| Mastering Equipment | B+W 803 diamond series |
| Microphones | Bruel & Kjaer, Schoeps |
| Mixing Board | Rens Heijnis custom made |
| Instruments | |
| Original Recording Format | |
| Producer | Jonathan Attwood |
| Recording Engineer | Jared Sacks |
| Recording location | York England |
| Recording Software | Pyramix |
| Recording Type & Bit Rate | DSD64 |
| Speakers | AudioLab |
| Release Date | February 25, 2014 |
Press reviews
HVT
Deze klanken onthaasten de menselijke geest, waar de moderne toonkunst ons opjaagt en ze brengen tevens de overconsumptie in de huidige muziek aan het licht. (…)
(…) Een prachtige SACD die met veel liefde en toewijding is gemaakt. Muziek die ons de broodnodige rust verschaft in deze belachelijk hectische maatschappij. De opname is van de hoogste standaard.
Luister
De Engelse luitspeler is blind en besteed veel tijd aan het in braille transcriberen van de luittabulaturen. Het is het wachten in elk geval waard. () (….) Wederom een ijzersterke cd die de luit laat horen zoals hij zou moeten klinken. De muzikant biedt een zeer representatieve selectie van werken van Robert Dowland, hij speelt kraakhelder en weet duidelijk wat hij doet en dat komt de zorgvuldig opgenomen muziek alleen maar ten goede.
Rondo
wunderbaren Resonanzkörper der 10-chöriger Laute (…)
(…) Die Aufnahmetechnik hat ganze Arbeit geleistet, um alle Bereiche und Facetten des Lautenspiels von Matthew Wadsworth unmittelbar präsent zu machen. Und so staunt man einfach nur über die Souveränität, mit der Wadsworth die Noblesse und Tief , die Form und Vitalität dieser Kunstwerke en miniature weniger einfängt als vielmehr feinsensorisch erspürt.
Gramophone
his playing is solid and deliberate yet strangely luminous – no light but rather darkness visible. In his hands Holborne, Morley Batchelars dark, sophisticated pavins grand and trilling with shakes yet unable to shake off a lurking melancholy-almost take on the character of a late Beethoven
Audiophile Audition
Matthew Wadsworth emphasizes the sheer sonorous beauty of the 19 pieces on this disc. He exhibits a feathery touch that is coupled with an unerring sense of the music’s constantly shifting but always subtle dynamics.
Early Music America
Wadsworth has found a way to bring out what us unique to each selection. () () Certain pieces he chooses to treat in a virtuosic fashion, with florid ornamentation and embellishments; others may demand the merest of pauses at a cadence, or a slightly emphasized trill. Much like a jeweler shaping a precious gem, he treats each piece delicately, with skill and nuance.
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