Love Songs

Songs from Elizabethan England and contemporary pieces for lute prepared by

Pavla Fendrichová - vocals

Jindřich Macek - lute

Secular songs selected from John Dowland's works, and lute solos by John Dowland, Vicenzo Capirola and Pietro Paolo Raimondo.

Castles and other historical spaces are suitable settings for the realization of this concert programme.

Sample of the programme:

John Dowland - Sorrow, Stay!

The program can be ordered here...

Historical background

In the 16th century there was a great development in the original type of song - songs with lute accompaniment. As early as the 15th century in Italy composers of lute compositions began to pursue a new kind of art – while singing they accompanied themselves on the lute. Lute songs achieved great popularity, and this new art spread quickly to other countries (England, France, Spain, ...). Contemporary paintings and engravings show that it was common to perform songs in duos - a singer and a lutenist. Books of lute songs arose and quickly became popular with the playing public. Really good, beautiful, spiritual or secular Renaissance poetry full of wit, wisdom, strong and noble emotions are the main features of books of lute songs. These songs were likely to be sung in the town houses in the evening, when scores were laid on the table (individual parts were scored for performers sitting around the table) and played. Not only could the songs be heard in homes, but they were also widely used as one of the inherent parts of the drama and the main components of a dramatic effect on the viewer. Some lute songs were part of allegorical narrative performances - the so-called masques and dramas of Elizabethan playwrights. Lute songs were also part of W. Shakespeare's dramas.