Links revised

Today I have gone through the site tracking down dead links, thanks to a useful Firefox extension LinkChecker from Kevin Freitas (http://www.kevinfreitas.net/extensions/linkchecker/) - so with any luck they are all working now!

Links pages updated

I’ve updated all the links pages today; in the process I’ve reorganised the pages. So many of the links are not instrument specific for either lute or guitar (or include other instruments) that I decided to reorganise the categories as follows:
MUSIC SOFTWARE LINKS
SHEET MUSIC AND MIDI
MANUSCRIPTS & FACSIMILES
MUSICIANS' SITES
LUTHIERS
BLOGS, FORUMS & PORTALS
CLUBS & SOCIETIES
COMMERCIAL SITES
MISCELLANEOUS
MP3S ETC

Reusner Passacaglia

Reusner Passacaglia - minor update posted.

More Duets

Today I have added two duets by Thomas Ford: Mr Southcote's Pavan and galliard, and a duet by the French composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, Gravement. All three pieces are originally for two viols. Seemingly the viol literature is a good source of music for guitar, especially pieces written for the so called Lyra Viol.

Tobias Hume and others

Today I have updated and added several pieces. In the Duets section I have added two new pieces by Tobias Hume, The Duke of Holstone’s Delight and Touch Me Sweetly, together with a piece by Thomas Mace, The Author's Mistress. I have also considerably revised The Spirit of Musicke (Tobias Hume) and Mr Lullere, His Choice (Thomas Ford) by transferring some material between the parts to improve playability and revising the durations of held notes. Several other duet pieces have had minor revisions, including Howell’s Delight. In the solos section I have added A Humorous Pavin and The Duke of Holstone’s Almayne, also by Tobias Hume.

Update to Rosa

Rosa, by John Danyel updated on 25/08/09. I’ve tried to improve the way the piece is notated to indicate the voices more clearly.
Further udated, with minor changes to notation and fingering on 10/09/09.

New Guitar; Minor changes to site.

Touch me lightly, by Tobias Hume has gone up on the site today as the first piece I have posted with an MP3 of my own playing. More to follow I hope!

New piece - first MP3

Minor revision of Fall of the Leaf (Martin Peerson) posted today.

Fall of the Leaf

I spotted someone playing Tombeau de M. Francois Ginter on YouTube today; this prompted me to get the piece out and play it again myself. I decided some of my notation (especially double dotting) was not very clear so I have revised the way the rhythm is expressed (using ties and single dots instead).

Tombeau - minor revision

Today I’ve posted a solo guitar arrangement of Vivaldi’s Lute Concerto (RV 93) - plus a minor revision of the de Visee Chaconne (first version).

Vivaldi

A new piece today a pavan notated for bandora by Anthony Holborne.The piece seems to be a version by Holborne of a pavan by John Johnson, that father of Robert Johnson. These two were more or less contemporary; Johnson had a lengthy period in the service of Queen Elizabeth and Holborne was probably in her service for a period so the two may have known each other and each may have been familiar with the other’s music. Johnson’s work has been collected in the set of volumes ‘The Lute Works of John Johnson’ edited by John M Ward (Editions Orphée 1994) where the music is presented in lute tablature, keyboard transcription and guitar transcription. There are one or two minor notational errors in my copy of the guitar version of this piece and an apparent error in the manuscript tablature source that is corrected by Rainer aus dem Spring in his Lute Society edition of the tablature, so I decided I would like a revised guitar arrangement. Like ward, I have put the piece in A major rather than making a direct transcription into G major.
I’ve also made a couple of very minor revisions to the trio pieces, Fantasy (Lawes) and Donna Crudel (Adriensen)

Holborne Bandora Pavan

Updated versions today of two of the trios - Donna Crudel by Adriensen and the William Lawes Fantasye. Also some slight revisions to the solo Fantasie by van Wilder.

Minor Revisions - Lawes, Adriensen, Wilder

Today I’ve published a version of Militis Dump in G in addition to the arrangement in A. I think overall it’s easier to play and more satisfactory in G.
I have also posted a revised version of Philip van Wilder’s
Fantasie utilising guitar tuning rather than lute tuning. I was unhappy with the previous version, so I have deleted it. (If anyone wants the old version let me know and I can send it.)

New Versions

Today I’ve published a version of Militis Dump in G in addition to the arrangement in A. I think overall it’s easier to play and more satisfactory in G.
I have also posted a revised version of Philip van Wilder’s
Fantasie utilising guitar tuning rather than lute tuning. I was unhappy with the previous version, so I have deleted it. (If anyone wants the old version let me know and I can send it.)

Two German pieces

A couple of new pieces from German sources added today. A Fantasia from the Nuremberg Lute Book and a Chaconne that I presume comes from a manuscript source in the north German town of Schwerin. Both are from unknown composers.

Donna Crudel revised; no more PayPal

Today I have added two pavans by John Dowland - Solus cum Sola and La Mia Barbara.

Two Dowland Pavans

Revised arrangement of the trio Donna Crudel posted today. I have ‘thinned out’ the parts to make them a little easier to play by removing notes from the lute originals where all three lutes are playing the same note (especially bass notes) as this makes the texture too dense on the guitar.

Donna Crudel

Minor changes in layout and fingering to L'Amant Malheureux posted today.

L'Amant Malheureux

Today I’ve reposted Quando Claro (Anon) in the same arrangement but with revised notation to make the rhythm clearer in places and to clarify where notes should be tied rather than damped. I’ve also posted a slightly altered version of the Countess of Pembroke’s Pavan (Holborne) and made a minor revision to the Nicolaes Vallet Prelude.

Minor Revisions

Some new pages today. A page each of duet and trio pieces, plus a page where I will write in more detail about some of the composers. There are currently 14 duet pieces and three trio pieces on these new pages.