The Lute Society: Home Page

Welcome to The Lute Society's website

The Lute Society, now over 60 years old, exists to promote the lute and its music. Members get a new member's pack of 100 pages of lute music, a quarterly magazine, Lute News, with music supplement, an annual journal, The Lute, discounts on our growing range of publications and other benefits. Even if you can't make it to our meetings, playing days, and residential weekends in Britain, joining is an excellent way of building up your music library, and keeping in touch with other lute players, and with news in the lute world.

Not sure if it's for you? For a FREE COPY of our magazine Lute News, just contact the secretary

News

Issue 148 of Lute News is now out - see its colour front cover and ezine. See a gallery of previous front covers on the publications page, under Lute News back issues.

Annual General Meeting This will be held as a Google Meeting at 16.00 (British Summer Time = GMT +1) on Saturday 27 April: meet.google.com/ifv-cjqb-udy
Elections: Trustees: Kevin Drake to retire, making one place vacant, Nancy Carlin, Sam Chapman and Sarah Shepley, standing for re-election, President: David van Edwards standing for re-election.

4th May meeting - a music feast! Our spring meeting will be a varied and very international affair, with an introduction to continuo playing on the d-minor tuned ‘baroque lute’ based on historical sources, by Peter Croton (with duo performances), a talk on a the plucked-string instruments in a famous painting by Antiveduto Gramatica by David Rebuffa, and its reconstruction by Antonio Dattis and lots of live music, from Massimo Marchese, and from Kristiina Watt and Madeline de Berrie performing music by Kapsberger and Castaldi, and a final recital of duets by Peter Croton and Bor Zuljan. see meetings for timetable.

The Lute Society summer party will take place on 13th July in Maidenhead, Berkshire, contact the secretary for details.

Bach Solo Lute Discography - Updated discography v3.0, listing all solo music by JS Bach recorded on instruments of the lute family, currently covering over 139 recordings. Collated by John Reeve. See Bach Solo Lute Discography

Beginners' lesson - 51 - Zart schönste Fraw - Lesson 51 of our beginners lessons, by Lynda Sayce

5 pieces from the Fiztwilliam Virginal book Arranged for renaissance lute by Jeremy Jones - see free-downloads

New listings - Listings of upcoming lute events and lute interest links compiled by our internet correspondent, Melody Packard; UK concert listings can be found at links-lute events

Figured bass sharing network - contributed by members - a sharing library of continuo parts that can be borrowed.

Summer Schools If you haven't booked a lute holiday yet, here are our listings of summer school listings.

Recent compositions by Brian Wright coming shortly to members compositions page.

New films from recent meetings on our Youtube Channel; Sara Salloum, Matthew Spring, Galliarda, the Casulana Consort, and Thomas Langlois: www.youtube.com/@thelutesociety8964

Extant Lutes Database - a new interactive online database of historic lutes that have survived into modern times. Based on data collated over decades by David Van Edwards, Klaus Martius, Friedemann Hellwig, Ernst Pohlmann and others, with many photos and details about these remarkable historical survivors. See help page and summary or go to the database.

Gaspar Sanz - A new translation by Monica Hall of Sanz instructions on accompanying a bass line on baroque guitar - ‘Instrucción de música sobre la guitarra española y método de sus primeros rudimentos hasta tañerla con destreza’. See baroque guitar for further details.

Updated Lute Society Music index - search through the tabulature supplements by composer

Lute Iconography Database (Lute IDB) There is a new release of this rich and detailed resource of lute iconography images collated and curated by David Van Edwards. Newly updated with better search and usability features: help page and summary or go to the database.

For previous news items, see Old news

Recent pages on this website

  • Lute Iconography Database - over 3000 images of lutes catalogued in a searchable online database.
  • Back issues of Lute News now available for purchase online. Now you can fill in any missing copies in your collection. Lute News has been fully digital since issue 101, and the first hundred issues have kindly been digitised by Eric Crouch.
  • New pieces on our members' compositions pages - recent updates by David Haxell, David Protheroe, Steven Watson and others.

New Music Editions

See our catalogue for details and to purchase online:

  • 158 early Cinquecento preludes and recercars - a bumper collection of early Italian lute music, all standards, beginner to advanced
  • Compendium of 178 Polish dances - another bumper edition!
  • Fun merchandise! Lute-playing mouse paperweight

Listings and services

As well as our online shop where you can purchase our publications, our website contains a number of listings of lutes for sale, makers, teachers, publishers, summer schools and other links.

Contact the secretary

The Secretary, Christopher Goodwin
3 Dolcey Way,
Sharnbrook,
Bedfordshire, MK44 1LE
United Kingdom
Tel: (+44/0)1483 202159 / (++44/0)7510 254106

or if your email bounces back from this, try

Donations

The Lute Society’s finances are ticking over nicely with the present membership fees and it is breaking even in a safe and steady manner. But we would like to be able to fund occasional additional activities without having to raise the general membership fees to a level which would put off some from joining. If you feel able to help in this way, it will be greatly appreciated.

There will be an opportunity for UK tax payers to gift aid their donation after they click the donate button.

General Fund Donation
Donating with this button will enable you to add an amount of your choice to our general fund.


Student Bursary Fund Donation
Donating with this button will enable you to add an amount of your choice to our Student Bursary Fund which will enable us to fund deserving students for places on short term music courses such as Benslow.