It is my impression that there are quite a few outstanding young players who will continue the tradition of great lute playing. Names that immediately come to mind are Lukas Henning and Bor Zuljan. We should ask the teachers at the Schola in Basels what they think of young players. - Further, when you look at the "new members" section in the latest Lute News magazine by the British Lute Society there are quite a few Japanese sounding names - that indicates to my opinion a growing interest in lute music outside of Europe which is very encouraging. Another thing is that amateurs who spend a lot of time and effort in transcribing lute music from manuscripts and hard-to-find prints into a modern typeset and put it for free online - Sarge Gerbode is doing outstanding work in this respect (and if you doubt his competency he also puts the faksimiles online so that everybody can individually verify). Those 3 ingredients (well trained young players, growing interest outside of Europe and a large stock of available music without cost) are an indication that we don't have to be concerned for the future of lute playing. My opinion, that is.
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ On Thursday, August 27, 2020 5:53 AM, howard posner <howardpos...@ca.rr.com> wrote: > > On Aug 26, 2020, at 6:38 PM, Richard Brook richa...@mail.cs.dartmouth.edu > > wrote: > > > I note Henry VIII (source: Hilary Mantel) executed a lute player for > > sleeping (so Henry claimed) with Anne Boleyn. > > That would be Mark Smeaton; hence Theodore’s foreboding about a > Smeaton-themed movie. But it has more or less happened already. Smeaton was a > significant character in The Tudors, a Netflix series that seems (as far as I > could see from dropping in while my wife binge-watched it), to combine > insight and outrageous nonsense in roughly equal measure. > > Addressing the larger question, assuming the world rebounds well from Covid > shutdown (a dicey proposition in the USA, I know) the lute should do just > fine because ensembles and orchestras should be a steady source of > professional gigs, and that area still seems to be growing. Some responses > here treat the lute as if it were just a vehicle for solo lute music, which > was never the case except in the early days of the lute revival. > > > So things are looking up. > > Dick Brook > > > > > On Aug 26, 2020, at 8:13 PM, theoj89...@new-old-mail.cs.dartmouth.edu > > > wrote: > > > Dear luters: > > > What does the future hold the lute? > > > In the waning days of this wonderful email list (Thanks Wayne!!), I > > > thought I would invite thoughts regarding the future of the lute and > > > the lute community. As I muse, it seems that this present lute revival > > > started in 1960's - 70's largely out of the folk music revival and > > > early music revival. I notice that many of our fellow lute enthusiasts > > > are growing older (as am I). And with the recent passing of Julian > > > Bream, I thought it prescient to reflect: > > > What will the next 10, 20, or 50 years look like for the lute and lute > > > community? > > > Is interest in the lute on the decline, ascendency, or moving in some > > > other direction? > > > Is this trajectory different in different countries? > > > The internet has revolutionized access to manuscripts, publishers, and > > > recordings. Will the internet ultimately drive interest to diversions > > > other than the lute? > > > And when will Hollywood finally make a sizzling historical romance > > > about a lute player and bring the lute back to be a symbol of > > > seduction, as it should be? (Hopefully the movie won't be about Mark > > > Smeaton.) > > > Thoughts? > > > theodore jordan > > > -- > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > > > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
