Recently there was a discussion, which I glanced at, about lute music/virtue. I have in the last days discovered yet another virtue of the lute. This winter in the UK has been horribly damp and I've gone and got a touch of lumbago (shot in the back by a witch, as the Germans say). And the only position I feel comfortable in is sitting upright on a hard chair playing my lute, with a hot-water bottle behind me. Somehow the combination of the hard chair and the position required to play the instrument relieve the pain, and course the music does the rest. So crappy days have been turned into happy days, thanks to the virtues of - the lute. Happy New Year to one and all
Tom Beck --
