My top three pieces currently are: 1. Cuthbert Hely: Fantasia (recorded on O'Dette's Cherbury CD), the one which is followed by the fast tempo saraband. Stately, but always with a psychological sense of tension stemming from the brooding chromatic passages in the polyphony. Very likely drawn in style from viol consort repertoire and very like William Lawes in feeling.
2. Anonymous fantasia in Siena Lute Book: the first piece on Jacob Heringman's recording, virtuosic ear-catching toccata-like opening, wonderful intertwining of imitative passages and a nice surprise cross-relation dissonance in the middle. 3. (I'm cheating here): All nine of the Bakfark fantasias. Very difficult to play for the left hand, but full of musical rewards, unexpected harmonies, surprising rhythmic and cadential passages. A close contender would be Spinacino's recercar primo for its improvisational qualities. These are just some of my renaissance favorites, but I would have to draw up a separate list of my top three baroque pieces (all in the 11 course repertoire). Kenneth Be -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
