The Lute Player

Published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028. The catalog (with a lengthy essay and scholarly paraphernalia) for an exhibition of a newly identified work by Caravaggio and other paintings by the artist or related to the musical theme. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This is a story of love between an adventure-loving king and his queen who travels in disguise as a lute player to save the king after he is imprisoned during one of his journeys. Themes: devotion, intelligence.

Beloved author Norah Lofts brings to life the romance and adventure of the crusading king Richard the Lionhearted through the eyes of his most humble and trusted companion -- his lute player. One of the most renowned figures in medieval history, Richard the Lionhearted, inspired by a vision of the Holy Land, led his knights onto the battlefields of the Third Crusade. During the years of fighting and intrigue, Richard's life was intertwined with the lives of two strong, vibrant, and drastically different women who loved him -- Berengaria, princess of Navarre, and his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. While his marriage to Berengaria was ill-fated, Eleanor loved her son with a frantic, possessive pride. But it is Blondel, the king's lute player, who here steps forward from the shadows to tell this tale of romance, war, and betrayal. In her trademark style, Norah Lofts paints a complex and human portrait of a legendary king.

Mystery, obsession, rage, joy, demons, death, secrets and a lute. All to be found on Johannes’ journey – a father’s search, an artist’s mission, a lost soul’s quest – where nothing, especially Khadra the lute player, is ever quite what it seems. Let Edward Glover be your guide as you venture beyond the borders of the Herzberg trilogy and The Executioner’s House to an intensely personal landscape in which fantasy, fable and metaphysics overlay ancient civilisations, and threads of history, music and art weave through a vividly conjured seeker’s story.

"Spring focuses on the lute in Britain, but also includes two chapters devoted to continental developments: one on the transition from medieval to renaissance, the other on renaissance to baroque, and the lute in Britain is never treated in isolation. Six chapters cover all aspects of the lute's history and its music in England from 1285 to well into the eighteenth century, whilst other chapters cover the instrument's early history, the lute in consort, lute song accompaniment, the theorbo, and the lute in Scotland."--Jacket.

This book is aimed at beginner lute and guitar players interested in playing Renaissance lute music on either instrument. Lute and guitar tablature are included, along with notes on technique, biographies of lute composers from the 16th century, and general advice on buying, stringing and tuning a lute. The book starts with single-line melodies, before progressing to two-part and full repertoire pieces. Selections include works by great Renaissance composers such as John Dowland, Francesco da Milano, Alonso Mudarra, Francesco Spinacino and others, with music from England, Scotland, Italy, France and Germany. A useful chord chart is also included. Every piece in the book has been recorded fordownload by Rob MacKillop--in itself, an album worth owning. Access to the online audio is included.

The most comprehensive, authoritative work on understanding and building authentic lutes, by a world renown luthier and scholar. Historical section covers the development of the lute from the 15th through the 18th century with over 100 photographs of ancient lutes and 50 diagrams; practicum section covers the construction of the lute in minute detail with over 600 step-by-step photographs and a dozen diagrams. Includes a list of historic makers, catalog of extant historic lutes, bibliography and index, plus complete reduced images of seven lute plans.