Renaissance Lute Music Reborn

Those who wish to experience Renaissance lute music, either by listening or performing, are faced with some problems. The scarcity of recordings and performances in comparison with music of other genres limits opportunities to hear lute music, and the fact that most written lute music exists in an obscure notation system created for a largely unstandardized, difficult-to-find instrument for which few learning resources are available makes new performances difficult to undertake. Transcription of lute music into modern notation and arranging the music for modern instruments can alleviate this difficulty and can also allow the music to transcend certain limitations of the original instrument. This talk will discuss the process of transcription from lute tablature to modern notation and that of arranging the polyphonic music of a solo instrument for a trio of instruments playing single lines.