Lecture: Dowland's Lutes

Michael Lowe, a world-famous luthier with a lifetime of experience building every kind of lute, explores the question of Dowland's lutes.

From its arrival in England in the 13th century, the lute underwent technical developments unmatched by those of perhaps any other instrument, and that was the case during Dowland's lifetime in particular. In his youth he would have played a lute of only 6 courses or pairs of strings; by the time he died, it commonly had 10 pairs of strings, a long second neck and pegbox, and some experimental tunings. So what instruments did Dowland play?