Thomas Dunford and Friends: Solo Recital

The sound of the lute takes centre stage in this series curated by Thomas Dunford, an award-winning lutenist and celebrated chamber musician. In this solo recital, he takes listeners through music by six Renaissance and Baroque composers, from traditional folk dances and instrumental versions of songs to intricate solo movements.

Lutenist John Dowland wrote some of the most beautiful music of his – or any – age. He is known for his melancholy tunes, the most famous being ‘Lachrimae’. But he was also capable of humour: ‘Semper Downland, semper dolens’ translates as ‘always Dowland, always doleful’. His ‘Frog Galliard’ and ‘Mrs Winter’s jump’ are sparklingly good-natured contrasts.

Dowland’s pieces sit alongside music from across Europe from the 1500s to the 1700s, including ‘Les voix humaines’, a haunting work by Marais, the subject of the French film Tous les matins du monde. The finale is Bach’s intensely moving Chaconne, beautifully arranged for lute.

Programme:
John Dowland Praeludium
Fortune my foe
A fancy
Semper Dowland, semper dolens
Mrs Winter’s jump
A dream
The King of Denmark’s galliard
Lachrimae
Frog galliard
Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger Toccata No. 6 from ‘Libro Primo d’intavolatura di lauto’
Joan Ambrosio Dalza Calata alla spagnola from ‘Intabolatura de Lauto, Libro No 4’
Robert de Visée Sarabande
Chaconne
Marin Marais Les voix humaines
Erik Satie Gymnopédie No. 1
Gnossienne No. 1
JS Bach Chaconne de la partita pour violon BWV 1004