Next Meeting – 14th July

The Scottish Lute and early Guitar Society will meet again on Saturday 14th July, 2012, at the usual place – St Cecilia’s Hall – at the usual time, 2pm. 

Hope to see you there!

Portraits

3rd Meeting – 14 April 2012

The Laigh Room, our usual meeting place, was booked, so we found ourselves upstairs in the beautiful St Cecilia’s Hall, complete with stage platform. Here was a chance to play on stage in Scotland’s first public concert hall. This was a double-edged sword, of course – on the one hand it was a rich experience, on the other, more panic-inducing! I’m glad to report that everyone seemed relatively at ease.

First, some photographs. There are so many, it was easier to present them in a video. As we had not recorded today’s performances, you will have to put up with my recording of a Fantasia by Fuenllana on an Alexander Batov vihuela in E. I am happy to email particular photos by request…

And two photos of Rob, one with David, which never made it into the video:

First up was David Bateman, playing continuo on an eight-string guitar, enlisting the help of Rob MacKillop on the treble line of a recercada fom Ortiz. Rob’s improvisations might have seemed in character for the piece, but only served to distract from his woeful sight-reading skills David played well, and he is to be applauded for trying to play a continuo line.

Bill Samson exposed us to more of his journey into the precious sound world of Mesangeau, with an alemande, courante and sarabande. Bill is recording the complete Mesangeau, available via Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/billsamson - I’m learning a lot from these recordings, and your performances, Bill, so keep em coming.

Philip Lord played a Prelude in G by ‘Dooland’ from Philip Hainhofer’s lute book. I, for one, had never heard it before. Philip’s 7c Paul Thomson lute rang out clearly through the hall. Looking forward to Philip’s next effort.

Stuart Mcluckie performed three pieces by Negri from The Lute Society’s 40 Easy To Early Intermediate Pieces for Renaissance Lute: number 6, il Cesarino; no. 7 la Pavaniglia; and no.8 il Bianco Fiore. Stewart got a really big sound from his James Marriage 8c (or was it 7c?). Good strong rhythmical playing of dance music.

New face, Chris Jupp, amazed us all by the sound he managed to extract from his Early Music Shop 8c. Really sensitive renditions of his own lute arrangements of two pieces by Tobias Hume, numbers 42 and 14 of his Musical Humours. Well done, Chris. we are all looking forward to your next recital.

Rob MacKillop played pieces in harp sharp tuning from the Panmure (Lady Lothian’s Lilt and Courante and Double – both untitled in the original manuscript) and Wemyss (Lady Lie Nier Mee and My Lady Binnis Lilt) manuscripts. It was good to see Rob performing again after an absence of a few years. His playing is growing in confidence again. Here are two videos of Rob playing these pieces recently:

Finally, Graham Wylie gave an illustrated talk on the effect of the 30 years war on lute construction. This gave him the chance to show off his stunning new 13c swan lute by Dutch luthier, Martin de Witte, comparing constructional details with his Martin Shepherd 11c Maler lute. It was an interesting talk, and thought provoking.

So much for the performances…the best part is chatting away to all present, with little groups breaking off here and there for Show And Tell gatherings. I’m please to report that the emphasis is still on encouraging each other with kind and constructive comments.

Competition time! Suggest a comment -

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The date of the next meeting is still to be confirmed. I will add a new post when I have it confirmed.

Next Meeting – 14 April

The next meeting of the Scottish Lute and Early Guitar Society will be on Saturday 14 April, 2pm to 4pm, St Cecilia’s Hall, Cowgate, Edinburgh.

I hope to see you all there!

2nd Meeting – 7 January, 2012

An excellent meeting, with some good performances, and lots of talking!

Rob MacKillop started the proceedings with Belle Heureuse from the Balcarres ms, followed by the song version by Lully, with Rob on baroque lute, Gordon Ferries on baroque guitar, and Elly Smith on the vocal part. It was interesting to hear the solo lute version next to the song version. Elly sang beautifully.

Finally, Rob performed Lute Study #1 by Karlin Love, printed in the current tab supplement from The Lute Society, which was influenced by the contemplative spirit of the French baroque luthistes, and was well received by the audience.

Bill Samson played a Prelude and Allemande by Mezangeau. This was Bill’s best performance yet, and his self-made 10c lute sounded mature and rounded. The Prelude was very impressive.

Graham Wylie gave a fascinating introduction to some music by Kellner. We were reminded how radical Kellner’s music could be compared to other German music of the period.

Gordon Ferries wowed everyone again with his exemplary performances on baroque guitar, this time some pieces by Corbetta. Very stylish playing, managing to be both rhythmic and melodic at the same time – a perfect marriage.

The meeting was well attended, with two more bodies than last time. It was nice to hear the spoken introductions placing the music in context, and highlighting some technical or musical features. The next one will be in roughly three months’ time. Watch this space.

First Meeting – 1st October, 2011

The first meeting took place in the Laigh Room at St Cecilia’s Hall, and seems to have been a success, with all participants wishing to do more of the same in the future.

In attendance:

Rob MacKillop, Gordon Ferries, Bill Samson, Mario Giardini, Eleanor Smith, Graham Wylie, Susan Rennie and Rhona MacKillop.

After an initial settling-in period, with people chatting, viewing instruments, etc, some playing was to be heard. What follows is a highly critical review – not!

Rob started with some Weiss, a well-known Suite in Dm. As he had not played the lute for three years, and his new 13c Malcolm Prior lute was less than two weeks old, there were the occasional utterances of ‘oops’ when the thumb hit the wrong bass course. Soon, however, the nerves settled, and he really caught some beautiful moments in the Sarabande. Everyone remarked on how beautifully clear the lute sounded.

Bill Samson entertained us with some Vieux Gaultier on his self-made 11c lute. It was a pleasure to watch Bill’s confidence grow, and there were some sublime moments in the famous Tombeau de Mezangeau. Bill’s lute has a delightful bell-like tone.

Graham Wylie played two instruments, a Malcolm Prior 8c and a three-week old Voboam-style guitar by Alexander Batov. I’ve seen Graham play in student recitals before, and I can say that it was a great pleasure to see him play so well and with some confidence in front of other lute and early guitar players. I’m sure the experience will have done him a world of good. He played pieces by Sanz on guitar, and some classic English lute music.

Mario did not play, as he does not yet have a lute. But, being a proficient harpsichord maker, has plans to build his own lute as soon as possible. If anyone has a lute to lend to him in the interim, please get in touch.

Gordon Ferries was on tremendous form with some stunning 4c guitar music by Guillaume Morlaye. It is amazing how much music can be made within the first five frets and four strings. We heard  Arcadelt’s Aux Temps Heureaux twice – once as a guitar solo, and once with Eleanor Smith singing the soprano line beautifully. That was a real treat. Eli will be our resident singer, should anyone want to prepare a song – though please get in touch with Eli first!

Gordon played many more pieces on guitar, and gave some help and guidance to Graham on fingering the campanella section of the famous Sanz Pavanas.

So, slowly the form of this new society began to take shape. We have a relaxed atmosphere where anyone from a complete beginner to a seasoned pro can feel they can contribute something. It would be good to expand the membership, and I know there are other players out there, so steps will be taken in that direction.

We hope to a have workshops and recitals, and need to seek funding to pay for expenses and fees. However, the main focus for the society will be fostering a ”safe space” for players of all levels to try out things with a sympathetic audience.

Bill and Rob have plans to play a duet on 13c and 11c lute at the next meeting, and it is hoped the other players will be preparing something too. The date of the next meeting is Saturday 7th January, 2012. I hope to remember my camera next time! Sorry there are no visuals.

As Bill said,  ”I was VERY inspired by today’s event, and will certainly be putting loads of effort into practising before the next get-together.”

Comments welcome below…