Composer: Valentin Bakfark, Giulio Cesare Barbetta, Diomedes Cato, Giovanni Battista Domenicho, Alfonso Ferrabosco, Vincenzo Galilei, John Hosking, Simone Molinaro, Jacob le Polonais, Matthäus Reymann, Kasper Sielicki, Lorenzino Tracetti, John Whitfield
Performer: Michał Gondko
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Ramée
Catalogue: RAM2007
Release: 2022
Size: 2.08 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Barbetta: Padoana ottava, Deta Zo per la Brenta
02. anon.: Ricercata
03. Galilei: Calliope
04. Tracetti: Praeludium
05. Molinaro: Saltarello
06. anon.: Currentes
07. Domenicho: Bergamasco
08. Sielicki: Praeambulum
09. anon.: Ballo polacho
10. Polonais: Courante
11. anon.: Gagliarda polacha
12. Cato: Fantasia
13. Bakfark: Pass’ e mezo detto L’ongaro
14. Rans: Branles
15. anon.: Es seind doch selig alle die
16. Reymann: Galliarda
17. Spalkaiber: Praeambulum
18. anon.: Jungfrau von schön Gestalt
19. Drusina: Fantasia
20. anon.: Tantz des Graffen von Manßfeldt / Proportio
21. Hosking: Praeludium / A Gailliarde
22. Coprario: Allemandt à Globe / Jigge of Cooper
23 .Bulman: A Paven
24. Ferrabosco: A Galliard
25. Askue: A Gigg
26. Whitfield: Huntsuppe
27. anon.: Toys
Dum vixi tacui; mortua dulce cano: “While I lived I was silent; dead, I sing sweetly.” Found in the portrait of the sixteenth-century lute maker Gaspar Tieffenbrucker, these words, spoken by the imaginary tone wood used for centuries in the manufacture of string instruments, fittingly depict its double life. This recording celebrates a historical instrument, whose voice time did not manage to silence: the so-called “Presbyter” (although in actual fact anonymous) lute, possibly made in Padua in 1595. One of the oldest playable lutes in existence, it was restored to its likely first configuration (a seven-course lute) and still features its original soundboard and back. Inspired by the cosmopolitan nature of the anthologies of lute music compiled at the time of the instrument’s presumed completion, Michał Gondko showcases its expressive potential with a diverse programme, placing emphasis on high-quality yet largely neglected repertoire, most of which has not been recorded to date.