Early lute songs, with Musicke in the Ayre

About the show

Musicke in the Ayre’s first concert this year explores some of the earliest printed music for voice and lute. The pairing of voice and plucked strings has captivated listeners since medieval times, but it was the invention by the end of the 15th century of music printing with movable type—alongside the lute emerging as “King of Instruments”— that helped popularise the intimate genre of lute song. Soprano Jane Hunt and lutenist Din Ghani trace this rich repertoire from Venice around 1500 to Flanders a century later. Along the way, they delve into feisty frottole, elegant chansons, and refined madrigale—works originally written for three to five voices, republished in idiomatic and appealing arrangements for voice and lute. As well as his lute, Din will be playing a viola da mano – a guitar-shaped relative of the lute popular at the time (also made by him). This is music designed to please!
Performance will be in the Church Hall, refreshments available afterwards.
Tickets £12 available at the door, £11 in advance from Bath Box Office.