Track Listing

1. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Saltarello (Two Lutes)
2. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Piva (Two Lutes)
3. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Pavane
4. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Branle Gay
5. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Pavane
6. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Gaillarde
7. Renaissance Dances For Lute: La Rote De Rode
8. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Ballo Detto Il Conte Orlando
9. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Saltarello
10. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Spagnoletto
11. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Catena D'Amore
12. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Ballo So Ben Mi Chi Ha Buon Tempo
13. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Nizzarda
14. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Ein Ser Guter Hoff Tantz Mit Durch Straichen
15. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Hupff Auff
16. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Ein Guter Welscher Tantz
17. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Gassenhawer
18. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Rossina Ain Welscher Dantz
19. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Ain Niderlendisch Runden Dantz
20. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Ain Hoff Dantz Mit Zway Stimen
21. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Saltarello Chiamato El Mazolo
22. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Pavana Chiamata La Desperata
23. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Saltarello
24. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Tocha Tocha La Canella
25. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Branle Gay
26. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Branle
27. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Branle
28. Renaissance Dances For Lute: La Spagna
29. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Tientalora, Balletto Da Ballare
30. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Padoana
31. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Pavana Alla Venetiana
32. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Saltarello
33. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Piva
34. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Puisquen Deux Cueurs
35. Renaissance Dances For Lute: La Roque
36. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Gaillarde
37. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Pavane
38. Renaissance Dances For Lute: La Magdalena
39. Renaissance Dances For Lute: Bonus Track 1

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #176411 in Music
• Released on: 1996-02-20
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
We may think of dances as having stronger rhythmic emphasis than many of the pieces on this disc. There are plenty of accents and strummed chords to be found here but also some very gentle, lilting melodies. McFarlane has selected a very varied program from a number of Renaissance collections and then arranged the pieces to provide a listening program that never palls throughout the hour it lasts. Of course, much of the reason for the disc's maintaining our interest so well is the excellent playing of McFarlane, who is equally adept with bouncy tunes and tender ones. Dorian's very clear, resonant, realistic sound also adds to the enjoyment. --Leslie Gerber

Customer Reviews

Renaissance lute - nice survey
Catchy yet pensive, these dance suites convey something of the fascination with the art of love that pervades the Renaissance, a point not lost on Dorian's perceptive marketing staff. Dorian has released a host of thematically programmed early music designed to pique the interest of the novice as well as the seasoned collector. It works; particularly when you have such a sympathetic player as McFarlane, who sounds like your average guy who started his career on electric guitar, gravitated toward the lute, became a world class player, and who, incidentally, enjoys meditating and taking long walks by the shore. His partner for one suite, Mark Cudek, throws in a tidbit about being a competitive tri-athlete. They may be folksy, but don't tell them to get a life.

Works on this program mostly date from the early 1500's, when the European appetite for courtly dance was at its height. McFarlane has selected his favorites from among composers such as Joanambrosio Dalza, Pierre Attaingnant (a publisher of music actually), and Hans Judenkunig. The typical suite begins with a stately main dance (pavana or basse danse) and concludes with a faster, jumping dance (saltarello or hupfauf). McFarlane uses three different lutes by modern masters, selecting the one most appropriate to the music. My favorite of his lutes is an older 8-course; owing to its loose internal bracing, it imparts a unique twang to certain notes. The rustic effect is easily heard on the first suite by Attaingnant, where a series of trills in the Pavane are accompanied by a strummed, ground base.

Dorian uses a well-documented 20-bit technique, and this program was recorded in the revered Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. The good sound that is their hallmark is present here. Easily enjoyed.

Beautiful Music
Ronn McFarlane is clearly one of a small handful of virtuoso lute players. These wonderfully played pieces combine the lilt and spirit of renaissance dance with the gentle beauty of the lute. A sterling collection of pieces that makes you want to linger in their presence. Excellent work.