This album was recorded in St Martin's Church, East Woodhay, Newbury, UK, over three days in July 2021.
Composer Biography
Esaias Reusner, the composer, grew up during the devastating Thirty Years' War, which saw his hometown's population drop from 10,000 to 148.
Performer Biography
William Carter, the lutenist, is the principal lutenist for the Academy of Ancient Music and Professor of Baroque Studies and Lute at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London.
Instruments
William Carter, the lutenist on this recording, plays a 12-course lute made by Klaus Jacobsen in 2019, modeled after a 1590 instrument by Sixtus Rauwolf.
Composition History
Reusner's Delitiae testudinis (1667) is the first book of lute music published for the new eleven-course lute in D minor and contains the first works organized as suites for any instrument.
Historical Context
The lute was at the forefront of musical innovation, being featured in the first printed music for an instrument, the first dynamic indications, and the first theme with variations.
Album & Artwork
The album's cover image, 'An old man stringing a lute', is a painting by Pietro Paolini (1603-1681).
