Posted on: 28 October, 2020
Author: Nat Stringer
Take a look at the enduring legacy of an ancient instrument, and how modern music has come to adopt and honour the lute. Now divine aire, now is his soule ravisht, is it not strange that sheepes guts should hale soules out of mens bodies?” – William Shakespeare, Much Ado about Nothing. Sounds like some sacrificial religious ritual, but Shakespeare was not the only writer to attribute the lute with the power to transport the listener to heavenly ecstasy. The lute of the medieval troubadours, Renaissance humanists and Baroque courts is woven into the musical history of the Middle Ages, as well as the collective consciousness of today. While the lute was thought to have seen its demise in 1814, this instrument of antiquity has seen a revival since the mid 20th century in prog-rock, folk, and contemporary classical. Crafted by luthiers, this iconic Medieval instrument was the soundtrack to many courts across the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Today, the pear-shaped body inspired the shape of modern hollow-body guitars, even down to the pairing of strings and notating music as tablature. The is the story of how the lute withstood the test of time to be reborn into modernity. Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com Nat Stringer is a lover of obscure ancient instruments and she also has a secret crush on Sting.