The Lute Music of Robert Johnson
The Lute Music of Robert Johnson

Author: Steven Watson

Publisher: Mel Bay Publications

Published: 2021-02-19

Total Pages: 37

ISBN-13: 1513459880

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Robert Johnson (c. 1583 – 1633) was the last of the great English lutenists; he served Prince Henry and was later a prominent figure in the court of Charles I. He wrote music for many plays and masques of the time, including several by Shakespeare. Decades after Johnson’s death, in a “Dialogue between the Author and His Lute” within Musick’s Monument and the persona of the Lute, writer and lutenist Thomas Mace described John Dowland and Robert Johnson as “Two famous men; Great Masters in My Art”. Despite such high praise and the fact that much of Johnson’s music is well-suited to the guitar, few guitarists play it. This comprehensive collection of solo lute works, transcribed for guitar in standard notation, is an attempt to remedy this shortcoming. It includes music for the beginner as well as the advanced player. The book’s 23 pieces range from Johnson’s delightful almains, galliards, masques and a single coranto to the somber intensity of the pavans and a fantasie. Dropped-D and lowered third-string tuning (F#) are frequently used to better approximate the tuning and range of the 9 or 10-course Renaissance lute.

The Lute in Britain
The Lute in Britain

Author: Matthew Spring

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 576

ISBN-13: 9780195188387

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"Spring focuses on the lute in Britain, but also includes two chapters devoted to continental developments: one on the transition from medieval to renaissance, the other on renaissance to baroque, and the lute in Britain is never treated in isolation. Six chapters cover all aspects of the lute's history and its music in England from 1285 to well into the eighteenth century, whilst other chapters cover the instrument's early history, the lute in consort, lute song accompaniment, the theorbo, and the lute in Scotland."--Jacket.

Escaping the Delta
Escaping the Delta

Author: Elijah Wald

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2012-04-24

Total Pages: 510

ISBN-13: 0062018442

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The life of blues legend Robert Johnson becomes the centerpiece for this innovative look at what many consider to be America's deepest and most influential music genre. Pivotal are the questions surrounding why Johnson was ignored by the core black audience of his time yet now celebrated as the greatest figure in blues history. Trying to separate myth from reality, biographer Elijah Wald studies the blues from the inside -- not only examining recordings but also the recollections of the musicians themselves, the African-American press, as well as examining original research. What emerges is a new appreciation for the blues and the movement of its artists from the shadows of the 1930s Mississippi Delta to the mainstream venues frequented by today's loyal blues fans.

Brother Robert
Brother Robert

Author: Annye C. Anderson

Publisher: Hachette Books

Published: 2020-06-09

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 030684527X

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A Rolling Stone-Kirkus Best Music Book of 2020 “[Brother Robert} book does much to pull the blues master out of the fog of myth.”—Rolling Stone An intimate memoir by blues legend Robert Johnson's stepsister, including new details about his family, music, influences, tragic death, and musical afterlife Though Robert Johnson was only twenty-seven years young and relatively unknown at the time of his tragic death in 1938, his enduring recordings have solidified his status as a progenitor of the Delta blues style. And yet, while his music has retained the steadfast devotion of modern listeners, much remains unknown about the man who penned and played these timeless tunes. Few people alive today actually remember what Johnson was really like, and those who do have largely upheld their silence-until now. In Brother Robert, nonagenarian Annye C. Anderson sheds new light on a real-life figure largely obscured by his own legend: her kind and incredibly talented stepbrother, Robert Johnson. This book chronicles Johnson's unconventional path to stardom, from the harrowing story behind his illegitimate birth, to his first strum of the guitar on Anderson's father's knee, to the genre-defining recordings that would one day secure his legacy. Along the way, readers are gifted not only with Anderson's personal anecdotes, but with colorful recollections passed down to Anderson by members of their family-the people who knew Johnson best. Readers also learn about the contours of his working life in Memphis, never-before-disclosed details about his romantic history, and all of Johnson's favorite things, from foods and entertainers to brands of tobacco and pomade. Together, these stories don't just bring the mythologized Johnson back down to earth; they preserve both his memory and his integrity. For decades, Anderson and her family have ignored the tall tales of Johnson "selling his soul to the devil" and the speculative to fictionalized accounts of his life that passed for biography. Brother Robert is here to set the record straight. Featuring a foreword by Elijah Wald and a Q&A with Anderson, Wald, Preston Lauterbach, and Peter Guralnick, this book paints a vivid portrait of an elusive figure who forever changed the musical landscape as we know it.

Renaissance Lute Music
Renaissance Lute Music

Author: Joseph Castle

Publisher: Mel Bay Publications

Published: 2020-07-10

Total Pages: 20

ISBN-13: 1513455176

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The Renaissance Era covered a span of years from approximately 1450-1600. The lute occupied an important position in the insturmental music of the times because it was on eof the first instruments for which any large quantity of music was written. The lute was also the most common yet most highly regarded musical instument of the 16th century. All the pieces in this volume were originally written for the lute. Each one has been carefully transcribed and edited in modern music notation for the classic guitar which is the ideal instrument for recreating this beautiful polyphonic music of long ago.

Marsh Lute Book
Marsh Lute Book

Author: RICHARD METZGER

Publisher: Mel Bay Publications

Published: 2012-02-28

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 1619110369

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Selected music from the historic "March Lute Book" scored for classic guitar solo. This edition is complete with copious historic and performance notes. A scholarly book containing wonderful solo settings for classic guitar.

A History of the Lute from Antiquity to the Renaissance
A History of the Lute from Antiquity to the Renaissance

Author: Douglas Alton Smith

Publisher:

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13:

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By the year 1500, the lute's almost universal appeal throughout Europe had made it a unifying element of Western music and culture. Renaissance composers, singers and dancers all found in the lute a perfect tool for the musical development and maturation of their art. In fact, the lute's unique musical and physical characteristics inspired artists and poets alike to elevate it to a place of such high honor that the lute's image has come to symbolize music itself. This traces the lute's development from the early instruments of Classical Greece to its glorious flowering in Renaissance Europe's golden age of polyphony. This illustrated and comprehensive book explores the historical and cultural reasons behind the lute's importance as the preeminent musical instrument of the Renaissance. With its lengthy bibliography, index, 74 illustrations and 55 musical examples, the author has told the lute's story with a scholarly and visual depth.

Handbook of Guitar and Lute Composers
Handbook of Guitar and Lute Composers

Author: Hannu Annala

Publisher: Mel Bay Publications

Published: 2010-10-07

Total Pages: 173

ISBN-13: 1609743539

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In compiling this landmark sourcebook, Finnish guitarists Hannu Annala and Heiki Matlik consulted more than 70 music texts as well as dozens of composer resumes acquired from the musical information centers of several countries. During the writing process, which lasted for more than three years, they received additional information from many modern composers, including Leo Brouwer and Reginald Smith Brindle among others. In addition, several internationally renowned performing guitarists provided valuable information; these include Magnus Andersson (Sweden), Remi Boucher (Canada), Margarita Escarpa (Spain), Aleksander Frauchi (Russia) and David Tanenbaum (USA) among others.The authors' aim was to write a well-structured book with separate chapters for each instrument, such as the Renaissance and Baroque guitar, the Renaissance and Baroque lute, the vihuela, etc. This unique structure enables the reader to easily discover which composers wrote for a certain instrument during any given period.In addition to the composers one would expect to find in such a comprehensive listing, the book documents several historical and modern composers for whom little previous information has been available. the book's list of more than 400 guitar and lute concertos dating from the Baroque era to the present day is a totally unprecedented.Short introductions regarding guitar and lute-like instruments as well as their basic histories are provided at the beginning of the book. the authors hope that the Handbook of Guitar and Lute Composers will serve as a practical guide for both amateurs and professionals, encouraging further study of the history of these instruments and expanding the repertoire heard on today's concert stage.