Postscript

Abstract

Abstract This book was written in the last decade of the twentieth century, a century which witnessed a gradual revival of interest in and understanding of the lute, in contrast to its obsolescence in the century before. This took place in the context of a revival of early music in general. Since the 1960s there has been a successful revival of the lute with centres of activity established across the globe. New technology has meant that the real costs of printing short-run editions in the form of new tablature or facsimile has plummeted such that even more obscure lute music can be made available to those who are interested. There are now significant organizations and even internet sites and e-mail discussion groups dedicated to the lute and its music, and it is fair to say that it has reclaimed an identity that was almost completely lost in the nineteenth century. Britain’s part in this renaissance has been considerable. The south of England in particular has as high a concentration of lute players and makers as anywhere in the world, and London is arguably the performance capital of the lute world. England can boast some two dozen fully professional lute makers, and there is now in place a younger generation of players who developed their skills on dedicated courses at London conservatories, many without ever having studied the classical guitar. Indeed if the guitar was their starting point, it is as likely to have been electric or folk guitar. British composers as diverse as Alan Ridout, James Erber, Stephen Dodgson, and Howard Skempton have also produced a number of new lute works, inspired or commissioned by today’s professional players. The break with the past is that these composers arc not themselves lute players, as was the norm for lute composers of old.