A life with a lute

With the nation still cringing under the iron jackboot of Covid-19, our January meeting was thinly attended—just ten people at its peak. (I was the only Committee member in attendance, the others absent either with Covid or in fear of it.) But there was a good spirit, the landlord was grateful for having anyone in at all, and the talk from Adrienne Hess was splendid. A lifelong lutenist, she took us through the evolution and defining characteristics of the lute in its different forms, emphasising how much it was NOT like the guitar and how one should NOT consider Sting's dabblings with the instrument as in any way representative of lute music. It does seem that lutes are fragile, awkward to play and prone to going out of tune, owing to the rudimentary tuning system, but apparently this is all part of the experience. You can see a video of Adie's talk on the Club YouTube channel at youtu.be/se1azSbfHc8.