Talks for everyone - David Van Edwards: The History of the Lute

Village Hall

Tuesday 10th of June 2025 19:30 - 21:30

David Van Edwards is a lute maker; during his talk he will tell us how the lute spread all over Europe after its introduction from Arabia in about 1250 AD. By the renaissance it had become our most important musical instrument. To meet the demand for lutes an almost industrial scale of manufacture arose in South Germany and North Italy, exporting instruments in a very modern seeming international trade. It rose to prominence in waves spreading across Europe from Italy in the eighteenth century. In England its high point coincided with the reigns of the Tudors Henry VIII and Elizabeth l when some of its finest music was written. David Van Edwards will cover some of this history using paintings to show how the lute became so central to life in renaissance and baroque Europe.