Heaven is at hand | Elizabeth Kenny (renaissance and baroque lute)

Elizabeth Kenny is one of Europe's very finest exponents of the renaissance and baroque lute and in this recital she explores with us the German lute from Luther to Bach as part of the London Bach Society's Bachfest Bach and Luther: Masters and Servants featuring some very rarely heard pieces. The lute was also a favoured instrument in Bach's time and Sylvius Leopold Weiss the finest player.

Martin Luther decided to learn the lute in 1503. His and many other households regularly gathered to sing sacred melodies and psalms as a family group. But another way of reflecting on sacred texts was to be found under the fingertips. Luther’s contemporaries Hans Gerle and Hans Neusidler turned chorale melodies into lute pieces with the same freedom and sense of ownership with which they set famous secular madrigals and chansons: singing the words in one’s head while playing alone.

This programme explores the works of the players Luther admired, as well as the composers – such as Josquin – from whom they borrowed.