E. G. Baron's Study of the Lute (Untersuchung des Instruments der Lauten) published in 1727, is one of the most comprehensive and important lute treatises in the 300 year history of the instrument. It contains much information that is unique to it, and deals with subjects that can be found in no other source. It is a mine of information concerning the history of the instrument, lute makers, composers, players, technique and performance practices of the day. At last, this work has been translated into delightful English by Douglas A. Smith, retaining much of the flamboyant flavor of the original. A long preface gives the background of the work, its era, and the life of Baron. The present edition improves the value of the original, since explanatory footnotes, appendices, and an index have been added. Also, the voluminous Latin and Greek passages have been translated. The book is both delightful and informative.

"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.

The most comprehensive, authoritative work on understanding and building authentic lutes, by a world renown luthier and scholar. Historical section covers the development of the lute from the 15th through the 18th century with over 100 photographs of ancient lutes and 50 diagrams; practicum section covers the construction of the lute in minute detail with over 600 step-by-step photographs and a dozen diagrams. Includes a list of historic makers, catalog of extant historic lutes, bibliography and index, plus complete reduced images of seven lute plans.

The first book-length study in any language dedicated specifically to lute, guitar, and vihuela.

What is it for poetry to be serious and to be taken seriously? What is it to be open to poetry, exposed to its force, attuned to what it says and alive to what it does? These are important questions that call equally on poetry and philosophy. But poetry and philosophy, notoriously, have an ancient quarrel. Maximilian de Gaynesford sets out to understand and convert their mutual antipathy into something mutually enhancing, so that we can begin to answer these and other questions. The key to attuning poetry and philosophy lies in the fact that poetic utterances are best appreciated as doing things. For it is as doing things that the speech act approach in analytic philosophy of language tries to understand all utterances. Taking such an approach, this book offers ways to enhance our appreciation of poetry and to develop our understanding of philosophy. It explores work by a range of poets from Chaucer to Geoffrey Hill and J. H. Prynne, and culminates in an extended study of Shakespeare's Sonnets. What work does poetry set itself, and how does this determine the way it is to be judged? What do poets commit themselves to, and what they may be held responsible for? What role does a poet have, or their audience, or their context, in determining the meaning of a poem, what work it is able to achieve? These are the questions that an attuned approach is able to ask and answer.