Jakob Lindberg – Nocturnal (2018) [FLAC 24bit/192kHz]

This is a bouquet of works for lute by Elizabethan and Jacobean composers, in the expert hands of Jakob Lindberg; the more famous are by Dowland, Byrd and Holborne, and the rarer works are by John Johnson, Daniel Bacheler and Edward Collard, without forgetting the most prolific writer of all time, “Anonymous”. And so the track-list is already original enough; but Lindberg’s big idea is to perform, as the central pivot of the album Nocturnal by Benjamin Britten, written in 1963 for the guitarist Julian Bream, but on the lute. With the authorisation of the Britten Foundation, of course, and making use of the composer’s preparatory manuscripts; and given how much Britten loved the lute, we can easily imagine how much he would have applauded this translation from guitar to lute. And it is true that the more velvety, less brilliant, sound of the lute offers a new reading of the work, underlining both its modern and deliberately archaic sides. And so it is an excellent idea to juxtapose the 16th and 17th centuries with the 20th, given that Britten has already provided us such a beautiful bridge between them.

Tracklist:
1. The Honie-suckle 01:45
2. Muy Linda 01:22
3. The Night Watch 01:37
4. The Countess of Pembroke’s Paradise 04:21
5. The Fairy Round 01:27
6. Go from My Window 03:20
7. Hugh Aston’s Ground 04:47
8. Pavane No. 18 05:01
9. Mrs. Anne Grene Her Leaves Be Greene 04:52
10. Lady Margaret’s Lute Book: The Flowers of the Forest 01:05
11. Remember Me at Evening 01:22
12. The English Nightingale 02:58
13. Lullaby (Arr. F. Cutting for Lute) 03:56
14. Nocturnal After John Dowland, Op. 70 (Reflections on “Come, Heavy Sleep”) [Arr. J. Lindberg for Lute] 17:48
15. A Dream, P. 75 02:41
16. A Fancy, P. 6 02:50
17. Orlando Sleepeth, P. 61 01:15
18. Galliard to Lachrimae, P. 46 03:03
19. Mr. Dowland’s Midnight, P. 99 00:56
20. Farewell, P. 3 05:30
21. Passingmeasures Pavan 02:57
22. Carman’s Whistle 02:22
23. Good Night and Good Rest 04:40