The plectrum lute duo was one of the most popular ensembles for professional instrumentalists in late 15th-century Western Europe. This recording presents for the first time the bulk of a surviving repertoire that can arguably be considered for the lute duo, performed on two equal plectrum lutes or with a combination of lute and gittern- a smaller member of the lute family. The album, inspired by the Ferrarese virtuoso Pietrobono dal Chitarino (c. 1417-1497), acclaimed in his lifetime as 'the foremost lutenist in the world,' includes the earliest printed lute duos by Francesco Spinacino and Joan Ambrosio Dalza and the two-voice instrumental works by Johannes Tinctoris. The often highly ornamented instrumental duos are mostly reworkings of songs, some of which are given here in a performance with the singer Grace Newcombe to provide the context for the lute arrangements that follow.

Tracklist:

La Bernardina (Arr. F. Spinacino For Lute Duo)
Lute Duo (I)
Calata A Doi Lauti
J'ay Pris Amours (Arr. J. Martini For Lute Duo & Voice)
J'ay Pris Amours (Arr. For Lute Duo)
J'ay Pris Amours (Arr. F. Spinacino For Lute Duo)
De Tous Biens Playne (Arr. Roelkin For Lute Duo)
La Spagna (Arr. For Lute & Gittern)
Alleluja, M 128 (Arr. For Lute Duo)
Je Ne Fay (Arr. F. Spinacino For Lute Duo)
Comme Femme Desconfortée (Arr. For Lute Duo & Voice)
Comme Femme Desconfortée (Arr. For Lute & Gittern)
Comme Femme, M 144 (Arr. M. Lewon For Lute & Gittern)
Fecit Potentiam, M 129 (Arr. For Lute Duo)
Fortune Alas (Arr. D. Fallows For Lute Duo & Voice)
Fortune Alas (Arr. For Lute & Gittern)
Fortuna Desperata (Arr. F. Spinacino For Lute Duo)
Le Souvenir, M 137 (Arr. For Lute & Gittern)
Juli Amours (Arr. F. Spinacino For Lute Duo)
Tenor So Ys Enprentyd
So Ys Empretid (Arr. For Lute Duo & Voice)
Tout A Par Moy, M 138 (Arr. For Lute Duo)
Saltarello E Piva: I. Saltarello (Arr. For Lute Duo)
Saltarello E Piva: II. Piva (Arr. For Lute Duo)
Lute Duo (II)
D'ung Aultre Amer, M 143 (Arr. For Lute Duo)
De Tous Biens Playne (Arr. J. Tinctoris For Lute & Gittern)
De Tous Biens Playne (Arr. F. Spinacino For Lute Duo)
Gaudeamus Omnes In Domino (Arr. For Lute Duo)
Mit Ganzem Willen (Arr. M. Lewon For Lute Duo & Voice)
Mit Ganzem Willen Wünsch Ich Dir (Arr. C. Young & P. Kieffer For Lute Duo)

UPC: 747313385478
Label: Naxos
Release Date: 3.13.20
Format: CD

2 Lutes With Grace / Various - 2 Lutes with Grace (CD)