Benjamin Britten's Nocturnal was composed for the guitar in 1963 and premiered by the great Julian Bream the following year. To recast it, which was something Britten never had in mind, seems risky, but Swedish lutenist Jakob Lindberg makes a good argument for the procedure with his lute version of the work, which he calls a setting. For one thing, he situates it among an intriguing variety of English Renaissance lute works, most of them unfamiliar. Even the pieces by John Dowland are not the ones in everyday circulation; ...
Read More
Benjamin Britten's Nocturnal was composed for the guitar in 1963 and premiered by the great Julian Bream the following year. To recast it, which was something Britten never had in mind, seems risky, but Swedish lutenist Jakob Lindberg makes a good argument for the procedure with his lute version of the work, which he calls a setting. For one thing, he situates it among an intriguing variety of English Renaissance lute works, most of them unfamiliar. Even the pieces by John Dowland are not the ones in everyday circulation; sample the fascinating chromatics of Farewell, and Lindberg's edgy, intense treatment of the piece, and you may be ready to accept the album without even worrying about the Britten. There are some unusual composers represented: Edward Collard and John Danyel. And the Britten itself is cast in a new light by Lindberg's playing; the work's connections to its model by Dowland (Come, Heavy Sleep) are emphasized, with the result that this reverse set of variations, with the music...
Read Less
