Programme for voice & lute with Asako Ueda
In 1610, a 19-year-old Robert Dowland—son of the renowned composer John Dowland— compiled A Musical Banquet, one of the most significant collections for understanding the Elizabethan lute song repertoire. Inspired by his father’s legacy, Robert curated a musical “tasting menu” of sorts, gathering pieces from across Europe. True to the culinary metaphor suggested by the title, this Banquet offers a variety of “recipes” from different countries, each with varying levels of technical difficulty—an important consideration for the era’s growing music printing industry
Although the inclusion of foreign repertoire—particularly French, Spanish, and Italian—was not new to English audiences, Dowland’s anthology reflected a growing appetite for continental styles. Still, he chose to present the pieces in lute tablature, a nod to English tastes and the resistance toward fully embracing the Italian basso continuo tradition.
In this programme, I present my own musical tasting menu, inspired by Robert Dowland’s 1610 publication. Using selections from the original Musical Banquet as a foundation, I interweave works by related composers, or perhaps those I would wish to invite to my own dinner table.