Musical paintings from Renaissance England

The great flowering of music and literature in Renaissance England followed, with a delay of several decades, the names, schools and models known to the whole world from Italy and other parts of the European continent. At the same time, the cultural rise of the island was so large-scale and significant that it recorded itself in history as the Elizabethan Golden Age.

 

Well-known from this period are the names of Shakespeare and Marlowe. No less remarkable at that time were a number of musicians who built the independent and clearly recognizable image of England. Without a doubt, among them are John Dowland, Thomas Robinson, William Bird, Thomas Morley and many others, whose names we do not know today, but we have their music.

 

Yavor Genov's concert reveals pictures of Renaissance England - the era of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth, with music for lute by authors such as Dowland and Robinson, but also with numerous anonymous works from preserved manuscripts.

 

Yavor Genov is a lutenist and researcher of Renaissance music. He has released five solo albums for the Dutch label Brilliant Classics, highly praised by international critics. He has performed on some of the most important stages in Europe, including those of the Berlin Philharmonic, the French National Opera, Het Concertgebouw – Amsterdam, the Bolshoi Theatre – Moscow, Sir John Smith’s Square – London. He studied lute instruments with Jacob Lindbergh, and later took lessons from Nigel North.