The October 2026 meeting of SLEGS took place on at our regular Brandon Street venue and it was a very pleasant and relaxed gathering. Having had a wee catch up and agreeing that it was great to be meeting again, we started off with our regular players meeting. Chris Miller and Alastair Merrill began the session with a lovely duet by Dalza – Calata Ala Spagnuola. The lute certainly suits the vast solo repertoire which exists for it; therefore, duets are twice as nice. Well done Alastair and Chris for working together to bring us something so special! Eric Thomas continued with two pieces from the Dolmetch MS – a Pavan and then a galliard by the Polish composer Diomedes Cato – followed by the Frog Galliard by Dowland. A wonderful collection of pieces, allowing Eric to show off his new-to-him 9 course lute. Nine being a particularly useful number of courses to have for the Dowland repertoire. Glen Robertson...

The Scottish Lute & Early Guitar Society will be hosting our players meeting on Sunday 11th of October at 13:00. Please join us for our regular players meeting, followed by a talk or ensemble playing. Feel free to get in touch if you would like to attend but are not on the Spond / mailing list. Our venue will be; 11/3 Brandon StEdinburghEH3 5DX

The first SLEGS meeting of 2025 will take place on Sat 18th January. It will follow the format of our regular players meetings and we will have Eric Thomas delivering a guest talk at the end of the session. Please get in touch via the SLEGS Facebook page if you would like to register attendance but are not already on the Spond/mailing list. Timings as follows:1pm arrival1.30pm members perform up to 3 pieces to each other3pm approx. coffee and chat. 4pm Eric’s talkVenue is 11/3 Brandon Street, Edinburgh, EH3 5DX

The November meeting of the Scottish Lute & Early Guitar society had a slightly different format as we were joined by renowned lutenist Jacob Heringman for a masterclass session. The players meeting portion of the day was broadly the same as usual, but each person was given time with Jacob to receive feedback and advice on our performances. First to spend time with our expert guest was newcomer to the meetings Andy MacGregor. Andy has been playing classical guitar and baroque lute for some time, but for the last year or so has been playing an 8-course renaissance lute by Luke Emmet. He had prepared to play a “Fantasia” by Alonso Mudarra. Jacob highlighted that the tune was written to emulate a harp, and specifically to emulate a harpist named Ludovico. The piece features some unusual dissonances and although it was described as “harmonically interesting”, it is indeed a lovely piece. We applaud Andy for bringing such a tune...

The August meeting of the Scottish Lute and Early Guitar Society was opened by Luisa McMinn. Luisa has multiple instruments to pick form and this time opted to play her 14 course James Marriage theorbo. Having tuned the instrument to 415 she played two pieces which both required reaching up to the high frets on the instrument and down to the lowest bass strings. Luisa played the very well known “Chaconne” by Robert de Visée. The tune is beautifully melancholic, and Luisa managed to fill the room with the sound of her instrument. And as one of our members remarked; it isn’t a SLEGS meeting until Luisa plays her theorbo. Alastair Merrill performed second. He played his new Tony Johnson 7 course renaissance lute strung with nylgut. Alastair had spent some time on Tony Johnsons waiting list, as is to be expected, so has been very pleased to spend some time on the instrument now that it is in...

The August meeting of the Scottish Lute & Early Guitar Society will take place on Sunday 25th of August We are lucky to have Jamie Akers speaking in the second part of the meeting about 19th century Eastern European guitar music for 9,10 and even 12-string Romantic guitars – he has recently made a recording of this repertoire. His talk is entitled: Lost Treasures: forgotten masterpieces for forgotten guitars. A unique chance to hear neglected music written for extended range historical guitars, on original instruments. This should be of interest to lutenist and guitarists alike!  Please bring £3 to give to our speaker as usual.Before that we will have our normal session playing to one another – up to 3 pieces per person is ideal (1 is fine if you don’t want to play 3!) All abilities very welcome and please do send this information on to anyone you think might be interested. Timings as follows:1pm arrival1.30pm members perform up...

The next meeting will be on Saturday 25th May. It will consist of the normal session where members play to each other followed by a break for refreshments and chat. Thereafter we will be doing some informal ensemble playing for Renaissance lutes tuned at 440. Information about the music will be sent to those registering. Arrival: 1pmSession 1: from 1.30pmRefreshments: 3pmEnsemble playing: 4pm If you wish to be added to our mailing list, and receive further information regarding upcoming meetings, please reach out to Joanna Allsop on the Scottish Lute and Early Guitar Society Facebook group here

The next SLEGS meeting will be on Saturday 23rd March. As our normal venue isn’t available, Joanna will be hosting it at 11/3 Brandon Street, EH3 5DX. Hopefully this will still be convenient for members – it is reasonably easy walk from Waverley and on the 36, 23 and 27 bus routes. (Please note, Brandon Street is also Airlie Place – the two sides of the street have different names, so the Airlie Place stop is the one you want!) If you are planning to attend, please register on the eventbrite page so we have an idea of numbers and sufficient chairs (!), and if you have not attended our players meeting before, please make yourself known in advance by commenting below. DATE: Saturday 23rd MarchVenue: 11/3 Brandon Street, EH3 5DX1pm-1.30pm – Arrive1.30pm – Our regular meeting, members are invited to perform the music they have been working on and to present on topics of interest. Depending on the...

Our first meeting of 2024 was opened by Bruce Roth. He had brought along his eight-courseBarber and Harris lute to play two pieces from the Rowallan Manuscript: page 37, “A ScotsTune”; and then page 36. The Scots Tune is a beautiful piece in Bruce’s hands as hehighlighted the melody and showed great proficiency with the left-hand fingering. Beforeplaying the second piece, Bruce told us that although it was probably written around 1620, ithas a certain 1960s-esque charm to it. After hearing the piece, we all agreed it would not beout of place among The Beatles or Donovan!Bruce also brought along a rather unique instrument as a discussion starter. After postingphotographs on our Facebook page he discovered that it is a lautengitarre orwandelvogellaute from early 20th Germany. The shape of the instrument is influenced by theshape of a coat of arms, called “wappen” shaped. It was made by PerlGold but needs a bit ofwork on it, so Bruce will be...

Our summer meeting was very well attended. It opened with two duets played by JoannaAllsop and Tanya. They have been practicing together on their spare Sundays and preparedtwo Elizabethan dances for us. Both pieces were gentle and lilting as both performers tookturns playing the written line and the decoration. It is a rare treat to hear duets at ourmeetings, and congratulations to Tanya for making her first SLEGS meeting performance. Glen Robertson played A Scots Tune from the Pickering Lute Book, Bodachan A’mhìreanfrom Betsy Smalls Gaelic Airs book and Anon. Recercar from a Venetian Manuscript circa1520 featuring a “Burgundian cadence”. As ever, Glen played with a clear bright tone andbeautiful phrasing. Society co-founder Bill Samson was the first to perform on a guitar in this meeting. Theguitar itself was built by Bill in 2015. It is a copy of the Torres FE18 Guitar, which he hasheld in his own hands. Bill played two pieces, Carcassi Opus 59, nos. 1...