October 2026 Meeting Report

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 then gave us two pieces from the first page of the Rowallan MS – Volte and an untitled but lively piece. Glen followed these with an anonymous Corante and Balleto from a manuscript of Gdansk dated to 1634. Although no composers are given in the latter manuscript, Chris noted that the Baletto had similarities to certain Kapsberger pieces. Although we may never know for sure who wrote or performed the piece first, isn’t speculation part of the fun?

Joanna Allsop then played another Dowland piece – Fortune my Foe. A piece which Joanna describes as “Beautifully perfect”; therefore, she wants to be able to play the piece perfectly to honour the piece. And what an effort Joanna! Joanna told us that her practice strategy recently has been to attempt tunes which she considers “too difficult” right now. Although she says the pieces come together slowly, her playing is progressing! And after the Dowland demonstration, I think we all agree this is the case.

Alastair then returned to play solo. First a preamble by Neusidler, which he describes as an “old favourite of our meetings” and Fantasia No 6 by Mudarra. Old favourite or otherwise the tunes sounded great under Alastair’s fingers, and we were glad to hear Alastair and his lute on their own after the duet too.

Despite also having a new lute, Chris was telling us all about his recent love affair with vihuela music. Chris then treated us to three pieces originally composed for the vihuela, but each one sounds beautiful on the lute. As the three pieces had narratives, Chris offered the audience a choice of presenting them in different orders to suggest a happy, rather sad, or “Creepy” rendition. After voting instantly and unanimously for creepy, Chris decided that the happy order was best, and treated us to Mille Regrets, Morenica Da Me Un Baiser, and a Strambote by Sermisy on Tank Que Vivray. We don’t blame you Chris, your order made perfect sense.

Andy MacGregor played us a Fantasy by Dowland on a renaissance lute. Andy continues to impress us with his playing, particularly his clear tone and decorations. Especially so considering that reading Dowland can be challenging enough, but playing from memory is something else entirely, well done Andy! 

After making sure her headstock wouldn’t catch the light fixtures, Luisa McMinn then played a Passacaille by De Visee on theorbo. Luisa has certainly put in the hours of practice necessary to play the instrument as her right hand was sure of where to find each of her 15 strings, and her left hand was remarkably confident finding its way around the fretboard. Indeed, a wonderful piece played on a wonderful instrument, thank you Luisa!

Lastly Andy returned this time with his swan necked baroque lute to play Silvius Weiss’ Suite no 48. Andy once again playing from memory! The swan neck lute is an uncommon instrument to have at our meetings, so we were very happy to hear one right after a theorbo this time. And as some of us say at the SLEGS; the more strings the better!

After a break for tea, coffee, and cake, our remaining members stayed to enjoy an ensemble playing session! Sharing two of Joanna’s part-books, Joanna, Alastair, Chris, and Glen read along playing in pairs around the table.

If you would like to attend a SLEGS meeting, feel free to get in touch! We aim to ensure a relaxed and no-pressure environment where players of all instruments and abilities are welcome to play, discuss, and enjoy music and instruments together.

The next meeting will be on 13th December and will feature some seasonal music.