Search - English Anonymous, Scottish Anonymous, Straloch Lute Book Anonymous :: Robin Hood: Elizabethan Ballad Settings

Paul O'Dette has done more to introduce the lute and its extensive repertoire to modern ears than just about anyone. On Robin Hood, he plays a collection of Elizabethan ballads that were arranged for solo lute in the 16th century. Although the names of the composers of most of these pieces have been lost to us, the music is of a uniformly high quality and stands up very well next to the selections by known composers like William Byrd and Peter Phillips. O'Dette plays the selections on three instruments: the lute, the orpharion (a flat-back, metal-strung cousin to the lute), and the cittern, (a metal-strung instrument that is plucked with a quill rather than the fingers). The metal strings of the orpharion and cittern have a longer sustain than the gut strings of the lute, which gives the pieces played on them a sound similar to that of the modern steel-string guitar. O'Dette is renowned for his scholarship, which he demonstrates in the meticulously annotated liner notes, and for his formidable technique. But as powerful as his head and his hands are, O'Dette never forgets that it's the heart that makes these delightful works music rather than just a series of well-played notes. --Michael Simmons