When I first played the lute, back in the early '70s, I essentially played only ensemble music. My technique was quite limited, but I could do well with a single line of part music. And at the early music workshops I attended back then ( headed by a lutenist but for all instruments and voices ), only ensemble music was played by the attending lutenists - or lute songs. No solos. A memorable event for me was spending most of an evening reading through Guillaume Dufay trios with two other lutenists. Of course, the amount of music available as part music is almost limitless, much like the solo music. Ironically, I so enjoyed all this ensemble playing that I thought why limit myself to 'early' music and so took up the cello to play ensemle music (especially string quartets) of later eras. Learning this instrument proved to be a great challenge, and consequently my lute languished unplayed in my closet until recently. Ironically again, I began to think about all the solo music available for the lute - and to lose some motivation to play only etudes and scales when alone on my cello - so out came the lute. Now, I'm working hard at being able to play the solo literature, but would also like to find some players for ensemble music. So. . . . I think the lutenist has the best of both worlds; an almost infinite treasure chest of ensemble music (vocal or instrument non-specific) and also of solo music. And that's not even including continuo playing!
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