After I started taking guitar lessons in 1977, I became addicted to Renaissance music for a while. I also got an interest in composers from the low countries, such as Joachim van den Hove, Nicolas Vallet and Pierre Phalèse.
Now, many years later, I thought it would be a good idea to pick up and record that old repertoire again. It was not always easy, but I had the fun that I played it significantly smoother than in my early days.
Fortuna Anglese is an arrangement of an English song by the Flemish composer Joachim van de Hove (1567 – 1626). A prelude like beginning culminates in a cheerful dance. Choosing a good contrast (not too fast) was difficult.
Pierre Phalèse (1510 – 1573), Latinized Phalesius, had a book printing business in Louvain and published a number of lute music collections, taking his material from everywhere. The story goes that he was not a composer, but he did have a good sense for the quality of his sources. I recorded two of his Allemandes, German dances.
Adriaen Denss (1545 – 1608) was more of a German Fleming, his most famous work was the Florilegium collection. His Ronde was one of my first wedding songs I played in the family at the time. The piece contains a number of dance themes that are varied once.