Valentin Bakfark: EMS 9 June

[doversoul1]

Lucie Skeaping talks to Jacob Heringman about the 16th-century lutenist and composer Valentin Bakfark. who was the most celebrated player of his time, whose fame reached beyond his native Hungary into the rest of Europe. Apart from learning about his demanding pieces, full of technical difficulties, we also hone in on the different types of music written for the lute at the time: ordinary dances, free-styled fantasias, and intabulations or arrangements for the lute of choral pieces, both sacred and secular in a time when vocal music was at its prime.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005sl4

NO EML

[ardcarp]

I have to say Bakfark (wonderful name) is a new one on me. The late lamented lutenist Robert Spencer was a friend of mine, and I never remember him mentioning the guy. Anyway, so much listening and catching up to do.......

[LeMartinPecheur]

Just caught the very end of this. Sounded interesting, but I was horrified by the talking over the music, the cross-fading of a choral piece into a lute solo, and the closing announcement that we'd just heard Bakfark's Fantasia #x when all we'd had was its closing bars!

'Spect I'm repeating ad nauseam what others have said elsewhere in other contexts, but this looked like a decent scholarly piece rather than spoon-fed pap!

[cloughie]

I prefer his native name Balint which has a wonderful alliterative quality to it!

[MickyD]

Just caught the very end of this. Sounded interesting, but I was horrified by the talking over the music, the cross-fading of a choral piece into a lute solo, and the closing announcement that we'd just heard Bakfark's Fantasia #x when all we'd had was its closing bars!

'Spect I'm repeating ad nauseam what others have said elsewhere in other contexts, but this looked like a decent scholarly piece rather than spoon-fed pap!

I've noticed this happening for some time in the Early Music Show and it is not a practice of which I approve; I find it so irritating for any piece of music to be treated thus, but when it is so rare to hear such a neglected composer, then it really is even more unforgiveable.

[doversoul1]

A very much ‘this is what Early Music Show is about’ programme. I don’t think we found out why this composer is so little known. Maybe Richard Tarleton can enlighten us.

The fading out and talking over are more frequent lately that I can ignore. Maybe we should complain to the producer.