Elizabeth Kenny will play my 'Extending from the inside' as part of her recital at Aldeburgh Festival 2019.

Her programme will feature music from the early 17th century by Piccinini, Kapsberger and de Visée and
the early 21st century by James MacMillan, Nico Muhly (world premiere) and me.

The development of the lute into the long-necked theorbo created an instrument with a split personality, having a delicacy and expressive depth to the sound but an unwieldy appearance that was mocked. Elizabeth Kenny celebrates these split identities, with beautiful melodies supported by long, resonant bass strings, but just a hint of the comic as well.

Mellifluous French music sits alongside eccentric Italian improvisation, and old works alongside new – a haunting 21st-century motet, a funk/ground bass-influenced fantasy, and a world premiere which exploits the unconventional tuning system and expressive possibilities of the instrument to powerful effect.