Viva Brighton Issue #67 September 2018

MUSIC
....................................
Thomas Dunford
The lutenist and the Lapwing
At the age of fifteen,
Thomas Dunford was
performing on stage at
the Comédie Française
theatre in Paris. The
Spectator described him
as ‘a teenage rock star
of the lute’, while BBC
Music Magazine made
favourable comparisons
with guitarist
Eric Clapton. So what
brings this internationally acclaimed musician to
the 60-seat Lapwing Festival at the Coastguard
Cottages at Cuckmere Haven on Sunday 2nd
September? “When people are friendly and the
place is beautiful, it’s as good for me as being in
Carnegie Hall,” Thomas tells me.
The lute is often seen as a medieval instrument,
although its origins can be traced back much
further. However, you’re unlikely to hear a
truly original lute being played. “It’s one of the
most fragile instruments that exists because it’s
extremely thin,” admits Thomas. “Most instruments
that are from the time have to be restored;
they don’t age like violins. After 30 years, the
soundboard gets a little tired.”
As well as having a long history, the lute is also
more broadly defined than most modern instruments,
with the number of ‘courses’ (strings)
varying depending on the musical style and the
manufacturer’s preference. “The ‘lute’ could mean
a six-course lute or a seven-course lute, theorbo or
chitarrone [types of long-necked bass lute]… there
are maybe a hundred different ways of playing and
making the instrument,” explains Thomas.
Innovative interpretation is something he has
embraced. He’s recently formed ‘Jupiter’, a
group of musicians
who “play baroque
music with my own
convictions, which are
that this music should
be not conducted but
everybody has to be the
composer together.”
This is how he believes
the music was originally
performed. “I
think the way baroque
musicians would work was closer to what we do
now with jazz music, where they improvise a lot.
Bach himself was known more as an improviser
than as a composer in his time. In order for us
to play music by extraordinary improvisers, we
have to know what it is like to create music out of
nothing because that is what they were doing all
the time in the baroque world.
“The lute is one of the most subtle instruments
that I know. There are so many possibilities of
tone colours – and it’s an instrument that asks
for silence. You play one note; there’s a lot of
resonance… and the resonance is always dying
out. So it’s an instrument that always invites the
silence into variety.”
Earlier this year Thomas released a CD of music
by JS Bach, including some pieces that were
originally written for other instruments. “When
he writes, you feel that he’s not thinking of any
technical means, he’s thinking in pure musical
form,” he says. “That’s why Bach works on any
instrument. It’s the hardest and also some of the
most beautiful music.” Mark Bridge
The Lapwing Festival runs from August 31st until
September 2nd at Cuckmere Haven.
lapwingfestival.com
Photo by Julien Benhamou
....51....