The Two Francescos Peter Croton

• Francesco Spinacino (1485 - 1507): Libro Primo:
• 1 Spinacino: Libro Primo No. 30 03:40
• 2 Spinacino: Libro Primo No. 25 02:24
• Libro Secondo:
• 3 Spinacino: Libro Secondo No. 43 01:17
• Libro Primo:
• 4 Spinacino: Libro Primo No. 36 02:26
• Libro Secondo:
• 5 Spinacino: Libro Secondo No. 41 01:41
• Libro Primo:
• 6 Spinacino: Libro Primo No. 37 02:20
• 7 Spinacino: Libro Primo No. 31 01:49
• 8 Spinacino: Libro Primo Nos. 29 & 28 02:21
• 9 Spinacino: Libro Primo No. 34 01:39
• Francesco Da Milano (1497 - 1543): Ricercar:
• 10 Milano: Ricercar (4) 01:03
• 11 Milano: Ricercar (2) 02:02
• Fantasia:
• 12 Milano: Fantasia (33) 03:33
• 13 Milano: Fantasia (34) 03:37
• 14 Milano: Fantasia (40) 01:10
• Ricercar:
• 15 Milano: Ricercar (16) 01:39
• 16 Milano: Ricercar (51) 02:57
• Fantasia:
• 17 Milano: Fantasia (15) 02:01
• 18 Milano: Fantasia (32, 31 & 61) 03:27
• 19 Milano: Fantasia (67) 01:58
• 20 Milano: Fantasia (38) 01:57
• Ricercar:
• 21 Milano: Ricercar (91) 01:04
• 22 Milano: Ricercar (84) 01:13
• 23 Milano: Fantasia (82) 01:53
• Total Runtime 49:11

Info for The Two Francescos

The famous Swiss-American lute player Peter Croton plays on his Carpe Diem debut a collection of recercares and fantasias by the two Italian lutenist-composers Francesco Spinacino & Francesco da Milano. The 15th century saw the lute emerge as a solo instrument, and the terms ricercar and fantasia were used for works created without preexisting models. The ability to improvise was apparently as widespread then as it is in jazz today. Peter Croton, also known for his contemporary and jazz-related musical projects, explores this beautiful musical world with the heart of a true improvisor, free of limiting preconceptions and sparkling with creativity.

Peter Croton, lute

Peter Croton
Award-winning lutenist and romantic-guitarist Peter Croton is an active performer and recording artist as soloist and accompanist. In the press he has been called a “lyric poet of the lute” and has been praised for his “breath-taking virtuosity” and “astonishing range of tone colors and dynamics”. His compositions for voice & lute have been described as “challenging and refined... highly suited for inclusion in today's concert repertoire”.

His newest books, A METHOD FOR THE BAROQUE LUTE BASED ON HISTORICAL SOURCES & A METHOD FOR THE RENAISSANCE LUTE, WITH A SUPPLEMENT FOR THE ARCHLUTE are now available from Le Luth Dorè.

Born in the USA, Peter Croton lives in Switzerland where he teaches lute, romantic guitar, and continuo at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, as well as lute, historical performance practice and guitar continuo at the Conservatories of Basel and Bern. His musical activities, however, are not limited to early music. In addition to playing cello, at six he began performing as folk guitarist and singer. At twelve he began classical guitar lessons with Leon Atkinson, and later played guitar in various jazz ensembles. Starting in 1979 he studied lute and classical guitar with Dr. Loris Chobanian (Oberlin Conservatory of Music) and lute with Eugen Dombois and Hopkinson Smith (Schola Cantorum Basiliensis).

He won first prize at the Erwin Bodky Competition for Early Music in Cambridge MA (1984) and has also won prizes at other international competitions. He has recorded numerous CDs and appeared on television and radio as soloist and chamber musician. Peter’s regular duo partners have included the singers Derek Lee Ragin and Theresia Bothe, as well as the Egyptian oud-player Nehad El Sayed, and he has appeared at many international festivals.

His instruction manual Figured Bass on the Classical Guitar: a practical approach based on historical principles was published by Amadeus Verlag (2005). Six of his compositions for lute and voice were published by the German Lute Society (1999), and his four new settings of texts by William Shakespeare for lute and voice by Tree Edition, 2009. His book PERFORMING BAROQUE MUSIC ON THE LUTE & THEORBO: a practical handbook based on historical sources was published in 2016 on Amazon/Createspace; Hopkinson Smith has praised its “wealth of information and insight”. His book PERFORMING BAROQUE MUSIC ON THE CLASSICAL GUITAR: a practical handbook based on historical sources was published in 2015, likewise on Amazon/Createspace; David Russell calls it a “fabulous book – it will be a great help and inspiration to many guitarists”.

Peter is President of the German Lute Society (Deutsche Lautengesellschaft), and is the initiator & artistic director of BASELPLUCKS - Festival for lute & guitar

This album contains no booklet.