The lute originated in southwestern Asia, and by the eighth century AD was the most prominent instrument in Arabic culture. It was brought to Spain and Sicily by Muslim musicians in the ninth century, and spread further into western Europe. At that time the lute was an early form of the Arabic oud, and had a half-melon-shaped body with a wooden soundboard, a neck with a fretless fingerboard, and four courses (pairs) of strings which could be tuned with pegs in a bent-back pegbox. The instrument was played with a pick.

By the second half of the 15th century, string technology had advanced, expanding the lute’s range to three octaves upon 6 courses. It was now plucked with the fingers of the right hand, and frets were tied onto the fingerboard in order to prolong the sustain of the fretted strings. This was now an instrument practical for performing polyphonic music and accompaniments. By the 16th century, lute music had begun to be written down in tablature which was specific to the instrument. Baldesar Castiglione wrote in his book “The Courtier” (1528) that the lute had become the most favored instrument among courtiers.

Over the next 250 years, much of the finest instrumental music was written for it, including lute solos by Francesco da Milano, John Dowland, Denis Gaultier, and Silvius Leopold Weiss. During the late 16th and 17th centuries, players and luthiers experimented with adding more bass strings (up to 14 courses, 27 strings) and different ways of tuning the fretted strings, creating the baroque lute and long-necked theorbo. This made the lute a more demanding instrument to play, and as a result, many noblemen, including the French king Louis XIV and the English king Charles II, chose to study the five-course (nine strings) baroque guitar instead, leaving the lutes to be played by professional musicians.

Since the lute remained popular as a solo and ensemble instrument over several centuries, its notated repertoire went through the renaissance, baroque and classical styles. I personally have enjoyed studying and performing the music from all these periods. To me what is most special about the lute is the quality of its music, which is conveyed by the fingers of both of the player’s hands, in constant direct contact with the strings, the very source of its beautiful sound.

What is something you would tell about the harpsichord to someone who had no knowledge of it?
“I would say that the harpsichord was always a very special instrument, prized by musicians and connaisseurs in the 16th-18th centuries and enjoyed by music lovers today. It’s technologically advanced, musically expressive, and served as inspiration for such composers as Couperin and Bach, who wrote magnificent music for it.”

What is your favorite thing about the harpsichord?
“The crystalline precision of the sound combined with its ability to weave musical textures in a particularly effective way.”

What is your favorite piece to play on the harpsichord?
“Bach’s Goldberg Variations, hands down.”

What is a piece that you would recommend someone unfamiliar with the harpsichord listen to?
“Couperin “Les Baricades Misterieuses” or anything from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier.”

In your opinion, what makes the harpsichord particularly special?
“Each instrument has its own distinctive personality coming from its country of origin and era of construction – 17thC or 18thC , French or German or English or Italian – and that the music comes alive when one plays the right music on the right instrument.”

The Double Virginal, written by Herb Snitzer for James Nicolson:

During the time known to us as the High Renaissance, a number of musical instruments, especially keyboard instruments, developed into spectacularly successful forms for enjoyment within a flourishing musical culture. A particularly beloved example was the Flemish virginal, or “muselaar,” a true member of the harpsichord family, quite rare today, but found everywhere in Europe and used up until about 1650. These rectangular instruments, built primarily in Antwerp, richly decorated and endowed with enormous resonance, were a treat for the eye as well as the ear. The virginal, with its own characteristic sound, and with its tuning system employing pure thirds, producing sweet resonances and biting dissonances, is ideal for the music of the day from such composers as Cabezón, Frescobaldi, Byrd, Sweelinck, and others.

The instrument played by James Nicolson, based upon an original of 1620, was built by Lynette Tsiang of Somerville, Massachusetts. It is, correctly speaking, called a “double virginal,” because it contains in a hidden compartment a smaller, octave-higher virginal, which can be played alone or coupled together with the larger instrument to provide a greater range of sonorities for the listener. Of these “Mother and Child” instruments, a Flemish invention of the late 16th century, fourteen known examples survive, and James Nicolson [was] probably the only harpsichordist in modern times who regularly concertized with such an instrument.