May 9, 2008 - Tage Alter Musik Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany (with the Baltimore Consort)
June 1, 2008 - Easton, Maryland (solo)
June 7, 2008 - Bethlehem Guitar Festival, Bethlehem, PA (solo)
June 22-27, 2008 - Lute Society of America Summer Seminar, Cleveland, OH
July 11, 2008 - Indianapolis, IN (with the Baltimore Consort)
July 12, 2008 - Indianapolis, IN (children's concert with the Baltimore Consort)
August 13-17, 2008 - Recording session with the Baltimore Consort
October 17, 2008 - Juneau, AK (with the Baltimore Consort)
October 19, 2008 - Fairbanks, AK (with the Baltimore Consort)
November 7, 2008 - Melbourne, FL (with the Baltimore Consort)
January 9, 2009 - Spartansburg, SC (solo)
July 10, 2009 - Spartansburg, SC (with Chris Norman and David Greenberg)
I was born with twin passions for classical and popular music. By the time I first took up the lute, I had already worked both as a classical guitarist and a rock musician. It seemed impossible to reconcile these two musical lives I was leading. But I found that with the lute and its music my love for classical and popular music were finally joined together.
The lute's music has a strong popular and folk element. It seems that the popular music of each century has much in common: strong rhythms, uncomplicated melodies, a refreshing directness of expression and the opportunity for on-the-spot improvisation. The lute was often used to accompany dancing. Some of the lute's most rhythmically compelling music originated as dance music.
On the classical side, the first thing to strike a listener is the poetry of the lute's sound. Its tone is shaped by subtle shadings of the fingertips, creating a wide palette of tone colors. The moods and emotions of the music are expressed through direct contact between fingers and strings.I have always seen the lute as a spiritual instrument: one that can take its listeners into a finer, more delicate and beautiful world. Indeed, sixteenth century listeners seem to have had the same thought. The greatest Renaissance masters of the lute were credited with having semi-divine powers to move the souls of their listeners. The legendary Francesco da Milano is described in an old account as lifting his listeners into a "divine frenzy," then gently returning their earthly senses once again.
In the lute's repertory, there is no strong dividing line between classical, popular and folk music. Particularly in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, these happily existed side by side, often blending popular and classical elements together in the same piece.
My own first two decades of playing the lute were spent exclusively performing music of the past. As my own love and respect for the lute deepened over the years, I realized that the lute is in instrument capable of communicating in a variety of musical languages. Its natural ability to express emotional nuance, and its fine palette of tine colors make it an ideal vehicle for musical expression of our own time.
Historically, the lute player and the composer of lute music were one and the same - there was no gulf between performer and composer. For the past several years I have devoted myself to reviving the old tradition of the lutenist -composer. As in lute music of the Renaissance, many of these new pieces tread the line between popular, folk and classical music. Some of my works draw heavily on Renaissance and Baroque styles, while others are expressed in a completely modern idiom.
Solo RecordingsThe Art of the Lute
This compilation, chosen by Ronn McFarlane, draws on tracks from Highland King, A Distant Shore, Between Two Hearts, The Renaissance Lute, The Lute Music of John Dowland and The Scottish Lute.
Highland King
This collection of 17th century Scottish lute music includes pieces from the Rowallan Lute Book, The Wemyss Lute Book and the Balcarres Lute Book.
Between Two Hearts
Renaissance dances for lute. Includes music of Joanambrosio Dalza, Pierre Attaingnant , Cesare Negri, Hans Newsidler, Hans Judenkunig, Jean Baptiste Besard, Pietro Paolo Borrono and Vicenzo Capirola. Mark Cudek joins Ronn McFarlane on two lute duets (Saltarello and Piva) by Dalza.
Between Two Hearts
Renaissance dances for lute. Includes music of Joanambrosio Dalza, Pierre Attaingnant , Cesare Negri, Hans Newsidler, Hans Judenkunig, Jean Baptiste Besard, Pietro Paolo Borrono and Vicenzo Capirola. Mark Cudek joins Ronn McFarlane on two lute duets (Saltarello and Piva) by Dalza.
The Renaissance Lute
Lute music by Anonymous, Adrian LeRoy, William Byrd, John Dowland, Hans Judenkunig, Hans Newsidler, Luys de Narvaez, Luis Milan, Francesco da Milano, Robert Ballard, Joanambrosio Dalza.
The Lute Music of John Dowland
This disc features fantasias, dances, ballad settings and variations by the pre-eminent lutenist-composer of the Elizabethan age.
The Scottish Lute
Lute and mandora music of seventeenth century Scotland from The Rowallan Lute Book, The Straloch Lute Book, The Pickering Lute Book and The Skine Mandora Book.
Lute Song RecordingsThe Italian Lute Song
with Julianne Baird, soprano. Includes lute songs and solos by Anonymous, Giussepe del Biabo, Pietro Paolo Borrono, Franciscus Bossinensis, Guilio Caccini, Marchetto Cara, Giacomo Carissimi, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger, Claudio Monteverdi, Cesare Negri, Josquin des Prez and Bartolomeo Tromboncino.
O Mistress Mine
A collection of English lute songs with Frederick Urrey, tenor. Songs by Dowland, Morley, Campion and Rosseter.
Greensleeves
A collection of English lute songs with Julianne Baird, soprano. Includes music by Anonymous, Thomas Campion, Michael Cavendish, John Dowland, Alfonso Ferrabosco, Anthony Holborne, Nicholas Lanier, Thomas Morley and Phillip Rosseter.
Recordings with The Baltimore ConsortThe English Lute Song
with Julianne Baird, soprano. Songs by John Dowland, Robert Johnson, Thomas Morley, Nicholas Lanier, Alfonso Ferrabosco, John Wilson, Thomas Brewer, William Webb, Anonymous.
Adew Dundee
Early Music of Scotland
The Mad Buckgoat
Ancient Music of Ireland
The Ladyes Delight
Entertainment Music of Elizabethan England
Tunes from the Attic
A 15th Anniversary Celebration
A Trip to Kilburn
Playford Tunes and their Ballads
Bright Day Star
Music for the Yuletide Season: Old Carols and Dance Tunes from the British Isles, Germany and Appalachia
The Art of the Bawdy Song
with the Merry Companions
A Baltimore Consort Collection
Contains the CDs, La Rocque ‘n’ Roll, Watkin’s Ale and On the Banks of Helicon in a boxed set.
La Rocque ‘n’ Roll
Popular Music of Renaissance France
Watkin’s Ale
Music of the English Renaissance
Ballad Recordings with Custer LaRue and Members of The Baltimore ConsortOn the Banks of Helicon
Early Music from Scotland
Amazing Grace
Spiritual Folk Songs of Early Americas
The True Lover's Farewell
Appalachian Folk Ballads
Video (published by Mel Bay Pulications, Inc.)Custer LaRue Sings the Daemon Lover
Traditional Ballads and Songs of England, Scotland and America
Ronn McFarlane – Contemporary Lute Virtuoso
In this video performance, Ronn McFarlane plays a number of his own compositions for lute as well as music of the 16th and 17th centuries. He also briefly describes the lute’s history and playing technique.
Books (published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc.)Highland King
Companion to the Highland King CD. Contains Scottish lute music from the 17th century, transcribed in standard modern guitar notation. The pull-out folio for lute includes French tablature for lutes in three tunings: Renaissance tuning for pieces from The Rowallan Lute Book, 10-course lute in Sharp tuning for pieces from The Wemyss Lute Book, and 11-course lute in d minor tuning for pieces from The Balcarres Lute Book.
The Scottish Lute
This is the companion book of music to The Scottish Lute CD (Dorian Recordings, DOR-90129) It offers the same 56 tunes transcribed in standard modern guitar notation. The book also includes a pull-out folio of the original French lute tablature.