Dunedin Consort & Sean Shibe: Scottish Lute

RCS Stevenson Hall, Glasgow, 5/3/2026

Sean Shibe (director/lute); Huw Daniel, Rebecca Livermore (violins); Liam Byrne, Lucia Cappellaro (viole da gamba)

 The Stevenson Hall at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on the night of 5th March was the venue for  recital in which Scottish electrical/classical guitarist-turned-lutenist Sean Shibe and four members of the Dunedin Consort presented a selection of pieces from the turn of the seventeenth century, plundered from the collections of musical riches hidden in the archives of the National Library of Scotland, revealing how cosmopolitan the musical tastes of the wealthy Scottish families of the period were.  Sean was joined by Dunedin violinists Huw Daniel and Rebecca Livermore (playing with gut strings and baroque bows, using period bowholds) and gambists Liam Byrne and Lucia Cappellaro.  In a pre-concert talk, Sean and Liam spoke enthusiastically of the cornucopia of musical manuscript transcribed treasure to be found in the Library, mostly from family collections.

The recital opened with the three-movement  ‘Suite in C’ from ‘Twenty Ayres for Two Trebles and Two Basses’ by English composer Christopher Simpson.  The lute, joined by the others, introduced a sweet Pavan, followed by a brisk Aire, which struck me as remarkably Vivaldi-like with hints of folk melody. Two contrasting Sarabandes (faster than any sarabande I’ve heard before) made up the last movement.  Rather delightful.

One of the gems in the Library is a compilation of traditional and anonymous unaccompanied Scottish, English, Dutch and French melodies found in the earliest books of a private collection from Dundee, spanning from the early 17th century through to the early 19th, known as ‘The Panmure Manuscript’.  We heard a selection of 7 of these.  To start with, Huw played 2 Scottish fiddle tunes from Book 1, ‘The Baggpipe Tune’ and ‘Wellcome home my Bonny Love’, both delightful.  The double-stopping in the second melody had me musing over the origins of Bluegrass.  Sean played the other 5 on the lute.  ‘This one night’ had (obviously) a different melody from Britten’s in the ‘Serenade’ and was quite clearly Scottish.  Scottish transcriptions of a rhapsodic Courante and a well-ornamented Sarabande by French lutenist/composer François Dufaut followed (both seemed to have picked up a Scottish flavour in the turn of the melody).  The reciprocal side of the Auld Alliance manifested in the last two pieces as published by Pierre Ballard: an elegantly ornamented ‘Courante et Double’, followed by ‘Lady Lothian’s Lilt’, which did exactly what it said on the tin, lilting in triple metre.

Among the goodies formerly in the possession of the Earls of Panmure (surname Maule) are transcriptions of works by French composer and viol player Marin Marais.  James and Harie (Harry), 2nd and 3rd sons of the Second Earl, had travelled to Paris in the 1670s to study viol playing with Marais and brought back not just transcriptions but some actual manuscripts in Marais’ own hand, which are now immensely valuable as hardly any Marais manuscripts survive in Paris, and some of the pieces were never published in his lifetime.  We heard the 6-movement ‘Suite in D’ from Book 1 for lute and two bass viols. Liam played a Prelude that reminded me of Bach’s solo cello suites and was elegantly ornamented at the end.  A complexly figurated Allemand duet for the two viols had one of Lucia’s strings popping out of tune, needing remedied mid-movement.  Back to 1 viol for the ornate and complex Courante in 3.  A more leisurely 3 for the delicious Sarabande, all 3 players involved.  A short, sprightly, lilting dance for 2 viols followed (not sure what it was called). The concluding Gigue for the 2 viols was not very fast but certainly playful.  Super piece.

“It’s ‘Lachrimae’, Jim, but not as we know it”.  John Dowland’s famous Pavan, but in a Scottish version from the ‘Wood Ensemble Part Books’ for all 5 players, was played next. Sean said that the two outer parts by themselves were indistinguishable from the original, but the three inner parts made it sound quite different and quite Scottish. I can’t disagree.  A fascinating and pleasurable listen, though I feel bound to say that there was nowt wrong with the original that needed fixing.

After some more retuning for Lucia (“Sometimes gut strings are quite temperamental”), we were back to Simpson’s  ‘Twenty Ayres for Two Trebles and Two Basses’ (with all 5 playing) for the 4-movement ‘Suite in B-flat’.  An elegant Pavane was followed by a sprightly Galliard in 3, with piano phrases being stylishly answered forte. The Aire strutted briskly in 4, with stylish dotted introductory figures at the beginnings of the lines. The concluding Sarabande was quite brisk and cheeky. A delightful piece.

Another selection of traditional tunes, this time from the Bowie, MacFarlane and Rowallan Manuscripts in the Library, followed, played by Huw, Sean and Liam, in various combinations.  ‘The Widos Lade’ was pure Scottish fiddle tune, song-like and demanding lyrics,  ‘John come kiss me now’ was similar, but with the lute in arpeggiated chords and verses like variations, one with gorgeous double-stopping, one with the viol joining, one like a highland fling and one like a chaconne.  Pretty amazing.  ‘Swit Saint Nikcolas’ for lute had an Elizabethan vibe, but with underlying Scottish colour.  Still with lute, ‘Current (volte)’ had me thinking of Praetorius’ ‘Terpsichore’ – very danceable, leading into the similar  ‘Spyerelit reforme’.  ‘Sir William Mure’ was a very Scottish air, with Elizabethan undertones.  ‘I never knew I loved thee’ in the minor key and a lilting 3, was charming, as was the short and sweet concluding melody, ‘A Scotts Tune’, doing what it said on the tin.

The recital concluded with a suite of 4 Airs and Dances from Jean-Baptiste Lully’s comédie-ballet collaboration with Molière ‘Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme’, played by the 4 Dunedin musicians.  ‘Premier et deuxième air des garçons tailleurs’ was a brisk 4, march-like and a very danceable ‘air’, followed by a sprightlier one with dotted rhythms.  ‘Marche pour la Cérémonie des Turcs’ was stately, with emphatic repeated notes presumably supposed to suggest a French view of “Turkishness”.  ‘L’Entrée des Scaramouches, Trivelins et Arlequin’ started march-like, followed by brisker playful episodes of varying metre.  ‘Chaconne des Scaramouches, Trivelins et Arlequin’ was in an elegant 3, very danceable, very charming and very French.

So, in conclusion, this was a recital that delivered much.  An opportunity to experience and appreciate the artistry of Sean Shibe is always welcome.  A reminder of why 30 years of the Dunedin Consort is worth celebrating is thoroughly merited.  And a revelation: the National Library of Scotland holds treasures for the musicologist, the performer and, through recitals like this one, the concert-goer.  Full marks from me.

Weblink:  https://www.rcs.ac.uk/whats-on/dunedin-consort-sean-shibe-scottish-lute/