Over the last four years Christopher Page has been the professor of music at Gresham College. His lectures have had multiple subjects from medieval polyphonic music to… The GUITAR!
A very good thing about the Gresham lectures is their accessability. Attendance is free for everyone, and afterwards they are available online.
In April of this year I had the good fortune to meet mr. Page during the meeting of the Cambridge Guitar Consortium at Sidney Sussex College. He then announced this series of Gresham lectures about the early guitar in England. Or as the title of this series says: “For Courtesan, Queen and Gallant: The Guitar in England from Henry VIII to Samuel Pepys”.
One of the things I like about the lectures (and lecturer) is that they are all but dull. Mr. Page has a razor sharp kind of humor and wit, very pleasantly combined with the beautiful use of a wide English vocabulary.
He applies both in his lectures and publications, keeping them interesting and readable. In my experience most historical publications find their best use relieving insomnia, rather than being read for their intellectual merits, especially when professors read them in front of a class. Not so with these lectures.
I am looking forward to the rest of these series
The Dutch Luthier 