Lunchtime Concert: For The Love Of The Lute

Samrat Majumder is at the Gannochy Trust Auditorium, Perth Concert Hall on Monday 9 November for For The Love Of The Lute, a lunchtime concert that puts the lute right at the centre of the room. It's a one-hour set, starting at 13:00, so it fits into a lunch break rather than taking up your whole evening.

The programme works its way through the lute's history. Majumder plays John Dowland and JS Bach, two of the biggest names to ever write for the instrument, and pairs them with a new commission and a set of historic Scottish melodies. It's a bit of a time-travelling afternoon, then: the early music of the Renaissance and Baroque alongside something written recently, and some old Scottish tunes that tie it back to the local soil.

There's a nice thread running through it, too. The lute is one of the oldest string instruments, and it's the kind of thing that inspired composers like Dowland and Bach to write some of their most memorable work—pieces that modern guitarists are only now really rediscovering. Hearing them played on the instrument they were actually written for is a different experience from hearing them on a guitar, and that's exactly what this is about.

Tickets are £14.50 in advance, which includes a £2.50 booking fee. There's a reduced price of £13.50 for over 60s, the unwaged, disabled people and students. If you leave it until the day, tickets go up to £16, with the reduced price becoming £15 after 12 noon. Under 26s go free, and under 16s need to be accompanied by an adult. The concert is an hour long, starting at 13:00 at the Gannochy Trust Auditorium in the Perth Concert Hall on Mill Street.