forlorn hope fancy
Rosemary Hodgson, lute
Time stands still in this album of delicate, intricate beauty from lute virtuoso Rosemary Hodgson.
Elegant Renaissance airs and dances come to life, evoking a world of grace and simplicity, yet also expressing the full spectrum of human emotions, from exuberant delight to deepest despair. This ancient instrument reaches into our modern lives to weep, laugh, caress and inspire.
order your copy of forlorn hope fancy online
read what the critics say
"may never have been bettered on record"
"The recording quality is faultless."
"The lute world has a new star"
Meic Goodyear, Lute News (August 2009)
"a highly enjoyable, and often very moving, listening experience."
"Hodgson imbues Forlorn Hope Fancy with an awesome stillness"
"Hodgson phrases delicately and sweetly ... ever sensitive to the expressive possibilities of each piece, whether playful or profound in character. Her technique is clean and secure, allowing a special clarity in the part writing and an incredible tonal and dynamic precision."
William Yeoman, Classical Guitar (2009)
"this is playing of real subtlety and of real sensitivity."
"Hodgson finds and articulates emotional and musical patterns with an exquisite clarity"
"Hodgson handles the complex counterpoint with unfussy assurance and, characteristically, her playing evokes to something like perfection the oxymoronic qualities of the piece's title 'forlorn hope', exuding a real sense of, on the one hand, human grief and the sense of hopelessness and, on the other, the resilient clinging on to the possibility of restoration and rebirth. It is a very characteristic Elizabethan nexus of feeling and attitude, captured to perfection by Dowland in this piece and very perceptively performed by an obviously accomplished lutenist."
"thoroughly enjoyable CD"
Glyn Pursglove, Music Web International (July 2009)
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"A charming and beautifully played selection of instrumental works"
Steve Moffatt, The Glebe (February 2009)
