Although Brian Cohen is originally from South Africa, he has become known as one of the best contemporary builders working out of England for over 50 years now. His instruments have a reputation for their gorgeous quality of sound and easy playability. Brian is also known for his history of working with Julian Bream - both servicing his vintage instruments (including the "Rose Augustine" 1940 Hauser) as well as building Hauser-style instruments for him (Bream commissioned 8 instruments in total from Brian). Although Brian's focus has been primarly on guitars constructed in the Torres/Hauser tradition, he has also built a variety of other stringed instruments including violins, cellos, lutes, theorboes, chittarones, violas da gamba and even an accurate copy of the ivory 'liuto attiorbato' by Sellas.
So here we present an example of an Elizabethan-era Renaissance lute which features some very elegant craftsmanship - notably an ornately carved bridge and soundhole "rose" as well as a 10-stave marbled birdseye maple back. The strings are arranged in eight "courses" of two strings each, though the highest-pitched course consists of only a single string, called the "chanterelle". The courses are numbered sequentially, counting from the highest pitched, so that the "chanterelle" is the first course, the next pair of strings is the second course, etc. Thus this 8-course lute has a total 15 strings. Condition-wise, there are no repairs or prior damage, and no playing wear - it is in "aged" but otherwise like-new condition. It is a particularly beautiful example of Brian's work and will be a great instrument for the guitarist seeking a more authentic quality of sound when playing lute music from the Renaissance into the Baroque - with the additional 8th course, much of this music can be played as written, requiring no arranging. Julian Bream popularized the lute starting in the 1960s and several other prominent lutenists have been regular members of the larger classical guitar community including the likes of Ronn McFarlane, Nigel North, Edin Karamazov (who recorded the music of Dowland with Sting), Evangelina Mascardi and many others.
We've been in business for over 40 years, and this is the first Cohen lute we've ever seen, so that makes this an exceedingly rare opportunity to own a masterfully crafted and great sounding instrument by one of the great builders of the past 50 years. Includes the original custom-fitted hardshell case.
