Samuel Pepys the Guitarist

At first, Samuel Pepys could see no virtue in the guitar at all and regarded it as a toy or 'bauble'. Yet he soon changed his mind as he became more interested in Italian music. He arranged for an English merchant in Italy to send him an instrument, and during some of the most troubled periods of his life began to learn it. As a result, we possess from the hands of his house musician, Cesare Morelli, the largest collection of guitar-accompanied song to survive from 17th-century Europe.

The series will close with ensemble performances in which the audience is invited to imagine eavesdropping on Samuel Pepys.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/samuel-pepys-the-guitarist

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

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