The loot was an extremely popular instrument at the Renaissance and Baroque courts of Europe.

Looternists were very well paid. On the 20th of July 1532 Arthur, the looter,

spelt at L.E.W.T.E.R., was paid £3,6 shallings and four pence in reward by the King's

Commandment, which is equivalent of nearly £1,500 today. And given that this feature's

and Henry VIII's privy purse expenses, I'm pretty sure that this was a tip beyond his usual

earnings. Court poets Satomas White rift on the labour of his loot, wasted on his cruel

and ever-scornful beloved in more than one poem.

My loot awake, performed the last labour that down I shall waste, and the end that I have

now begun, for when this song has said and passed, my loot be still for I have done.

But even for many classical music lovers, the music of the 16th and 17th centuries probably

isn't as familiar as that of the 18th and 19th centuries. And so many of us don't know what

fascinated the courts and monarchs and poets of the day. Today we're going to try and learn.

So I'm delighted to be joined by Dr. Linda Sace, who is one of Britain's leading looternists.

She trained at Oxford in the Royal College of Music, has over a hundred recordings to her name,

and has broadcast extensively on Radio and TV. She's the director of the loot on Sombor

Kodoffani, and the principal looterness of groups including the King's Concert and ex-Cathedra.

She is a remarkable musician and musicologist, and it is a great privilege, indeed an absolute

treat to welcome this maestro to not just the tutors.

Linda, could you perhaps start by introducing us to the loot at the beginning of our period,

which is the sort of late 15th century?

Absolutely, and the main thing to think about with the loot is that it's not really one instrument

in the way that we think of instruments in other contexts. So for example, we think of a violin,

...