The first of the lute books copied by Matthew Holmes in the 1590s is about to be published in facsimile by the Lute Society. Dd.2.11 is the largest of these manuscripts with around 300 pieces. Alongside well-known pieces by Dowland, Johnson, Ferrabosco and others there are many anonymous pieces, some very substantial and clearly the work of a serious composer. This piece is only found in this source, so there are no concordances which might give a clue as to the composer. It has some features in common with the Dump in the Marsh Lute Book (p.426-8) which is often attributed (probably wrongly, in my view) to Phillip van Wilder and also some features which are associated with John Johnson. Whoever wrote it, it’s a good piece!
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