Sir Henry Unton's Music
National Portrait Gallery Curator Charlotte Bolland and viol player Isaac Harrison Louth discuss the evidence of Tudor music playing in a portrait of Sir Henry Unton from 1596-1606.
A highly unusual portrait commissioned by the widow of former ambassador to France, Sir Henry Unton (c. 1557 – 23 March 1596), gives us early images of amateur music playing and a viol consort. New Generation Thinker Christina Faraday is the author of The Story of Tudor Art. She talks to National Portrait Gallery curator Charlotte Bolland and to historian and performer Isaac Harrison Louth about the instruments depicted in the painting.
We hear recordings of John Dowland’s Sir Henry Umpton’s Funeral performed by Phantasm and lutenist Elizabeth Kenny and dance music from Thomas Morley's Consort Lessons performed by The Morley Consort.
Producer: Robyn Read
New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to share academic research on radio.
Sir Henry Unton's Portrait is on view at the National Portrait Gallery.
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- Sun 2 Nov 2025 19:45ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 3
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