Martin Best (born 13 April 1942) is an English singer,

lutenist A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can refe ...

, guitarist, and composer. Best has been active mainly in

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classical m ...

including

Renaissance music Renaissance music is traditionally understood to cover European music of the 15th and 16th centuries, later than the Renaissance era as it is understood in other disciplines. Rather than starting from the early 14th-century '' ars nova'', the Tr ...

, minstrel songs and the French troubadour traditions, in works related to Shakespeare, such as the sonnets and music to Shakespeare plays, and also in songs of the

Swedish ballad tradition {{Use dmy dates, date=December 2020 The Scandinavian ballad tradition is the tradition of Scandinavian poetic singer-songwriters. Within the tradition, the Swedish ballad tradition has been particularly influential, but the tradition also exists in ...

. He has often performed in constellations named ''Martin Best Consort'' and ''Martin Best Medieval Ensemble''. Best got a position at the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

in the mid 1960s and remained associated with them for over 30 years as an actor-singer, musician and composer. His first works in the Swedish ballad tradition were the songs of Carl Michael Bellman, Sweden's unofficial national poet, who is sometimes considered the starting point of the Swedish ballad tradition. Best recorded three albums with Bellman's songs, mainly from the song collections '' Fredman's Epistles'' in translations by Paul Britten Austin, with some additions from '' Fredman's Songs'' as well as other Bellman works: ''To Carl Michael with Love'' (1975), ''Bellman in Britain'' (1978), and ''Songs of Carl Michael Bellman''. Songs from the two first albums were later collected on a CD, also named ''To Carl Michael with Love''. Göran Forsling wrote that "With his flexible voice and his masterly treatment of the guitar and the cyster, the latter a lute-like instrument that Bellman also played, estis a worthy transmitter of the Bellman tradition." Forsling notes that Sven-Bertil Taube and Fred Åkerström gave Bellman's songs a new, earthy realism ideal for the 20th century, but argues that Best is closer to how Bellman must have sounded, "though not theatrical enough if the ear-witnesses' are to be relied on. He is fresh and lively, his diction is excellent and his rhythmic acuity is striking." Other Swedish song poets performed by Best include

Birger Sjöberg Birger Sjöberg (1885–1929) was a Swedish poet, novelist and songwriter, whose best-known works include the faux-naïf song collection ''Fridas Bok'' (Frida's Book) and the novel ''Kvartetten Som Sprängdes'' (The Quartet That Split Up), a s ...

(1885–1929), with one album released in 1979.

Discography

Original recordings. Years are release years, when such have been available. * 1972 (or earlier). Martin Best & Edward Flower: ''The Art of the Minstrel – Lute Songs'', LP.Discography
medieval.org * 1974. Martin Best Consort: ''The Warwickshire Lad'', LP * 1975. Martin Best Consort: ''To Carl Michael with Love, LP. Songs by Carl Michael Bellman''. * 1976. Peggy Ashcroft and Martin Best: ''Sense and Nonsense'', LP. Songs and rhymes for children. * 1976. Martin Best Consort: ''The Fine Old English Tory Times'', LP. English 18th century ballads. * 1976. Martin Best Consort: ''The Pirate's Serenade'', LP. * 1977. Martin Best: ''Knight On the Road'', LP. With amplified instruments. * 1978. Martin Best: ''Bellman in Britain'', LP. Songs by Carl Michael Bellman. * 1978. Martin Best: ''The Dawn of Romance'', LP. Songs and music of the early troubadours of Provence. * 1979. Martin Best: ''William Shakespeare: Ages of Song'', LP. Songs from Shakespeare plays. * 1979. Martin Best et al.: ''Desdemonalisa'', LP. Pop music. * 1979. Martin Best et al.: ''When First I Ever Saw You'', LP. Swedish ballad songs by

, English trad. songs etc. * 1982(?) Martin Best Medieval Ensemble: ''The Last of the Troubadours – The Art & Times of Guiraut Riquier'', LP. Later reissued in the 1999 CD box ''Music from the Age of Chivalry''. French ballads. * 1983. Martin Best Medieval Ensemble: ''The Dante Troubadours'', LP. Later reissued in the 1999 CD box ''Music from the Age of Chivalry''. French ballads by

Bertran de Born Bertran de Born (; 1140s – by 1215) was a baron from the Limousin in France, and one of the major Occitan troubadours of the 12th-13th century. He composed love songs (cansos) but was better known for his political songs (sirventes). He wa ...

Guiraut de Bornelh Giraut de Bornelh (; c. 1138 – 1215), whose first name is also spelled Guiraut and whose toponym is de Borneil or de Borneyll, was a troubadour connected to the castle of the viscount of Limoges. He is credited with the formalisation, if not the ...

, and others. * 1983 (?). Martin Best: ''Songs of Carl Michael Bellman'', LP. Solo recording – voice, guitar, cittern – with Bellman songs. * 1983. Göran Fristorp and Martin Best: ''Waggoner's song'', LP. Swedish ballads, some English traditional material, some Best/Fristorp compositions. * ? (recorded 1983). Martin Best Medieval Ensemble: ''Songs of Chivalry'', LP? Also in the 1999 CD box ''Music from the Age of Chivalry''. French ballads by

Thibaut de Navarre Thibaut is a name of French origin, a form of Theobald. Surname * Anton Friedrich Justus Thibaut (17721840), German jurist * Bernhard Friedrich Thibaut (17751832), German mathematician * François Thibaut (born 1948), American educator * George T ...

etc. * ? (recorded 1984). Martin Best Medieval Ensemble: ''Cantigas of Santa Maria of Alfonso X El Sabio'', LP? Also in the 1999 CD box ''Music from the Age of Chivalry''. Songs from '' Cantigas de Santa Maria''. * 1987. Martin Best: ''The Testament of Tristan'', LP/CD. Songs of

Bernart de Ventadorn Bernart de Ventadorn (also Bernard de Ventadour or Bernat del Ventadorn; – ) was a French poet-composer troubadour of the classical age of troubadour poetry. Generally regarded as the most important troubadour in both poetry and music, his 1 ...

. * ? (recorded 1988). Martin Best Medieval Ensemble: ''Thys Yool – A Medieval Christmas''. * 1990/1991.

Nils Lindberg Nils Lindberg (11 June 1933 – 20 February 2022) was a Swedish composer and pianist. Biography Lindberg was born in Uppsala on 11 June 1933. He was known both as a jazz composer and musician, but was also active in other styles. Several of his wo ...

, Martin Best, Lena Willemark,

Fresk Quartet North Frisian (''nordfriisk'') is a minority language of Germany, spoken by about 10,000 people in North Frisia. The language is part of the larger group of the West Germanic Frisian languages. The language comprises 10 dialects which are thems ...

Swedish Radio Choir The Swedish Radio Choir is a professional choir. It is part of Sveriges Radio, the public radio broadcasting company of Sweden. The choir consists of 32 singers and their chorus master Marc Korovitch. Peter Dijkstra is the choir's most recent chief ...

: ''O mistress mine : a garland of Elizabethan poetry'', CD. Shakespeare etc.''O mistress mine''
Svensk mediedatabas * ? (recorded 1994). Martin Best Medieval Ensemble: ''Forgotten Provence – Music-making in the South of France, 1150–1550'', CD. Also in the 1999 CD box ''Music from the Age of Chivalry''. * ? (recorded 1996?) Martin Best Consort: ''Amor de Lonh – The Distant Love of the Troubadours'', CD. Also in the 1999 CD box ''Music from the Age of Chivalry''.

Sources

External links

Martin BestMartin Best Consort
an
Martin Best Mediaeval Ensemble
on Spotify {{DEFAULTSORT:Best, Martin 1942 births British performers of early music English lutenists Swedish music Living people French male writers Interpreters of Carl Michael Bellman's works