John Johnson was employed as a lutenist at the court of Queen Elizabeth 1 and the great majority of his surviving works are for one or two lutes: Robert, presumed to have been his son, was also a lutenist but his compositions were vocal works (sacred and secular) and masque music, with only 20 pieces for the lute. There is to my knowledge no other recording devoted to the solo lute music of the Johnsons, and very little indeed of that on this disc has any alternative version. Since the Johnsons rate highly on the lute-compositional scale it would seem that this disc is to be welcomed as filling 'a long-felt need', which to some extent it does; but there is a 'however'.
The nature of the programme—32 items lasting a generous 77 minutes and consisting largely of dances and settings of popular songs—is likely to reduce its appeal to all but lutenists and others who are immersed in such repertory who will be grateful to have so many fresh pieces available on record; most other listeners might choose to take it a little at a time. Over and above this there is the matter of the performances themselves: in her best moments Lynda Sayce (professional lady lutenists are few) shows her musicality, firm grasp of style, and technical facility, but, maybe under the stress of recording, those moments come and go. There are many places where the technical strain is all too apparent, and messiness is the order of the day. A clearly articulated cadential trill may, for instance, be followed by one that is frantically garbled, and a free-flowing division by a scrambled one. The extra studio time needed to secure durable performances of every item would have helped the cause of all concerned, for Sayce is, given the necessary time, clearly capable of providing them. The lifelike recording mercilessly highlights every slip of the fingers.'