The lute came to Europe from the Arab world (Arabic al-ʿūd, “wood” → Old Provençal laut, whence German Laute) mainly through Moorish Spain and Sicily — in the Middle Ages. Over three centuries it became the symbol of European refinement: kings, poets, and philosophers played the lute.
Construction: a convex body of thin wooden staves, a flat soundboard with a rose-shaped sound hole, a short fretted neck, 6–13 pairs of strings. A distinctive bent-back pegbox. The medieval lute was played with a plectrum; in the late 15th century playing with the fingers of the right hand became established, which produces a gentle, soft sound.
The golden masters of lute art: Francis Cutting, John Dowland (English school, 16th–17th c.); Silvius Leopold Weiss (Baroque lute); J.S. Bach wrote several works for the lute. In the 20th century the lute was revived through the authentic performance movement — today it is played by Paul O'Dette, Hopkinson Smith, and in Ukraine by the early-music ensembles of Lviv and Kyiv.
