This debut solo recording by respected lutenist and lute maker Martin Shepherd, played on an instrument of his own making, brings together a range of little-known German and Italian music from the first half of the 16th century. It showcases different responses to the desire to bring both sacred and secular polyphony into a more intimate context, from simple intabulations of vocal works to entirely new pieces based on themes from or inspired by them: fantasia as a process as much as a genre.