Jonatan Bougt joined the Musicians' Company Young Artists' Programme after he was awarded our Constant and Kit Lambert Scholarship at the Royal College of Music in 2017 and 2018. Here he performs Robert de Visée's (1655-1732/3) 'La Villanelle' and 'Chaconne'. Jonatan says: "I came to London from Sweden in 2013, and in 2019 was the first ever person to graduate from the Royal College of Music as a first study theorbist. During my studies I won both the RCM Guitar Competition and the RCM Historical Performance Competition. I have enjoyed performing in venues like Royal Festival Hall, Shakespeare Globe, Queen's Gallery as well as live on BBC Radio 3. The 'Villanelle' has a dark quality with strong emotions stretching between sadness and anger with sudden sparks of brightness. Even though the last couple of variations hint at a happier ending, the rustic theme comes back as an inevitable statement. In contrast, the 'Chaconne' is gentler, more uplifting and always fills me with joy. The middle section, in a minor key, introduces an uncertainty with unexpected syncopations and groupings of rhythms. This time it is the joyous character that prevails. Like many of us, I have been at home everyday for over two months now. There is a constant in being in the same surroundings for a long period of time, just like there is a constant in the ground basses in this music. The variations are very much like how my days have been, each variation introducing a different mood and feeling although the very basics - the interior of my home and the ground basses - have stayed the same. I feel like a lot of us have sought out inspiration and joy from the simple things that we find in our immediate surroundings and I hope that these two pieces will accompany you, just like they have been with me during this pandemic." -------------------------------------------------- Musicians' Company Profile - http://www.wcom.org.uk/yeoman/jonatan-bougt Musicians' Company interview (2018) - http://www.wcom.org.uk/news/yeoman-interview-jonatan-bougt Jonatan's Website - http://www.jonatanbougt.com Jonatan's Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/jonatanbougtguitar Jonatan's Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/jonatanbougt Jonatan's Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/jonatanbougt Jonatan's YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/JonatanBougt -------------------------------------------------- Join our weekly #MiddayMusic e-news at http://eepurl.com/dv0ccr #MiddayMusic is supported by funds from the Musicians' Company’s Prince’s Prize which received a generous endowment in 2015 from The Eranda Rothschild Foundation and Rothschilds Bank, in memory of Leopold de Rothschild, a Liveryman of the Musicians’ Company for over 50 years. Donate to support The Musicians' Company Young Artists - http://www.justgiving.com/musicianscompanyfund