One of the foremost vocal composers of the Renaissance, John Dowland, haunts this journey through epochs and styles, between classical and experimental modes of expression. Contemporary culture meets Renaissance music in a unique project with two of the foremost exponents of new music in Scandinavia: Natasha Barrett, who in 2006 received the Music Prize of the Nordic Council and Stefan Östersjö, who since a Swedish Grammy in 1997 (for his first solo CD) is one of the most internationally acclaimed guitarists from Scandinavia. In the production the encounter between composer and performer fuses Renaissance and contemporary forms for extemporization, fixed composed forms and cross-contextual sonic landscapes using guitars and electronics. One of Dowland’s most famous lute songs Can She Excuse also exists in the form of three distinct Galliards for lute solo. Östersjö performs these three lute works on the 11-stringed alto guitar, opening a unique glance into Dowland’s own variation technique. The Black Bile Galliards will be released on CD in spring 2009 on Elektron Records (Sweden) under the title Black Bile Extempore.