The highest course of the Dm theorbo was d' - ie not f' as on the Dm lute. This was the subject of various communications over a year ago (see archives). At this and tuned at something below A440 it's quite possible to use gut strings on a proper size theorbo (eg the late Schelle @ 86cm). There is therefore no need to use toy instruments of string lengths c. 75cm: - such instruments are ordinary 18thC mid European theorboed 'baroque' lutes and many survive from this period. MH
"Dr. Henner Kahlert" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Dear all, we know that German lutenists in the 18th century like Weiss an Baron played continuo on their theorbos in d-minor tuning too (cf. Ernst Gottlieb Baron, "Historisch-Theoretisch und Practische Untersuchung des Instruments der Lauten", Nürnberg 1727 p. 131, who also wrote that their theorbos had double courses on the fingerboard, not with the basses). When using really big theorbos with a greater string length, e.g. 76 cm and more, not theorboed baroque lutes, I think they had to use a re-entrant tunig with at least the first course tunend in a lower octave. What do we know about the tuning of d-minor theorbos, which sources do exist? Henner -- Dr. Henner Kahlert In der Tasch 2a D 76227 Karlsruhe (Durlach) Tel. 0721-403353 Büro: Tel. 0721-23084 Fax 0721-20978 To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --------------------------------- The all-new Yahoo! Mail goes wherever you go - free your email address from your Internet provider. --
