Dear Rob and Others,
On 2007-11-26, at 09:44, Rob wrote:
There would of course be no possibility of playing the Italian solo
repertoire on the German instrument, but I personally have no interest
in
learning that repertoire, although I like listening to it.
The Italian solo theorbo repertoire (Kapsperger, Pacinini, Castaldi,
even Pittoni) is rather different period then the ''German theorbo''
time -- no conflict in most programs played.
And while it is OK to use an Italian instrument for German
baroque music (it was definitely used, as Tim Burris has pointed out),
it is
less plausible using a German instrument on anything other than German
music.
As far as the ''German theorbo'' is concerned, its popularity was
probably restricted temporarily and georaphically to Saxony and to
Weiss students and enthusiasts. But the d-m lute was played for almost
150 years -- from Ballard prints to Hagen or Kohaut at least in a large
part of Europe.
Italy? Why Pierre Gautier was published in Rome 1638? How popular was
teaching of a Frenchmen Julien Blovin leaving in Rome somehow in the
second half of the XVIIthC., whose hand is present in several d-m lute
manuscripts? Who was the scribe of the mysterious tablature with
several Weiss pieces and an inscription ''Venetijs. 7. 7br. 1712'' (now
F-Pn Rés. Vmc ms. 61)?
Try to compare it with the number of know Italian sources in tablature
of archlute music.
Beside of these few facts which comes to my mind at the moment, the
rest of Europe (I know little about Spain) played d-m lute as a solo
instrument. It seems unimaginable people were not using it for songs or
small chamber music.
Benjamin argues that Weiss's presence in Italy indicates that at
least one player was using dm tuning, however it is not certain that
Weiss
had developed his 'sans chanterelle' tuning whilst there. If not, what
was
Weiss playing when sitting in with Scarlatti's orchestral band?
Nowbody will ever know. But I have in front of me the pages from
Scarlatti's ''Tolomeo et Alessandro...'' of 1711 with a 'Liuto solo'
fragment. A very simple 'Alberti Bass' like part in fast sixteenth
notes, accompaning traverso(!) flute and a soprano, which can be played
on virtually anything. It seems Scarlatti made a gesture to the famous
young man from a northern country, but had no idea of the instrument
possibilities and made no efforts to learn them.
I know of no other musical proofs of Weiss activities while in Rome
(plus some of his solos), of course beside of literary and other
evidence...
Had the
swan-necked so-called theorbo come into existence during Weiss's
Italian
trip, 1710-14? Seems a bit early to me. I'm sure someone reading this
will
know when swans flew in to the scene? So, if Weiss still just had his
lute,
was he playing continuo at all, and if he was, did he use an
Italian-tuned
instrument? And did the problems he encountered lead to his
development of
the German Continuo Theorbo when he got back to Germany? Or did he
create it
when in Rome?
Provoking questions for which there are no answers, until some famous
musicologist with a fondness towards lute will get financing for a
serious research in Roman archives and focused on the musical
establishement of the Polish court of Maria Casimira Sobieski.
So, there are a lot of questions, and, as I say, I have not yet
convinced
myself one way or another. But one thought keeps bugging me: Weiss was
by
far the greatest composer for the baroque lute, and we know that he
spent a
lot of his time as a continuo player. We also know the tuning he used.
Baron
states that it is the common tuning of theorboes in Germany. So how
many of
us are actually doing it? Probably fewer than half a dozen... Almost
like
playing Dowland on guitars...
www.rmguitar.info
For playing full time continuo in a professional orchestra one can tune
anyhow, even in diminished FIFTH, if that's effective for him/her. Such
places/positions were then and are few now, very demanding and needing
strong specialization. Doing such job, in my opinion, is a disaster to
a 'normal' lute playing. But for me more important is the way most
people were accompanning on the lute during XVII/XVIIIth centuries,
during the time the d-m tuning was an obvious choice for solos -- I'm
thinking of continuo songs and chamber music.
With reference to Benjamin Narvey's article, there is more
documentation (sources) on playing continuo on a d-m lute, beside of
Perrine and Weiss/Baron. Passing over few debatable assumptions, I like
his elegant prose and specially the main arguments.
All in all, the question of continuo on the d-m lute is a subject of
the future, I think. Just imagine if you'd start playing lute from the
11th or the 13th course instrument...
Jurek
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