Dear Ed
Thank you so much for this account, you have almost made us feel as
though we were there with you, and the information is so interesting.
The marks you noticed towards the bridge seem to confirm the images
on the Aquila page; and Mimmo Peruffo also told me something similar
to what you say here,
" The marks I mentioned on
>
> the shorter instrument do not show up well on photography, but are
> very
> open & obvious to the naked eye."
Mimmo told me that some of the marks were quite deep and yet they are
not at all obvious on the photos.
I will try to write a message soon, about the difficulty of
interpreting these marks.
It is interesting that on the museum page, they say that the Edlinger
lutes were once thought to have been by Tieffenbrucker, and then
baroqued bt Edlinger,
but now it is considered that they were entirely built by Edlinger.
http://www.usd.edu/smm/PluckedStrings/Lutes/10213ItalianLute.html
http://www.usd.edu/smm/PluckedStrings/Lutes/10214ItalianLute.html
However, I can't help wondering whether you are not right in
returning to the previous interpretation: the double traces, you
mention, could well indicate that this
was indeed a Renaissance lute, on which Renaissance traces were left
when it was later baroqued by Edlinger, and then after that the
Baroque technique traces might have been left.
" One player played
> near the bridge, due to smudge & dirt marks from the fingers, as
> well as
> the thumb. These marks were wide, and seemingly from finger
> marks. One
> player played close to the rose , and used a long nail, as there are
> multiple thin scrape marks (perhaps hundreds of these marks), from
> a long
> right hand nail. That player even played in front of the rose,
> towards the
> neck, on all the diapason courses! It tells me that on this particular
> instrument, there were more than one player using very different
> techniques. " Ed
This sounds very much like a Renaissance technique.
In a previous message, I had wondered whether any such Renaissance
traces might not exist on a Baroque lute that might have kept its
Renaissance sound board.
I imagine it would be difficult to analyse these lutes to see how old
the soundboards are.
At the time, I mentioned this possibility, I was thinking of the
Warwick Frei, as I understand Ray Nurse claims that the soundboard
(thick at the edges to almost 3mm) is origninal on this instrument,
while it would not be on the C34 Frei (thin near the edge). However,
the Warwick was restored by Michael Lowe, and I don't know whether he
found any such marks, before restoring it; and if so, whether he
might have left them, or cleaned them off. Has anyone seen the
Warwick recently, can any one report on that?
I take it that the marks near the rose, were quite different from
these on the nine course (c1620) Matheus Buchenberg
http://www.music.ed.ac.uk/euchmi/ucj/ucjh3249qflu_s.jpg
It would seem that these could be something to do with repairs made
to the rose. Unfortunately, Rob could find no other traces on this lute.
Thank you again, Ed, for sharing this marvellous experience with us.
Best regards
Anthony
Le 6 fevr. 08 =E0 04:09, Edward Martin a ecrit :
> Dear ones,
>
> I have an interesting story.
>
> Dan Larson and I just returned from the National Museum of Music,
> in South
> Dakota. It was an absolutely fantastic experience. They have
> many, many
> lutes by Harton, Diefenbrouchar, Sellas, Edlinger. They also have
> guitars
> by Stradivarius, Sellas and Voboam. Many violins by Stradivarius,
> Ganeri,
> Amati, etc. It was unbelievable.
>
> The museum let us have full access to the Edlingers! We examined
> them for
> about 10 hours, and I got to hold them in the playing position,
> etc. They
> have been examined in the 1970's by Lundberg and others. One is 76 cm
> mensur, the other is 81 or 82 cm, and they were perhaps originally by
> Tieffenbrucker, or perhaps a Bolognese maker. Later, they were
> converted
> to 13 course baroque lutes by Thomas Edlinger; the longer
> instrument in
> 1724, the shorter one in 1728. The 76 cm is flat back in 11 ribs of
> bird's
> eye maple, the 82 cm is multi ribbed yew.
>
> What really startled me was the 76 cm lute. It is documented that
> these
> lutes had been in a Czeck castle for hundreds of years. It
> appeared to me
> that 2, or 3 different players used this lute. It showed heavy
> usage, so
> it was more than likely played at a professional level. One player
> played
> near the bridge, due to smudge & dirt marks from the fingers, as
> well as
> the thumb. These marks were wide, and seemingly from finger
> marks. One
> player played close to the rose , and used a long nail, as there are
> multiple thin scrape marks (perhaps hundreds of these marks), from
> a long
> right hand nail. That player even played in front of the rose,
> towards the
> neck, on all the diapason courses! It tells me that on this particular
> instrument, there were more than one player using very different
> techniques. As well, they played a technique with the thumb pointed
> towards the rose, as the old paintings show, but _NOT_ by the bridge.
>
> The longer lute in yew showed patterns and evidence of it being
> played very
> close to the bridge. The little area at the treble end of the
> bridge was
> worn down from overuse of the pinky being planted there.
>
> It seems that these lutes, although in possession by the same
> family in the
> same castle, are similar in that they are both Edlinger conversions
> to 13
> course baroque lutes with bass riders. They do appear to have had
> dissimilar techniques and player positions, as evidenced by the
> wear on the
> sound boards, suggesting that the same player did not play the 2
> instruments, and the shorter one had at least 2 different players.
>
> All in all, in was a humbling experience, to examine these
> masterpieces, so
> close up, and to hold them in playing position. The marks I
> mentioned on
> the shorter instrument do not show up well on photography, but are
> very
> open & obvious to the naked eye.
>
> ed
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Edward Martin
> 2817 East 2nd Street
> Duluth, Minnesota 55812
> e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> voice: (218) 728-1202
>
>
>
>
> To get on or off this list see list information at
> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
--
