Thanks Bill,
Indeed these are the figures I recall.
The average of all them all is 148. As already remarked, the Edlinger
(and some other Hapsburg lands instruments) seem generally bigger than
most at around 155mm; whereas the Hoffmann's (North German) seem to be
generally in the mid 140s. Perhaps reflecting local tastes? - but too
small a sample to draw any clear conclusions.
Martyn
--- On Tue, 4/10/11, William Samson <willsam...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
From: William Samson <willsam...@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: [BAROQUE-LUTE] Re: L'Infidele
To: "Martyn Hodgson" <hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk>, "BAROQUE-LUTE"
<baroque-lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>, "Rob MacKillop"
<robmackil...@gmail.com>
Date: Tuesday, 4 October, 2011, 12:02
Hi Martyn,
I believe I've found David's stuff on string spacings in the
archive:
[1][1]http://www.mail-archive.com/lute@cs.dartmouth.edu/msg19722.htm
l
Best regards,
Bill
From: Martyn Hodgson <[2]hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk>
To: BAROQUE-LUTE <[3]baroque-lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>; Rob MacKillop
<[4]robmackil...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, 4 October 2011, 10:25
Subject: [BAROQUE-LUTE] Re: L'Infidele
Dear Rob,
It is a stretch but I do think the low A (ie 13th) is meant: the
BL
MS
is very clear and there are no signs of an a on the 6th course
being
altered to a 6 (as we sometimes find elsewhere).
I think there are two factors here:
1. Clearly much depends on how one disposes the hand: to play such
extensions I move the thumb closer to the bridge (ie behind the
plucking position of the fingers) and I find this allows the first
and
13th to be plucked simultaneously.
2. The other thing is that I'm not quite sure if a string band of
153mm
isn't a bit too wide for a 13 course instrument. The JC Hoffmann
(1730) string band is 140mm (both the Museum and Stephen Murphy's
drawings) and my own instrument is 145mm (based on an average
inter-course seperation of 12mm). As pointed out in a FoMRHI paper
several years ago, there is some evidence that inter-course
seperation
reduced with the advent of the additional two bass courses (eg the
earlier 11 course JC Hoffmann of 1716 has an average inter-course
seperation of around 13mm) but I agree that some of the later
large
theorboed German lutes exhibit quite large inter-course
seperation.
However Weiss seems to have written for the 13th course instrument
with
a single pegbox (with treble and bass riders) as the 1730 Hoffmann
as
witnessed by stopping basses below course 8 and not the late
'galant'
type of 13th course lute. Incidentally, Baron (1727) particularly
singles out JC Hoffmann for making instruments which fit the hand:
in
DA Smith's translation 'He [JCH] also knows how to place the
courses
and strings at the proper distances so that his lutes can be
manipulated very easily'.
Finally, could you remind me of the paper /research source which
analysis the sizes of 13th course bridges and suggests an average
of
153mm?
regards,
Martyn
From: Rob MacKillop <[2][5]robmackil...@gmail.com>
Subject: [BAROQUE-LUTE] L'Infidele
To: "BAROQUE-LUTE" <[3][6]baroque-lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Date: Tuesday, 4 October, 2011, 9:05
Enjoying exploring my new 13c, and slowly getting the feel for
right-hand string spacing and thumb placement. I'm determined not
to
look at my right hand, just feel my way. So, I've been slowly
growing
in confidence...until I read through Weiss' L'Infidele.
It's years since I listened to anyone play this suite, and it was
a
great joy to start reading through the Entree: 'Hey, I can do
this!'.
I
read the Courante slowly, but thinking it a possibility I will one
day
be able to play it up tempo. The Sarabande, like all Weiss
Sarabandes,
is sublimely beautiful. The minuet lies under the fingers. So, I
was
beginning to think this is a suite I can get my teeth into. Then I
hit
the Musette...
Bar 4 demands the thumb on the 13th course, the index on the 5th
and
(presumably) the ring finger on the 1st. The string band on my
lute
is
153mm, and I have large hands. I should be able to do this, but is
is
very hard. I can manage it, but, clearly, at a stretch. 153mm does
not
seem excessive, and is pretty much bang in the middle of all
surviving
13c bridges, in other words an average size. Will practise of this
passage make my stretch longer?
Anyone else have problems with this passage? I seem (in
desperation,
maybe) to recall someone arguing that originally the low A was up
an
octave at the 6th course, and the 13th course was written in
later.
Any
info on that?
Rob MacKillop
www.robmackillop.net
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