Dear lute friends,
Over the last months or so I tried playing nearly all pieces presented in the Burwell Lute Tutor book, after I identified (if possible), corrected and completed majority of these pieces. Today I have uploaded the MP3 versions of my home recordings of baroque lute pieces from the âBurwell Lute Tutorâ to [1]https://soundcloud.com/user-731566193/sets/baroque-lute-pieces-from- the-burwell-lute-tutor-1670 as playlist of my Soundcloud channel "Viennalute A" ([2]https://soundcloud.com/user-731566193). Following pieces are included: Corante_Du-But_d-minor, Saraband-J-Gaultier_F-Major, LesTricotins_d-minor, Sarabande-de Madame Royale-Pinel, Courante-d-minor_ano, Sarabande-F-major-anonym, Saraband-Mortmar-d-minor, Corant-Mr-Gaultier-F-Major, Saraband-Mr-Vincent-g-minor, Sarabande-Mr-Gaultier-Paris-a-minor, Corant-MrPinel-C-Major, Preludeum_vieux-Gaultier-F-Major. A PDF copy of my own tablature compilation of all pieces is available on request. As you may know, the âBurwell Lute Tutorâ is a manuscript tutor for the baroque lute. The manuscript is Miss Mary Burwellâs (born 1654) copy of a method written by an Englishman (the name Mr. John Rogers has been suggested) who claims was himself a pupil of the French Ennemond Gaultier. The teacher corrected Miss Burwellâs copy of the text and filled in the music examples. Both the âBurwell Lute Tutorâ and âThe Lute Made Easieâ (by Thomas Mace, London, 1676) are two very authentic and surviving sources of its time teaching in great detail from A to Z how to play the baroque lute. For teaching practice, the manuscript contains examples of French-style lute pieces, mainly fragments and sometimes individual bars only. The music examples are chaotic, with both teacher and pupil contributing to mistakes Some of the pieces are known, and concordances exist in other lute manuscripts, other pieces are new and unique. However, the manuscript describes in great detail how the music is played on the baroque lute, when and how to use the left hand, the thumb and the first and second finger of the right hand, how to play big and the small chords, ornaments, etc. In many cases, each measure is individually analysed how to play and present it. Thus, the baroque lute pieces of the 17th century collection in the Burwell Lute Tutor exactly shows the repertoire of an amateur lute player (like me) of the second half of the 17th century, and what the pupil should be capable to play under the supervision of an experienced lute teacher. By no means I pretend to play the baroque lute as good as it should be played, however I try the best I can to observe all authentic instructions given by Mrs. Burwell's teacher, being a Vienna-based lute amateur more than 350 years later. I play all pieces on my gut strung 11-course Frei lute (string length is 67 cm, build by Mr. Renatus Lechner), which should be very close to Miss Mary Burwellâs instrument. My other lute channels are "Viennalute-1" ([3]https://soundcloud.com/user-32080944) and "Viennalute-2" ([4]https://soundcloud.com/user-731566193). Please stay healthy and resist Corona! Ernst Bernhard from Vienna. -- References 1. https://soundcloud.com/user-731566193/sets/baroque-lute-pieces-from-the-burwell-lute-tutor-1670 2. https://soundcloud.com/user-731566193 3. https://soundcloud.com/user-32080944 4. https://soundcloud.com/user-731566193 To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
