Stuart Walsh wrote:
Frank Nordberg wrote:
Very interesting Frank. I remember you referring to the Peter Bang MS,
which turned out to be for a viol rather than a cittern. (By the way,
did that MS have a date?)
The Bang manuscript has been dated to 1679 but I don't think anybody
seriously believes that. Late 1680s to 1690s is more likely.
I thought that the Bang MS was the only
potential source of 18th century cittern music in Norway.
I know of three 18th C. Norwegian books with cittern music:
+ The Storm ms., with basic playing and tuning instructions and a
handful of simple instrumental pieces. Written by Edvard Storm in
Copenhagen between 1779 and 1785 and more continental than Norwegian in
style.
Wikipedia has an article about Storm:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edvard_Storm
+ The Dedekam ms., some songs with simple cittern accompaniment. Written
by Mette Kirstine Dedekam and dated to 1799.
+ A cittern tutorial published by Lorents Nicolai Berg (1743-1784) in
Kristiansand in 1782. As far as I know, no copies have survived. I'm not
sure if Are is still on the list. If he is, maybe he's got some more info.
So this Edvard Storm MS is not using a major key, chordal tuning as in
many parts of Europe. It's a cithrinchen (Bell cittern tuning) down a tone?
Is it? I thought the citrinchen was tuned in an open chord.
Is the music in tablature?
Yes.
Is it the tuning of all those Amund Hansen, ten-peg citterns from about
1780?
Almost certainly not.
At least one of the Hansen citterns is clearly made for an open tuning
similar to regular C (although not necessarily in that pitch) and it's
likely that was the most common tuning here as well.
Frank Nordberg
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