At 11:24 AM 12/20/03 -0500, Roman Turovsky wrote: > > I have just had a phone call from someone who has been asked to play > > the Vivaldi lute concerto, but they don't know what instrument it is > > for. It goes up to c''', i.e. two octaves above middle c'. > > > > In his book _The Early Mandolin_, Early Music Series 9 (Oxford: > > Clarendon Press, 1989) James Tyler argues that the music should be > > played an octave lower than written, presumably on a bog standard > > lute in g', and not, as some musicians do, on a mandolino. This is > > what he writes on page 31: > > > > "Many modern performers have been confused as to the lute intended > > by Vivaldi for his music, and because the music is mostly written in > > the treble clef, have assumed it is to be played in the same > > register as the violin. They have ignored the fact that Vivaldi has > > the lute play from the bass clef as a continuo instrument (see RV540 > > and RV556) when it is not playing its solo passages from the treble > > clef. This confusion has led some eminent performers to play > > Vivaldi's lute pieces on a mandolino which, for their purposes, they > > call a soprano lute." > > > > Please could anyone tell me more about this piece, and the sort of > > instrument required to play it. > > > > Many thanks, > > > > Stewart McCoy. >The issue is simple, you are a comedian and want to sound cheesy: play in on >mandolino. >If you are a man of gravitas: arciliuto. >RT
I'm not entirely certain why the higher octave would imply comedy and cheese. I actually like the 5- or 6-course mandolino and think it achieved a fairly high degree of "gravitas" in the first half of the 18th c...and not only am I a humorless curmudgeon (not really), but I really only favor cheese when it appears in burritos or alfredo. While I like mandolino, I agree that it's not appropriate to Vivaldi except where Vivaldi himself specified its use. Which of Vivaldi's concerti are you to play, Stewart? Eric Liefeld wrote a fine article on this very topic (Liefeld, E. 2002/2003. Pondering Vivaldi's Leuto. LSA Quarterly, 28(1): 4-8). I'll defer to him for a proper reply. Best, Eugene
