The pieces by FdM I'm playing are Fantasias 31, 32, 41, 81 and Ricercars 4,= =20 67. I appreciate what you say, Ed, about them being more difficult than migh= t=20 at first appear, but these at least are within the limits of other pieces I=20 have negotiated until now. There's nothing I can't get my fingers round and=20 being a musician by training, I know something about imitations (though mos= tly of=20 the 12-tone variety). Some of what you say about looking at the individual=20 voices has gradually dawned on me while I've sat there plinking and plonking= , as=20 has the idea of playing the voices separately and seeing where they go and=20 how they sound.=20
I just couldn't believe the music would actually be so barren and aimless,=20 but only after a while did it occur to me that there might be more to it tha= n=20 that. And then one voice after another emerged, and I'm still discovering=20 voices, just when I thought I'd found all there were in the music. Those are= the=20 strettos and the 'morphing' of themes you refer to, I imagine. You're right=20= about=20 him being very imitative, and I enjoy that. It's good practice, loosens up=20 the fingers, and is also fine music, and as I don't have to please anyone bu= t=20 myself (and my long-suffering wife), it is no great disaster if the result a= re=20 not quite what Paul O'Dette might conjure up.=20 It's certainly been one of the great successes of the last years, taking up=20 the lute. I can now play to my heart's content, whereas with the guitar I ha= d=20 to limit myself to about =BE 0f an hour or the left wrist started hurting wi= th=20 the tendonitis. And the music is wonderful, an entirely new sound world to=20 explore.=20 Thanks one and all for the tips, cheers Tom =20 --
