Stewart McCoy wrote: > I agree with Howard, that it is not an easy matter deciding whether > Wilson tuned the first string of his instrument at pitch or down an > octave. The first string is rarely used in his lute solos, but there > is enough evidence to support a high octave, and enough to support a > low octave.
And I don't recall seeing a piece in which the evidence is contradictory (i.e. that has both a passage that appears to need a high first course and a passage that needs a low one), but my knowledge is anything but exhaustive. > As far as I know, it is not exactly clear what Wilson's instrument > was like. Even if he were to have called it a theorbo, I somehow > doubt whether it was one of those long-necked chitarrone things. On > page 207 of _Musick's Monument_ (London, 1676), Thomas Mace wrote: > > "The Theorboe, is no other, than That which we call'd the Old > English Lute ..." Lest we confuse the non-theorbo listers, I'll mention that Mace goes on to say that the difference is that the theorbo's first course is down an octave. > With this in mind, I think Wilson's instrument was most likely a > large lute, perhaps with the first string tuned down an octave. He > might even have had more than one instrument. He was a professional player. He must have had more than one instrument. We think of Wilson as a mid-17th-century musician, but his professional London career began no later than 1614, when Dowland and Shakespeare were still alive, and he worked with Robert Johnson and succeeded him as principal songwriter for the King's Men. The renaissance lute was the instrument on which he trained and made his reputation. It would surprise me if he ever completely abandoned it. HP To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
