I yet have difficulty understanding the purist as I'm not sure how one defines what is pure. Yes we can attempt to duplicate the several string formats of old, and we can duplicate the instrument from museum pieces (but never exactly how they sounded together). But can we duplicate the tempi of the tunes? I use that as an obvious problem in purism. There is no metronome setting in the tab, nor can we be sure just how fast a renaissance dance was (unless we want to assume that Hollywood has the Gavotte right in its period pieces). Timing, emphasis and the sense of the tune - these we have to guess. Educated guesses certainly, but still guesses. Nor can we say how the old masters would have played had they some of our modern advantages. Would the old lutenist have turned his nose up at amplification if it allowed him to play above the sounds of the feast?
I believe in being as true to the sense of the assumed sound as one can be, but that includes a sense of the song - and I'm sure the old boys didn't play exactly as written. Best, Jon To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
