Charlie, once again, people accuse me of insulting them (at least you, unlike Abramovich and others before) did not insult me but answered with a statement that I can relate to. Thanks. Of cause I wouldn't mind if more young people would pick up the lute. It's a tragedy that modern people, old or young, know so little about the great lute composers and you can only learn by playing. This is the way lute music was transmitted, not concerts or records. In fact I think every schoolchild should be given a lute and there should be lute lessons in school everywhere, like arithmetic or languages. Everybody should be a scholar and the world would be a better place. The money spent for one day of military presence in Iraq would last for many good lutes with excellent strings. Anyway, these *student* lutes should be made state of the art in order not to debase the lute and the players. Because it is such a sophisticated instrument it always was an elite thing to play and own it. Now if you want to spread it the risk is that by making it affordable you bereft it of crucial aspects, amongst which I count the strings. I can't agree they are of no importance. You might be from a different background (a former guitarist) and might pick up on other aspects, but again I assure you, from the bottom of my heart, no insult intended, just my plain feelings: I can't stand the sound of plastic strings. It makes me sick, really! I don't think music is the same regardless what instrument or strings you play upon. Instruments and sound are very important to me, and I believe (as a composer, music historian and musician with quite a number of years of experience with various kinds of music) that sound is indeed a crucial element of all art music, and that includes subtleties. Music is about subtleties. Please accept that, it's not an insult to people who don't care. I am not rich either; it's more like the French spend proportionally more money on food because they think it's important, I spend more on strings. Which is not quite true, because the strings Nick Baldock supplies are so incredibly good they seem to be indestructible. I have changed some chanterelles in the last couple of month (!) and that was it. But I wash my hand before I touch the lute and I play under "historic" conditions, in small rooms alone or for friends. I am very careful with my instruments and strings. Yet I made a film recording once with heavy electrical lighting and the strings didn't even go out of tune much more than plastic would have. You have to get used to gut strings, they need different treatment and some patience and most people don't have that kind of patience.
Best wishes, danyel (ps. I responded to several of Humphrey's private mails, I suspect a lute alone won't help him) ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2005 4:19 AM Subject: [LUTE] Re: student lutes (Re: Who wants to sell "New Boy" a lute?) > > Really, this is getting to be too much. Why should playing lute be= an > elite club? I am certainly not glad that more young people don't = play > lute, and I dream of a world in which I could take a theorbo on the su= bway > without being asked about it a million times. > > As probably the youngest person on this list, maybe I can offer a differ= > ent perspective. When I was a guitarist in conservatory I happened to= go > see Orfeo, and fell in love with the music. I didn't care what ma= terial > the theorbo was strung with (it was gut basses and nylgut stopped st= > rings). I had to get a lute. > > Being just a student, there's no way I could have afforded anything in t= he > price range you are suggesting. I eventually (after borrowing for = several > months) got a fifteen year old eight-course by Larry Brown for $800= . It > was strung all in "plastic" with wound basses. That's all = you need to > play renaissance music. It only took a little time for me= to give up > guitar and play lute full-time. > > I have since been able to play other lutes thanks to some very generous = > loans of instruments, but I know my story is the usual one. Young pro= > fessional musicians often are in no position to buy and string lutes of the= > quality you claim is necessary for enjoyment. Would you deny them th= e > opportunity of taking up the lute because of financial concerns? Ju= st > think of the debt they accrue just by attending a conservatory in the St= > ates; and unlike pre-meds, they often have no assurance they will be able t= > o pay the money back. Why do they do it? Because like all of yo= u > (presumably) they have discovered something in early music that they coul= d > not live without. That's all that really matters; whether it be on = a > cheap old ahistorical lute or an ultra-correct all-gut one, lute music is= > great music which still does not have enough people playing it. Any = > concern about equipment, though it is important, is secondary (being extram= > usical) to the fundamental concern about and love for the music. > > The function of this list should be to disseminate information about lut= e > music, not to insult other readers. Did anyone ever answer Humphrey= 's > question? If you want a cheap, decent lute, get in touch with Ed G= > reenhood of Baltimore. I think his email is [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Charlie > To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
