I wonder if lutenists of the 15th and early 16th centuries felt the same about the introduction of the 7, 8 and 10 course instruments, not to mention the theorbos, attorbiatos etc., as some of us seem to feel about the liutos forte, ruby gambas, arch guitars, etc.
Also regarding Julian Bream, I think Bream gets a damn good sound out of that lute of his. I think his playing on the "Two Loves" album he did with Peggy Ascroft reading from Shakespeare is excellent. I don't know that there is one, and only one, way a lute can sound. Every lute I've ever played on, or heard played, sounds significantly different from every other lute. So how do we determine what the authentic sound of a lute should be? It all seems to come down to the fancy of the moment. What I get from reading about early players is that they eagerly sought out and made use of whatever the latest innovation was. That's why we have such a wide spectrum of lutes and lutelike instruments availlable to us today. I say the more the merrier, innovate away. I have to admit, however, that the makers of the liuto forte do make some uncalled for and disparaging remarks about traditional lutes on their website. Does anyone know of a CD or mp3, etc. featuring the liuto forte? I'd like to hear how it sounds. Best to All Gary ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stewart McCoy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Lute Net" <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> Sent: Friday, July 28, 2006 5:58 AM Subject: [LUTE] Liuto Forte > Dear Luca, > > To laugh with is fine; to laugh at isn't. > > Today's lute players have an attitude to their music-making, which > is generally different from players of other instruments. We try to > recreate music from the past, as accurately as we can, within the > limits of our understanding. It is backward-looking, concerned > primarily with what happened years ago. Not much new music gets > composed for the lute today. Some of it finds its way into print, > but it is small beer compared to the amount of facsimiles and modern > editions of old music available, and most players are not interested > in modern music. > > Players of other instruments tend to be more forward-looking, and > are not bogged down in the past. Their aim is to make progress, to > experiment, to improve. New music is composed without the millstone > of authenticity. New instruments are developed to satisfy new needs. > You have only to walk into a music shop and see the fine array of > guitars for sale, not one of them looking like a 4-course > renaissance guitar from the 16th century, save perhaps for a ukulele > or two. > > Both approaches have their merits, but I think it is unfair to > criticise the developers of the liuto forte for not being > historically minded. That doesn't appear to be their aim. In the > past, the lute was played to small audiences - for Mary Burwell that > would be just three or four people. Nowadays we are expected to play > to much larger audiences, and audibility can be a problem. The liuto > forte people simply want to create a loud instrument, so that people > can hear it. You could argue that listening to their instrument is > not much different from listening to a lute built on historical > principles amplified through a microphone or recorded onto CD. > > Best wishes, > > Stewart McCoy. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Luca Manassero" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> > Sent: Friday, July 28, 2006 7:31 AM > Subject: [LUTE] Re: Liuto Forte > > > > Have a laugh... > > > > Here is all what you're looking for: > > http://www.liuto-forte.com/english/index.htm > > > > Sometimes nightmares come true. > > > > Luca > > > > Bruno Correia on 28/07/2006 4.01 wrote: > > > Does anybody knows anything about this "Liuto Forte"? I wrote to > one of the > > > builders and he replied: > > > > > > "In my opinion the liuto forte sounds like a perfect lute, quite > different > > > from Julian Breams instruments. If you live in America I want to > invite you > > > for the first presentation of the Liuto forte in the United > States at the > > > Metropolitan Museum on 20th of September at 3:30 pm". > > > > > > Perhaps it would be interesting if someone in the area could > attend this > > > presentation, I am curious about it... > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.10.5/403 - Release Date: 7/28/2006 > >
