> > But take for example: Isaac's Benedictus which Jon Banks has used in > several places as an example (and number one, in the Lute Society > publication) - bar 34 in the lowest voice. The Bb lasts four bars. Even > at a brisk pace, a very brisk pace or an outright gallop, a single > plucked note isn't going to last four bars. So why write it? Banks is > claiming that this music is actually, specifically written for plucked > instruments. Why didn't Isaac put in a rest for a couple of bars or why > didn't he repeat the note - rather than let it hang there inaudibly. > > Maybe musicians of the time both vocalised the notes and played them > instrumentally (so both contestants in the modern debate: all-vocal > versus instrumental performance would be satisfied!). After all, Jon > Banks insists that this music is for a learned bunch of singer-players. >
Dear Stuart, Singer-players would probably understand that the note, written in its first generation for singers, only gets one syllable and understand the intent. Those that chose to play it on the lute would understand that the composition needs that note to support the harmony and would restrike it if necessary or maybe choose the viol for that part (or section?). It's not that obtrusive to repeat a slow moving note while the action is elsewhere. Spinacino often restrikes notes (such as does Capirola and Newsidler). It was troublesome sometimes but wasn't seen as a sin. Or some may have felt it was and didn't. And certainly no more than jumping the octave or confusing voice-leading in the score. They were flaws that could be got around often by loosening the tolerances. And I'm just as sure there were folks who said it wasn't suitable for lute then, too. Lute ensembles are interesting palletts. With all the parts decaying more ore less similarly one's ear is more forgiving to this problem. Differences of string/instrument/timbre all become more pronounced and I, for one, am drawn into the overall sound and listening for the individual flavors working up to a whole. When I heard the Venere Q play Palestrina it was more like a vocal performance than I had expected. The beauty of each person playing their one line is that they can treat it like the vocal performance they might usually sing and not get hung up on the technical aspects. By the way, the Benedictus was originally 4-voiced in Isaac's mass, Quant j'ay au cueur; itself based on a chanson by Busnois. If they could toss out a voice like that (Isaac was one of the early populizers of the "4-voice" trend) I'm sure they knew how to deal with a troublesome long note. Sean To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
