I'm merely pointing out that his advice to others is based on no evidence. I, and others, have used the expression 'toy' theorbos many times to describe such unhistorical instruments. Theorbos do, indeed, come in various sizes but those of the size he indicates would have only had the first course an octave down or be tuned much higher (as the Talbot MS's 'Lesser Fr. theorboe for lessons'). May I suggest you look at Lynda Sayces website for more on this. MH
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Martyn, --- Martyn Hodgson wrote: > Clearly, with modern overwound strings, 'toy' > theorboes are possible but that is insufficient > reason for suggesting them as the first choice > > MH > Is it really necessary to use such condescending language? The iconographical and historical record you sighted actually work against the point you're making: theorbos clearly came in all shapes and sizes with varying numbers of strings and stringing setup (i.e. double, single, etc). Trying to "lay down the law" and state unequivocally that we can posit exactly how and to what pitch all of these different types of theorbos were tuned is simply untenable as of now. There may not have even been - and probably wasn't - such a thing as THE theorbo back in the day. We may eventually be able to uncover the truth, but we may also never know. The situation is confusing enough without the ol' Early Music Police showing up on the scene. ;-) Chris ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping --------------------------------- Sent from Yahoo! - a smarter inbox. -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
