Alan Hoyle wrote:
As retirement, and subsequent reduction of money to spend on luxuries,
approaches, my wife (or 'wifu', David, but never again 'her indoors')
has informed me that it should be possible for me to buy one last
instrument. Realistically, though, I couldn't really go much beyond
£2000( plus whatever I can get for my 1979 nine-course orpharion,
which my slightly arthritic wrists, elbows & shoulders cannot manage
to play now)
At present, I have (in addition to the orpharion) a six-course G lute,
a six-course G viola da mano, and a seven-course G lute that I built
some 30 years ago from the Harwood & Isaacs lute kit - no prizes for
guessing the repertoire that I have been playing.
But now I find myself totally unsure what to choose. For many years I
have dreamed of one day owning a baroque lute. Would that be a
sensible choice for a man whose fingers are slowing down (to say
nothing of his brain!). And if it were a sensible choice, then how
many courses? The only baroque repertoire that I am at all familiar
with is Weiss (thanks to Robert Barto) and Bach (thanks to Walter
Gerwig) - almost certainly too demanding for me to contemplate trying
to learn. I know nothing of the French 17th century styles, is there
scope there for an aging novice?
Should I stick to the 'Golden Age', simply moving from mostly
pre-1550 to focus more on 1600? And then, once more the question
arises, how many courses? I know this was discussed a few months ago &
I can go and look in the archives...
Or, should I stick with what I am accustomed to and buy an instrument
of different character - a vihuela in A, for example, of a lower
pitched lute in E or F?
Or... should I simply tell my wife, 'No, dear, I really don't need any
more instruments - I think you should buy yourself a bigger greenhouse'?
I would seriously welcome suggestions and advice.
Alan
How about a five-course (Baroque) guitar? I think these might be in your
price range though modern makers tend to copy only the most ornate
models from the past - and charge accordingly.
This will give you a huge repertoire (from the early 17th century right
into the 18th) from the familiar (Sanz, De Visee etc ) to... as obscure
as you want. And you could dabble with continuo and accompany others.
And you can endlessly muse about stringing and tuning.
Stuart
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