At 05:34 PM 12/2/2008, David van Ooijen wrote: >Now there are many refinements to the above summary, but for starters >it should answer your question: if you want to play 'historically' >with quill, you're stuck in the Middle Ages. A fine time to be stuck >in with lots of wonderful music. Not a bad choice. If you're most >happy with thumb in, you'd better like the 16th century repertoire, >it's the age. But if thumb out is your thing, you'd have to turn to >music from about 1600 onwards.
Perhaps straying a little from the topic of quills applied to Dowland, but there are, of course, a few exceptions to the above paragraph amongst lute-like plucked thingies. Renaissance citterns are often played with quill. Even more lute like, mandolini of the baroque era are often played with quill; such instruments are much more similar to soprano lutes than they are to modern mandolins: tuning wholly or mostly in 4ths ([g]-b-e'-a'-d''-g''), gut strings, fixed bridge, etc. Some argue that punteado was status quo on mandolini until after the mid 1700s or so, but there are excellent recorded examples of quills or plectra applied to baroque mandolini. Paul O'Dette uses fingers on Arrigoni's mandolin sonata in E minor, but plectrum on Scarlatti's on Tragicomedia's "Capritio" disc (Harmonia Mundi). O'Dette also uses plectrum on Vivaldi's RV 425 and 532 on The Parley of Instruments' "Vivaldi: Music For lute and Mandolin" (Hyperion). I find the Ahlert-Schwab reconstruction of Weiss duos particularly satisfying on their CD "Weiss & Hoffmann: Sonatas for Lute & Baroque Mandolin" (Naxos), and Daniel is a skilled inveterate quiller of mandolini. Regarding the represented composers on the Ahlert-Schwab disc, Hoffmann almost certainly composed for mandolino with the expectation that quill would be used. Their choice of instruments is a little anachronistically "idealized", but both Duo Capriccioso and Duetto Giocondo have a number of fine recordings applying quill to lute-like, 6-course mandolini in baroque repertoire, notably the former's recording of the Scarlatti sonatas for soprano instrument and continuo (Thorofon) and the latter's "Music for Baroque Mandolin & Lute" (Koch). Yes, still mandolini, but I can name many more in this vein. Perhaps, Neil, it's time to take up a 5- or 6-course mandolin? I could use some company over here. Best, Eugene To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
