Dear Chris/All
Certainly it is possible for close-to-the-bridge hand positions to give "brittle, nasally, banjo-y sound", but it does not have to be that way. I recently gave a talk for the UK Lute Society on just this subject, and it should be written up in the next issue of Lute News, so I won't go over my arguments in detail here. Briefly, though, I was arguing that "authentic" hand positions make little sense unless they are accompanied by similarly "authentic" stringing and instrument construction, and unless they are applied to the right sort of repertoire. I thought I'd mention that I've recently redone my website (nearly finished anyhow!), and that there are audio samples there which are quite relevant to this discussion, as they are played with a variety of techniques. Have a listen! http://www.martineastwell.com/music-samples/ Some details: 1. Dowland Fantasie, recorded 1990 on a 9 course lute. Gut strings (unisons on courses 1-5), with "Catline" basses and thumb-out technique. RH not especially close to the bridge. 2. Mesangau Almand, rec. 2011, 12 course lute, all gut, RH close to bridge, thumb out. 3. The Day Dawes, rec. 2011, course lute, gut with loaded basses, RH close to bridge, thumb out. 4, 5, and 6. Francesco 34/Calata/ Si Vous Voulez rec. 1990, 6 course lute, gut strings with octave basses, thumb under plucking away from the bridge. I plan to change the recordings in a month or so-perhaps I should put up my recording of a J.Gaultier Almand played with Thomas Mace technique-little finger behind the bridge! Best wishes Martin On 27/03/2012 12:12, "Christopher Wilke" <chriswi...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Martyn, > A related and by no means insignificant concern for performers is > what modern audiences expect to hear. What if the close-to-the-bridge > position implies that listeners back in the day expected a very > brittle, nasally, banjo-y sound? That may be nice to know, but I'll bet > few audiences today would enjoy everything performed sempre sul > ponticello. > You may very well be the most authentic kid on the block, but if > everyone alive thinks you make an ugly sound, you've just thrown your > work onto the pile of irrelevance. You can stand on principle and hope > that people will eventually come around to your HIPness, but it takes > an iron will to tough it out through the years when audiences don't > come, promoters don't hire and critics (if they notice you at all) > bash. There is also the financial disincentive provided for the > satisfaction of being a marginalized figure. I for one don't > particularly enjoy playing for posterity or corpses. > I should mention that I'm an advocate of playing close to the > bridge and I wrestle with these issues myself. > Chris > Christopher Wilke > Lutenist, Guitarist and Composer > www.christopherwilke.com > --- On Tue, 3/27/12, Martyn Hodgson <hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > > But putting such thoughts to one side, the real issue is how else > are > we to attempt to recapture as best as we can what the early > composers > had in mind and what their auditors expected to hear; other than by > looking at the historical evidence rather than to our own > prejudices. > > -- > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html On 27/03/2012 12:12, "Christopher Wilke" <chriswi...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Martyn, > A related and by no means insignificant concern for performers is > what modern audiences expect to hear. What if the close-to-the-bridge > position implies that listeners back in the day expected a very > brittle, nasally, banjo-y sound? That may be nice to know, but I'll bet > few audiences today would enjoy everything performed sempre sul > ponticello. > You may very well be the most authentic kid on the block, but if > everyone alive thinks you make an ugly sound, you've just thrown your > work onto the pile of irrelevance. You can stand on principle and hope > that people will eventually come around to your HIPness, but it takes > an iron will to tough it out through the years when audiences don't > come, promoters don't hire and critics (if they notice you at all) > bash. There is also the financial disincentive provided for the > satisfaction of being a marginalized figure. I for one don't > particularly enjoy playing for posterity or corpses. > I should mention that I'm an advocate of playing close to the > bridge and I wrestle with these issues myself. > Chris > Christopher Wilke > Lutenist, Guitarist and Composer > www.christopherwilke.com > --- On Tue, 3/27/12, Martyn Hodgson <hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > > But putting such thoughts to one side, the real issue is how else > are > we to attempt to recapture as best as we can what the early > composers > had in mind and what their auditors expected to hear; other than by > looking at the historical evidence rather than to our own > prejudices. > > -- > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
