Franz;
Very well reasoned & eloquently written response- you have made me quite curious to see &
try one of these things out. I have an instrument of my own that fits no historical
classification but provides an alternative tone color; a seven string steel-string guitar
acquired cheaply on a whim while awaiting the completion of my vihuela. I have it strung/tuned as
a "G" tenor lute at a=415; it works best as a fake Orpharion (flexibility of modern
steel strings allows tuning to the relative Bandora intervals, more creative fakery!) Of course,
it is no closer to a real Orpharion/Bandora than the modern Classical guitar is to the lute, but
it does provide that wire string sound- and is far more satisfactory for Renaissance music than
the modern Classical guitar with its boomy, opaque bass response and dull lack of clarity (on
most guitars) if played without nails.
One more wrinkle about polyphonically oriented lutes- My Chambure model vihuela is strung
with a doubled 1st course. This has the salutary effect of integrating that course with
all the others in tone color; becoming the "soprano" section of the choir
instead of the solo prima donna, singing alone above the chorus. But it took time to work
out the best tension/diameter/pitch combination- and then, the very hard work (for me) of
refining the right hand touch for clean sound without clashing or twanging of the
strings- which then benefits good touch on all other courses as well.
While done or at least attempted historically at certain times, the doubled 1st
seems to have been mostly considered too troublesome (and probably too
expensive!) to be worth while over the longest haul. But we do have
Caravaggio's paintings showing at least one doubled 1st on a 7 course, and then
on up to Dowland's and Robinson's clearly stated preference for this set up;
and apparently even into the middle and later 17th century some players
persisted with doubled 1st (Mace?) while the majority had already gone over to
the single 2nd as well as 1st. Of course, all of this well past the time of the
Renaissance ideal of polyphony.
Dan
On 8/22/2013 11:55 PM, Franz Mechsner wrote:
Dear Bruno,
I own a guitar made by Mario Gropp and a vihuela by Alexander Batov and
am very happy with both instruments. I also had a Liuto Forte for
several years, which I unfortunately had to sell for financial reasons.
I miss that beautiful instrument a lot.
First of all, it is a wonderful instrument in its own right, so I
estimated it highly such as I estimate my guitar and my vihuela. There
is no need to compare any of these instruments on the cost of the
others - every of these has something the others have not and the other
way around, which is trivial of course but has to be told to purists of
any sort. Recently I've had the privilege to host Andre Burguete who
invented the instrument. It was pure joy to hear him fill the house
with his beautiful and tasteful playing, still a wonderful memory. He
plays with nails but recently developed a playing technique somewhat
different from Segovia style to serve the possibilities of the Liuto
Forte best.
So most importantlyl, the instruments of the Liuto Forte family are
beautifully crafted and sound beautiful. In that respect they can only
be praised highly. Really highly, to my humble judgment.
If you have to classify the sound of a Liuto Forte on a scale between
early music lute (or vihuela, if you like) on one end and the guitar on
the other end, it would certainly be closer to the guitar than to the
early music lute or vihuela, while you can shift the position closer to
early music instruments when you play the Liuto Forte without nails.
But to leave it with that one-dimensional judgment of sound
characteristics would not really do justice to the instrument.
It has to be said that the Liuto Forte has an astonishing range and
variability of sound characteristics which can neither be covered by a
modern guitar nor by a lute. When played with nails, the strings feel
somewhat softer than guitar strings and can be played with less force.
This is no wonder as string tension is lower than on a guitar. Overall,
to my impression a Liuto Forte sounds more transparent, which serves
polyphony. This is particularly so in the bass range where a guitar
often (or probably usually) sounds somewhat "thick" and "too strong"
while a Liuto Forte has more clarity here as well as a better balance
between bass and treble in my judgment. Not to forget the possibilities
that open up with the enlarged bass range and the variability made
possible by the family of instruments.
One may well say, the lute family is all one needs and be happy with
this. I have nothing to say against such a stance except that this is
only spoken from a certain taste and viewpoint which is open to
discussion to say the least. I myself do much welcome a new family of
instruments which mirrors the world of lutes in a way the violin family
mirrors the viol family. I feel quite strange seeing them dismissed in
a sentence, called them "fake lutes" etc. Couldn't one call, with equal
right, a modern violin a "fake viol", or a modern guitar a "fake
guitar" as it is not a Renaissance or Baroque guitar, or a Bach concert
played by a modern orchestra a "fake concert". There are certainly
people who do so... I see no reason why I shouldn't love all of these
instruments and ways of playing music (if well done of course...). As
said, there's nothing to say against different tastes and viewpoints
here, but much to say against dogmatic and dismissing viewpoints. (By
the way, the Liuto Forte team was, awarded the European Innovation
Award for Musical Instruments in 1999 given by Robert Schuman
Foundation and the Europaeische Kulturstiftung. So it seems I'm not the
only one with my high esteem.)
The Liuto Forte sounds well also without nails. Thus you can play
romantic music without nails to an astonishing effect. It sounds quite
intimate and soft. I never played a parlor guitar thus I cannot compare
but I loved the possibility to use the Liuto Forte in this way which is
not possible with the modern guitar. You can also play lute music
without nails which produces - in my view - a sound which quite
deviates from normal guitar sound and may give more justice to, say,
Renaissance lute music as a guitar would. I played some English
Renaissance music without nails in a room filled with about 200 not
always silent people sitting around tables, on the occasion of a
Christmas celebration. It worked really well.
Professional guitarists seem to like, in addition, that Liuto Fortes
can be well heard in ensembles.
In sum I would say: if you like the sound a Liuto Forte you can enjoyed
that beautiful instrument its own right and also play it in concert
simply because you like it. Depending on what your equipment and needs
are, there might be opportunities where you might prefer playing a
Liuto Forte not only for subjective taste reasons but also for
practical reasons.
Please take this as the opinion and experience of a non-expert who
loves music and simply likes the Liuto Forte regarding sound and
possibilities as well as regarding design.
Best
Franz
-----------------------
Dr. Franz Mechsner
Zum Kirschberg 40
D-14806 Belzig OT Borne
franz.mechs...@gmx.de
+49(0)33841-441362
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