Bravo Ron Andrico! Bravo! No more cluttering of emails--yours says it best! Timothy Swain
On Wed, Jun 19, 2019 at 8:11 AM Ron Andrico <[1]praelu...@hotmail.com> wrote: I feel I must add a word of support for Julian Bream and his many contributions to the current lute revival. As a 20th-century pioneering concert artist, Julian Bream first and foremost raised the lute from a quaint closet instrument, best suited to historians and eccentrics, to an instrument capable of musical expression that reached and communicated to modern audiences. Yes, Julian Bream developed and employed his own characteristic technique. And yes, he used instruments that were modified from historical models to suit his needs as a touring concert artist. But it was through his musical chops that he exposed a broad audience to the depth and the possibilities of old music for the lute. Bream-bashing has been a popular sport among modern players who like to dwell on what is now considered proper lute technique, but many of these players for all intents and purposes dwell in glass houses. For instance, I still see an absurd number of modern players (who really should know better) using thumb-under technique on baroque lute and theorbo. This is patently unhistorical. In fact, it is well known that music from circa 1600 onward should be played with the thumb out. While the lute world is populated by an abundance of opinionated hobbyists, Julian Bream is a real musician, and probably still has chops most lute players will never attain. Let's give the man the respect he deserves. RA __________________________________________________________________ From: [2]lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu <[3]lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu> on behalf of Gary Boye <[4]boy...@appstate.edu> Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2019 11:23 AM To: Edward C. Yong Cc: Jurgen Frenz; Lute List Subject: [LUTE] Re: Julian Bream on Lute Edward, Back in the '70s, there was a quip that "Julian Bream makes the lute sound like a guitar and the guitar sound like a lute." I think that came from guitarists who had no idea what the lute could sound like. He was pretty amazing in concert (on guitar, I didn't see him play lute), and quite a character off stage. In addition to "lute," he also played "vihuela" and "Baroque guitar" (quotes used intentionally!) . . . Can't say I'd recommend his early music recordings to students today though.. Gary On Wed, Jun 19, 2019 at 5:39 AM Edward C. Yong <[1][5]edward.y...@gmail.com> wrote: I have to agree. JB used his stardom to get the lute out there, even if it was a Frankenlute with nothing lute about it apart from the shape. Would anyone have paid attention to his lute playing if it hadn't ridden on the back of his guitarist reputation? Probably not. I recognise that many here were introduced to the lute via JB's efforts, but my own experience was rather different. My first exposure to lute music was an LP of Julian Bream playing Dowland in my school library, and that put me off the lute - it sounded like a classical guitar to me, so at 12, I didn't see the point. It wasn't until a year later that I heard Paul O'Dette and Jakob Lindberg's cd of Elizabethan lute duets and that changed my mind entirely - I wanted to play an instrument that sounded like theirs. While I have much respect for JB being a musician on the guitar and an 'early adopter', I fear I find his tone on the lute to be thin and hard, or âmetallic sharp' as Mr Frenz calls it. It's difficult for me to look past the tone and appreciate JB's musicianship on the lutewhen I find the tone unattractive - and this is my failing, not JB's. Edward > On 19 Jun 2019, at 12:40 PM, Jurgen Frenz <[2][6]eye-and-ear-cont...@protonmail.com> wrote: > > Julian Bream was a vital part (I believe) of the lute revival 50 years ago by making the music public. On the downside of it he played guitar technique on it to the point of using singe strings on both the high G and D courses - it allowed him to play apoyando on the lute which is a big no-no. Hence his lute playing doesn't really sound like a lute. Also, at that time, it was common guitar technique to use sound differences to emphasize or mark formal sections by moving the right hand extremely close to the bridge, which creates a very metallic sharp sound. This has fallen out of favor on the guitar as well, I personally would qualify it as obnoxious, even more so on the lute. > If you like it, you may listen to Konrad Ragossnigs lute recordings, he sounds very much like Bream did. > > Best > Jurgen > > > ---------------------------------- > "Close your eyes. Fall in love. Stay there." > > JalÃl ad-Dà «n Muhammad Rumi > > âââââââ Original Message âââââââ > On Wednesday, June 19, 2019 6:13 AM, Franz Mechsner <[3][7]franz.mechs...@gmx.de> wrote: > >> Dear Dan, >> >> Julian Bream actually pioneered lute playing very early. Watch >> this beautiful movie on him that makes me smile (lute things come >> somewhere in the >> middle): [1][4][8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI >> >> Warm regards and best >> Franz >> >> Dr. Franz Mechsner >> Zum Kirschberg 40 >> D-14806 Belzig OT Borne >> +49(0)33841 441362 >> [5][9]franz.mechs...@gmx.de >> >> Gesendet: Mittwoch, 19. Juni 2019 um 01:07 Uhr >> Von: "Dan Winheld" [6][10]dwinh...@lmi.net >> An: "Franz Mechsner" [7][11]franz.mechs...@gmx.de, [8][12]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu >> Betreff: Re: [LUTE] Julian Bream on Lute >> Nope. Never heard of him. >> On 6/18/2019 3:49 PM, Franz Mechsner wrote: >> >>> Dear collective wisdom, >> >>> >> >>> I just heard some pieces played by admired guitarist Julian Bram on >> >> the >> >>> lute. It seems to me he played kind of classical guitar style on the >> >>> lute. Strange, but It sounds wonderful to me, not only bold for the >> >>> time. Does anyone understand how he played the (maybe special) lute >> >> and >> >>> produced the wonderful sound on a lute admittedly built for him? >> >>> >> >>> Best and curious >> >>> Franz >> >>> >> >>> Dr. Franz Mechsner >> >>> Zum Kirschberg 40 >> >>> D-14806 Belzig OT Borne >> >>> +49(0)33841 441362 >> >>> [9][13]franz.mechs...@gmx.de >> >>> >> >>> >> >>> To get on or off this list see list information at >> >>> [2][10][14]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> >>> >> >> References >> >> 1. [11][15]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI >> 2. [12][16]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > -- Dr. Gary R. Boye Erneston Music Library Appalachian State University -- References 1. [1]mailto:[17]edward.y...@gmail.com 2. [2]mailto:[18]eye-and-ear-cont...@protonmail.com 3. [3]mailto:[19]franz.mechs...@gmx.de 4. [4][20]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI 5. [5]mailto:[21]franz.mechs...@gmx.de 6. [6]mailto:[22]dwinh...@lmi.net 7. [7]mailto:[23]franz.mechs...@gmx.de 8. [8]mailto:[24]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu 9. [9]mailto:[25]franz.mechs...@gmx.de 10. [10][26]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 11. [11][27]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI 12. [12][28]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html Virus-free. [13][29]www.avast.com -- References Visible links: 1. mailto:[30]edward.y...@gmail.com 2. mailto:[31]eye-and-ear-cont...@protonmail.com 3. mailto:[32]franz.mechs...@gmx.de 4. [33]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI 5. mailto:[34]franz.mechs...@gmx.de 6. mailto:[35]dwinh...@lmi.net 7. mailto:[36]franz.mechs...@gmx.de 8. mailto:[37]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu 9. mailto:[38]franz.mechs...@gmx.de 10. [39]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 11. [40]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI 12. [41]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 13. [42]https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link &utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=link Hidden links: 15. [43]https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link &utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=icon 16. file://localhost/net/ifs-users/lute-arc/L28660-816TMP.html#DAB4FAD8- 2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2 -- References 1. mailto:praelu...@hotmail.com 2. mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu 3. mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu 4. mailto:boy...@appstate.edu 5. mailto:edward.y...@gmail.com 6. mailto:eye-and-ear-cont...@protonmail.com 7. mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de 8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI 9. mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de 10. mailto:dwinh...@lmi.net 11. mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de 12. mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu 13. mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de 14. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI 16. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 17. mailto:edward.y...@gmail.com 18. mailto:eye-and-ear-cont...@protonmail.com 19. mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de 20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI 21. mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de 22. mailto:dwinh...@lmi.net 23. mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de 24. mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu 25. mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de 26. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 27. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI 28. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 29. http://www.avast.com/ 30. mailto:edward.y...@gmail.com 31. mailto:eye-and-ear-cont...@protonmail.com 32. mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de 33. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI 34. mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de 35. mailto:dwinh...@lmi.net 36. mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de 37. mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu 38. mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de 39. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 40. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI 41. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 42. https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=link 43. https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=icon