Thank you so much, Ron.
Apart from my really deep admiration for Bream, I asked a very simple
question: How did he get the marvellous sound and colors from a lute
with his fingernails? Of course, some of the recordings sound somewhat
sharp (though full of life), but some with a sound whose beauty brings
me to tears (almost).
When I myself try to play my lute with fingernails, the
instrument answers with catastrophic screams: "No no, please stop this
bad treatment of my delicate personality!".
Apart from that all, sound production, colors, fine expression,
atmosphere and sentiment on any instrument seems to me the most
profound question you can ask about making music, rather than an all
too naive stupid question of a beginner who - upon asking
such questions - can easily be eaten for breakfeast by the guys 50
years in the profession (or matter, in the case of lute).
I actually woke up to the question with a piano teacher who promised to
"connect you with the instrument" according to a method developed in
the 1920th by a genial piano teacher called Elisabeth Caland. Her
emphasis and focus was on back muscles, body centre and the like.
Sounds good (I study Feldenkrais), but I wanted to know. I booked
lessons with him, which were extremely eye- (or body-) opening. After
more than half a year, I could clearliy realize that he has to teach
something extremely important, clever and deep (and completely
unexpected!) about sound production, but am still struggling how his
marvellous sound is finanlly achieved. So the main lesson for me was:
sound production is not at all a simple matter, and morover, not at all
simple to teach and learn.
My strong suspicion is, that there are analogous secrets regarding
sound and color on the lute and guitar I never came across. In this
connection, I ask: What did Julian Bream find out about it (on lute and
guitar) by teaching himself???
My other suspicion, unfortunately fueled by my exciting experience with
the mentioned extraordinary piano teacher, is that most musicians - not
only pianists, but maybe even lutenists... :-) - have no idea how to
achieve the best sound to move their own and other people's souls. Some
players may be a natural talents, playing by following their ear,
who don't know what they do with their body and instrument (this kind
of people say: Julian Bream is good because he is excellent...), but
some - and these are interesting for the rest of us - who are able to
teach and tell.
I am looking for wonderful touching sound, to improve in any way I am
able to, pieces don't need to be complicated - is there anybody out
there who would be ready to communicate off-list with me on the
issue???
Best regards, and I will not disturb you anymore with stupid questions
Franz
Dr. Franz Mechsner
Zum Kirschberg 40
D-14806 Belzig OT Borne
+49(0)33841 441362
franz.mechs...@gmx.de
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 19. Juni 2019 um 17:09 Uhr
Von: "Ron Andrico" <praelu...@hotmail.com>
An: "Gary Boye" <boy...@appstate.edu>, "Edward C. Yong"
<edward.y...@gmail.com>
Cc: "Jurgen Frenz" <eye-and-ear-cont...@protonmail.com>, "Lute List"
<lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Betreff: [LUTE] Re: Julian Bream on Lute
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: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu <lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu> on behalf
of Gary Boye <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]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]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."
>
> JalÄl ad-DÄ«n Muhammad Rumi
>
> âââââââ Original Message âââââââ
> On Wednesday, June 19, 2019 6:13 AM, Franz Mechsner
<[3]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][1]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]franz.mechs...@gmx.de
>>
>> Gesendet: Mittwoch, 19. Juni 2019 um 01:07 Uhr
>> Von: "Dan Winheld" [6]dwinh...@lmi.net
>> An: "Franz Mechsner" [7]franz.mechs...@gmx.de,
[8]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]franz.mechs...@gmx.de
>>
>>>
>>
>>>
>>
>>> To get on or off this list see list information at
>>
>>> [2][10][2]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>>
>>>
>>
>> References
>>
>> 1. [11][3]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI
>> 2. [12][4]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>
>
>
>
--
Dr. Gary R. Boye
Erneston Music Library
Appalachian State University
--
References
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2. [2]mailto:eye-and-ear-cont...@protonmail.com
3. [3]mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de
4. [4][5]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI
5. [5]mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de
6. [6]mailto:dwinh...@lmi.net
7. [7]mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de
8. [8]mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
9. [9]mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de
10. [10][6]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
11. [11][7]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI
12. [12][8]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
Virus-free. [13][9]www.avast.com
--
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