It has been well-documented that the instructions published by Robert Dowland in the Varietie of Lute Lessons are critically flawed (see Lindley pp. 81-83).
It is highly probable that something close to equal temperament was used during the renaissance period but so were several variants of meantone temperament. The latter favours pure major thirds and creates major and minor semitones with far more character than equal temperament, notably for the many chromatic passages prevalent in renaissance music. I think a deeper understanding of temperaments is a prerequisite for playing early music and much can be learned by looking at how other instruments were tuned. 1/4 comma meantone was clearly used on early keyboards and it would be pretty unthinkable today to listen to a performance of 16th century Italian music or the English virginalists in equal temperament (obviously as we move into the baroque period, circulating temperaments were adopted that favoured purer fifths rather than pure major thirds). When one gets used to playing a piece in 1/4 comma meantone with its pure, beatless major thirds, it can be quite a harrowing experience to go back to equal temperament as one is conscious of just how much crucial intervals beat and everything appears to be out of tune. It is not necessarily easy to adapt meantone successfully to the lute, but it can be done with time and careful adjustments of frets and the addition of tastini. 1/5 comma meantone is quite popular amongst major lutenists and although the thirds are no longer pure, it does impart far more character than equal temperament and does not require such extreme fret placement (which can be particularly uncomfortable on the short string length of a lute in a', for example). If one has access to an early keyboard and the help of an experienced player, it can be easier to appreciate the fundamentals of various temperaments than on the lute (metal strings facilitate the detection of beatless intervals). Rather than being a daunting prospect, the use of meantone temperaments on the lute can add further enjoyment to one's playing and enrich our musical world. Best, Matthew Le 20 juil. 2019 à 13:22, Ron Andrico <praelu...@hotmail.com> a écrit : > Tristan, the various alternative temperaments may sound nice for a > narrow repertory with the excepted odd note, but musicians who > understand music and who explore the more interesting repertory for > lute follow the precepts of Galilei, which approximates equal > temperament. > > RA > __________________________________________________________________ > > From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu <lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu> on behalf > of Tristan von Neumann <tristanvonneum...@gmx.de> > Sent: Friday, July 19, 2019 4:04 PM > To: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> > Subject: [LUTE] Lute Temperaments > > I know this is a wide topic... > Today, I changed my fret setup from Gerle to Dowland (Thanks to Mr. > Niskanen and his marvellous calculator), because I mostly play later > 16th century music. > It sounds somewhat "brighter" in the keys preferred then. > Maybe I will also try what Galilei recommended. > Which one did you try and which one do you prefer (for solo playing). > What are your thoughts on character vs. versatility? > To get on or off this list see list information at > [1]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > -- > > References > > 1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
