I certainly do not wish to get into a slanging match here, I was merely
responding to a request for practical help with temperaments. In my opinion,
the prerequisite for that is to have some understanding of the basics of the
theory and above all, to get one's ears used to hearing pure intervals, which
is no more complicated than hearing octaves (some would claim that it is
actually easier).
It is perfectly feasible to tune a lute to some form of meantone with fairly
minimal means (I do not favour the use of slanting frets). The proof is that
many of the top players do it, both for recordings and public performances.
Once the lute is set up, this merely requires the adjustment of a fret or two
between certain pieces, so hardly rocket science.
One cannot simply dismiss out of hand the use of meantone on the lute. It can
be enriching and satisfying for those players who wish to explore the
possibilities but it is not a sine que non for playing the lute. It is often
made to appear unnecessarily complicated but the fundamentals (which are are
frequently overlooked) are perfectly accessible to any lutenist.
I have no bone to pick here (I play the renaissance lute in both meantone and
equal temperaments and the baroque lute almost exclusively in equal
temperament), but I do react unfavorably to sweeping statements that have
little grounding in fact.
Best,
Matthew
Le 21 juil. 2019 à 08:07, Martyn Hodgson <hodgsonmar...@cs.dartmouth.edu> a
écrit :
> Dear Matthew,
> Yes - of course this is the case. But you are making the common mistake
> of discussing theoretical temperaments (mainly, in practice, only
> employable on keyboard instruments) with practical temperaments
> appropriate for fretted instruments such as the lute.
> The problem is, of course, that a single fret across the fingerboard
> may have to suit for both a major or a minor semitone depending on the
> open tuning and key. Such things as slanted frets can sometimes be
> used on the viol when playing simple single melodic lines, but with
> chords, as commonly found on the lute, matters are entirely different.
> The idea of tastini as reported by Galilei (1584) has also beguiled
> some modern players but in practice they are far from practical for
> works with any significant degree of fingering complexity and,
> moreover, Galilei himself makes it clear that it is not a practice he
> advocates - indeed, he castigates those few who employ it.
> Incidentally, there's also a real dearth of iconographic evidence to
> support the practice (or indeed slanted frets) on the lute which is,
> surely, very telling.
> In short, all these theoretical meanderings about meantone on the lute
> is, with the exception of small parts of the repertoire, simply
> self-delusion and wishful thinking ('I have a better sense of tuning
> than you'......).
> As mentioned by others earlier in this thread, early evidence clearly
> points in the direction of some approximation to equal temperament.
> MH
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