"Lucky America: having looked through musical performances at Renaissance Fairs, we see many ensembles actually performing appropriate songs and dances."
This may be a bit too generous. Some make/made real efforts (for example, spanning two or three decades, Ohio State University [OSU] held a "Renaissance Faire" that strove to book performers of 16th and 17th music). However, most feature performers in renaissance garb, badly aping modern cockney accents, and strumming new songs in imitation of Irish drinking tunes on modern steel-string guitars. Even OSU's went the "fantasy" route around a decade or two ago and—after a total run of 45 years—finally ceased to exist by 2019. In OSU's ren-faire glory days, I approached a friend who specialized in English lute music. I wanted to split a set with her playing Elizabethan lute pieces (she has a lovely 7-course Watanabe) and me playing vihuela music on, of all things, vihuela (pre-Chambure discovery, mine is based on iconography) to highlight the "armada" conflict. It never came together, and I have thus never played such a "faire." Not owning a period costume, I don't really have the incentive any longer. Eugene -----Original Message----- From: lute-...@new-old-mail.cs.dartmouth.edu <lute-...@new-old-mail.cs.dartmouth.edu> On Behalf Of Tristan von Neumann Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2019 9:30 AM To: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] Renaissance/Medieval Fairs So here's something different for a change. Why is it that in the US there are "Renfairs", all dedicated to mainly the 16th century (and some really stretching it by allowing some fantasy elements), while in Germany we only have "Mittelaltermärkte" (Medieval Fairs). What I don't like about the Medieval Fairs in Germany (though some are quite good and only allow painstakingly recreated authentic stuff), is the music. Since we don't know much about instrumental music of the Middle Ages, many people take this as an excuse to brutally treat the crowd with Techno-like monster beats by huge drums and ear-shattering bagpiping. I have very rarely heard "real" Medival Music apart from some Walter von der Vogelweide favourites and the occasional Oswald von Wolkenstein. Even the popular "Estampies" are rarely heard, and we rarely get even simplified versions of tunes from British Library Add. 29987. If you're not blasted by bagpipes, there will be bawdy songs in pseudo-medieval folk style, of course played on totally inappropriate instruments. While I think I would love to take my lute to such an event, I would be totally anachronistic, and I do not want to join the "Medieval" musicians presenting 16th century music like Susato or even Praetorius as "medieval". These events have musically corrupted the ear of the common audience. Whenever someone hears 16th century lute music they consider it "medieval"... Lucky America: having looked through musical performances at Renaissance Fairs, we see many ensembles actually performing appropriate songs and dances. Here's a great example (if the lute player is here: good job you two) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RptxRpTiHo Also madrigal singers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYc7AqSTZXY Anachronisms are sometimes good fun, as the madrigal version of Katy Perry shows, but it seems madrigal singers really enjoy the original material like Dowland songs or Italian vocal music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIsHkuVTzDE Of course there are some of those folk singers too, but the style is more appropriate for the age represented. So here's the survey - how many of you have at least performed once at a Renaissance Fair in the US (or other countries) - or in case of Germany, at a "Mittelaltermarkt"? (are there attempts to establish a Renaissance fair beside the Medieval ones?) How is the response to actual lute music? To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
