Hello Martyn, I just crafted a response to your post on my desktop and on sending it it was promptly eaten by MSOffice saying it couldn’t connect to the server.... a real Microsoft moment....
I just wanted to mention the most important part as I stand corrected on this and went on discussing the whole Lawes harp thing and the harp of this time period and grey areas I eluded to.... I hope to recovery this email as it took some time to write.... Argh. If I can’t, I’ll try to repeat the email.... Sincerely frustrated, David > On Jul 21, 2020, at 4:53 AM, Martyn Hodgson > <hodgsonmar...@mail.cs.dartmouth.edu> wrote: > > Dear David, > In fact, not actually 'up in the air as to what kind of harp was used': > - two leading authorities in the field, John Cunningham and Peter > Holman (amongst others), identify the wire strung instrument as that > expected for the Lawes harp consorts. > Pasted below is a 2013 review for the Lute Society of a recording of > these works which mentions some relevant aspects of the stringing. > regards > Martyn > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > ----------------------- > > William Lawes: The Passion of Musicke (Harp Consorts and lyra viol > solos) > > Sophie Gent (violin), Giovanna Pessi (Italian triple harp), Eduardo > Eguez (theorbo), Philippe Pierlot (bass viol and lyra viol). Flora 1206 > > Some 30 Lawes âHarp Consorts' for "the Harpe, Base Violl, Violin, and > theorbo" have survived. This recording contains four of them: all > nicely performed by the ensemble with good phrasing, considered tempi > and a general regard to the style required by this early > seventeenth century music. However, there is a problem with the > performance which cannot pass unremarked: the choice of harp - here a > gut strung Italian triple harp. But available evidence and current > scholarship (starting with Peter Holman âNew Light on William Lawesâs > Harp Consortsâ, Early Music, May 1987) strongly indicates that the > instrument expected by Lawes at the time was wire strung - the Irish > harp. Paradoxically, the CD booklet notes by John Cunningham, a leading > authority on Lawesâs consort works (author of The Consort Music of > William Lawes, 1602-1645. Boydell Press 2010), also sets out the > overwhelming evidence for the use of the wire strung harp in these > consorts. All this is not merely some dry academic issue but has a very > real bearing on the way the music sounds. In particular, both the harp > and the theorbo used in this recording are single strung in gut (or > synthetic gut) and can frequently sound rather too similar with little > tonal separation between them. Employing more appropriately strung > instruments (including the theorbo with double fingered courses) would > give a more defined sound to each than is realised on this recording. > So, despite generally nice and pleasant performances, I cannot really > recommend it as an authoritative recording of these Harp Consorts. > > However, I can certainly and enthusiastically recommend the real > highlight of the recording: the Lawes lyra viol solos - the 12 of them > recorded here are magnificently played by Philippe Pierlot. He brings a > wonderful declamatory style and considerable musicality to their > interpretation which is exemplary in every respect - these pieces alone > are worth the price of the entire CD. Almost 40 lyra viol solos by > Lawes have survived and a good selection of these appear on the CD. The > works are particularly well suited to Lawes's idiosyncratic > compositional technique with its angular melodies and sudden dramatic > phrasing. Of interest to lute players is that Lawes also played their > instrument and it has been speculated that the lyra viol solos may > perhaps preserve arrangements of some lost lute works - but against > this suggestion is that the writing is generally wonderfully idiomatic > for the lyra viol. Nevertheless, Lawes frequently reworked > compositions, often for different instruments, so the intriguing > possibility still remains. > > Thankfully, and unlike many recent CD booklets, the trend for > ridiculously extended biographical puffs for the four performers are > here reduced to the few essentials (oddly the booklet photo shows five > people) and the notes are both scholarly and very readable and well set > the background to the development of the harp consort and lyra viol > forms in the context of early seventeenth century Carolingian England. > > Martyn Hodgson 2013 > > On Tuesday, 21 July 2020, 08:48:54 BST, David Brown > <arpali...@gmail.com> wrote: > Yes, I forgot to mention the Lawes consorts for harp. It has been a bit > up in the air as to what kind of harp was used, a wire stung harp or a > gut strung arpa doppia. > Cormacke McDermott was the Irish harpist at court, followed by Charles > Evans playing a triple harp.... > David B. Brown > > Luthier > 3811 Ellerslie Ave. > Baltimore, MD 21218 > 410-366-4865 > -----Original Message----- > From: [1]lute-...@new-old-mail.cs.dartmouth.edu > [mailto:[2]lute-...@new-old-mail.cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of Monica > Hall > Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2020 3:04 AM > To: [3]theoj89...@aol.com; [4]theoj89...@new-old-mail.cs.dartmouth.edu; > [5]tristanvonneum...@gmx.de; [6]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu > Subject: [LUTE] Re: Weird instrument depiction in painting > Not so curious really. Dowland spent time at the Court of Christian IV > and there are eleven consorts by William Lawes for harp, bass, viola de > gamba, violin and theorbo. As I understand it the harpist at the court > of Charles II played an Irish harp but I can't remember his name. > Regards > Monica >>> On 21 July 2020 at 03:00 [7]theoj89...@new-old-mail.cs.dartmouth.edu >> wrote: >> >> >> Tristan: >> This is a beautiful depiction of a brass strung Irish or Scottish > harp >> - or 'Clarsach'. The picture clearly shows the bowing of the >> forepillar under the tremendous tension of the brass strings. > These >> clarsachs were traditionally played with long fingernails with a >> complex technique and the tradition died out by the early 1800's. > There >> are only a few surviving clarsachs that approach this size. Most > of >> them self-destructed and/or were burned for warmth in those cold > and >> wet lands. The website >> www.wirestrungharp.com >> has a great deal of information about these harps. Their history > is >> fascinating, and this painting is one of the best contemporary >> depictions of one. How and why one of these ended up in Christian > IV's >> court is curious. I would love to hear what that ensemble sounded > like. >> Cheers, >> ted Jordan >> Ohio, US >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Tristan von Neumann <[8]tristanvonneum...@gmx.de> >> To: [9]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu <[10]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> >> Sent: Mon, Jul 20, 2020 2:01 pm >> Subject: [LUTE] Weird instrument depiction in painting >> I just stumbled upon this painting by Reinhold Timm. >> It supposedly shows the musicians of Christian IV. >> What's the instrument on the left? >> It looks like a Harp seen from a very weird angle... >> The painting is very interesting in general, it looks almost like > some >> 1920s Neorealism. >> > [1][11]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Christian_IV > %27s >> _musicians_by_Reinhold_Timm.jpg >> To get on or off this list see list information at >> [2][12]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> >> -- >> >> References >> >> 1. > [13]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Christian_IV%27 > s_musicians_by_Reinhold_Timm.jpg >> 2. [14]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> > > -- > > References > > 1. mailto:lute-...@new-old-mail.cs.dartmouth.edu > 2. mailto:lute-...@new-old-mail.cs.dartmouth.edu > 3. mailto:theoj89...@aol.com > 4. mailto:theoj89...@new-old-mail.cs.dartmouth.edu > 5. mailto:tristanvonneum...@gmx.de > 6. mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu > 7. mailto:theoj89...@new-old-mail.cs.dartmouth.edu > 8. mailto:tristanvonneum...@gmx.de > 9. mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu > 10. mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu > 11. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Christian_IV's > 12. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > 13. > https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Christian_IV's_musicians_by_Reinhold_Timm.jpg > 14. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
