Rob
I better send this again to the correct list. Actually, after
writing it, I saw you had already said most of it in a more compact
form.
Ed and all
I am also sure that Rob's lute will be excellent, and as everyone
keeps telling me, the player makes 70% of the sound, I would be very
happy to borrow some of Rob's and Ed's playing skills to make my
future lute really sing. I am looking forward to the forthcoming on
line, lute concert from Rob, with this new lute, but I promise not to
reciprocate.
I am sure you all have the follwoing information, which is freely
accessible on the Web, but some of it was new to me, while I was
"studying up" the question, on 9 ribbed, versus 11 ribbed lutes. I
will just probably repeat what you all know, sorry about that, if it
is the case.
It seems, the production from the Maler "factory" was huge, making
our lute maker's productions minute. I believe an inventory of the
Laux Maler atellier in 1552 included 1100 finished lutes, and 1300
soundboards ready for use. http://www.vanedwards.co.uk/history2.htm
I understand Maler surounded himself with other lute makers, of
similar German origin, to produce such a quantity, and that a certain
standardisation must have been necessary for such an output. The
simplicity of construction, their combined skills as a team, and
their knowledge of woods could partly explain the high esteem they
acheived. (The choice of 9 or 11 ribs may have originally been to
speed up the process, even if possibly the sound is freer than with a
multi ribbed lute, due to the use of less glue and paper, leading to
less "impedance").
You can contrast that with the inventory of Jean Desmoulin in Paris
in 1648 which included 249 lutes in various stages of construction. I
think only the one Desmoulin lute survived, rather more Malers, five
I believe, so it seem that the ratio of surviving lutes to the number
left in the inventory of the two atelliers is about in proportion,
unless I got the calculation wrong (my math(s) is/are poor).
Paris Maler http://tinyurl.com/2duo22
Paris Desmoulin Desmoulins http://tinyurl.com/29ma6o.
There is one Maler here in Paris, the two Czech republic ones 654,
and 655, (one of which Rob's lute is a copy), one in the GNM M154,
and one in the Victoria and Albert.
The two largest ones, the 655 and the V & A have 11 ribs, while all
the others have 9 ribs. I wondered whether the 11 ribbed ones would
have similar geometry to the Warwick, but both Malcolm Prior and
Martin Shepherd tell me that is not the case. It is the Warwick that
has rather exceptional geometry (well it may not be correct to say
that it is exceptional, when so few lute have survived. This would
imply that the surviving lutes are statistically significant, which
is clearly not the case).
However, Martin Prior tells me that both the Frei and Maler workshops
continued to well into the 17th century under their heirs. So that
although the surviving lutes are often supposed to date from
1530-1550, there is no direct evidence to prove it.
It is strange that less Maler models are now made than Freis,
considering that more Malers have survived, and the fame they once
had; however, perhaps the Warwick was strategically well placed and
this made the Freis easier to study. The proportion of Frei copies at
present must far outweigh the number of Malers.
There might be an aesthetic question, perhaps the shape of the
Warwick, or its related sound quality, for some reason has been more
pleasing to recent "modern" taste.
However, if we judge from the Mouton painting, the French Baroque
soloists may have preferred smaller instruments with a sweet free mid
tone. Exactly the sound that Rob is looking for.
Nevertheless, it does seem that a number of lute makers are trying to
give the Maler models the boost they deserve.
Soon to follow there could be a Marx Unverdoben lutes revival? These
were mentionned in the same breath as Maler and Frei, of which only
three (possibly 4) I think survive. These do seem to be less
standardized as I think one from the Van Raalte collection had 9
ribs, the one in the Harvard museum has 13 ribs with the classic
almond shape, of which Michael Schreiner seems to be the only
lutemaker I can find who makes makes an 11c copy,
http://tinyurl.com/2sbdfx
and of course the great Fenton House model that has 31 ribs, and
seems only suitable as a marvellous 13c swan necked lute of which
Stephen Gottlieb made a superb copy that I briefly plucked.
Even rarer, perhaps, is the Laux Bosch of Schongau, of which one
exists in Paris, and which Martin Shepherd tells me is closely
related to the Malers.
http://tinyurl.com/yw7zhq
Sorry, I better stop before you all fall asleep.
Regards
Anthony
Le 22 nov. 07 =E0 04:00, Edward Martin a ecrit :
> I'll bet you are eager to get this instrument, Rob!
>
> I had a Mahler years ago, a 10 course, and it sounded fantastic. A
> deep,
> rich sound. As you know, Mace, Burwell, and even Baron gave such high
> ranking for his lutes.
>
> What strikes me as being so interesting is in the simplicity of his
> designs. No frills, just beautiful instruments, with great sound.
> When I
> think of Maler (Mahler), I am impressed with a design in which the
> quality
> was in the workmanship and materials, with attention to detail, but
> using
> excellence of workmanship instead of fancy ornamentation. A real
> working
> man professional instrument, in which the whole concept was in
> fantastic sound.
>
> At the length of 69 cm, it may be a wee bit too long to get a gut
> treble to
> work, at f 415. If you tune it slightly lower that 415, you may have
> better luck with trebles. At any rate, Martin builds beautiful
> lutes, be
> assured.
>
> In addition to the beautiful French baroque, you can also do Reusner,
> Conradi, Kellner, early Weiss. What fun....
>
> ed
>
>
>
> At 02:26 PM 11/21/2007 +0000, Rob wrote:
>> Found out the string length (69) and model 354. Martin Shepherd
>> wrote this
>> in an email to me, and I'm sure he won't mind me sharing the info:
>>
>>>>> I have very little information on the original instrument
>>>>> because it (and
>> its
>> friend) are hidden away in a Bohemian castle instead of in the
>> main museum
>> in Prague. When I went there about three years ago I was informed
>> that the
>> musical instrument collection was in storage, presumably awaiting
>> transfer
>> to the castle. If I remember correctly the meagre information I
>> have been
>> able to glean, in its present state it is a 13c lute with a string
>> length of
>> 67.3cm. (I have a drawing of the body, but no data on the neck
>> and pegbox).
>> When I made your lute I discovered that the string length had to
>> be longer
>> to get the "normal"
>> proportions of an 11c lute, that is where the neck/body join is
>> close to
>> where the tenth fret would be, allowing the ninth fret to be tied
>> without
>> too much difficulty (the angle of the neck/body joint is such that
>> if the
>> fret comes too close to the body it has to be tied on at a crazy
>> angle and
>> anchored by notches in the edge of the fingerboard).<<<
>>
>> Maler originals were often used in the 17th century for 11c
>> instruments. The
>> shape and sound were very much in fashion. Yet there are very few
>> luthiers
>> who use Malers today, preferring instead the beautiful Warwick
>> Frei. We did
>> consider the Frei, but settled on the Maler as a sort of
>> experiment. There
>> will no veneer and only nine ribs. For the French repertoire,
>> volume is of
>> less interest to me than resonance. As ever, one can only wait and
>> see what
>> the result will be. Very much looking forward to it.
>>
>> Rob
>>
>> www.rmguitar.info
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Edward Martin [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> Sent: 21 November 2007 14:02
>> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; 'BAROQUE-LUTE'
>> Subject: Re: [BAROQUE-LUTE] Re: new 11c lute - pics
>>
>> Rob,
>>
>> You will absolutely love 11 course music, on an 11 course lute.
>> It is very
>> satisfying.
>>
>> ed
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> To get on or off this list see list information at
>> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>>
>>
>> --
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>
>
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