Many thanks Fabio and all others for responses on this topic ! As always, I am awed by the amount of scholarship and collected knowledge that resides within this dedicated group. I have learned the equivalent of months of study in a few short days! I sense that the discussion may continue, and I look forward to reading all of the various opinions. Thanks again, and Happy New Year! Tom
> Il 03/01/2011 18:15, t...@heartistrymusic.com ha scritto: > > I have heard many recordings of the guitar version with full > > orchestra, and I havealso performed the piece on guitar with full > > orchestra. Guitars and lutes were not designed for this. Even then > > I wanted a facsimile of the original, but was unable to locate one. > > Now that I am dabbling in the lute world I would like to re-visit > > this piece. > > Questions: > > 1. Given the time period, would it be most historically accurate > > to perform this on a baroque > > lute in baroque tuning? Or could one get by with an 8 course > > renaissance instrument? > > > Vivaldi uses the word "leuto" Vivaldi to indicate an instrument able > to realize the continuo. See, for example, his "Concerto per la > solennità di san Lorenzo" RV 556. In my opinion (and in that of > Rossella Perrone, who wrote a detailed preface to my edition of > Vivaldi's works for lute and mandolin) that instrument was the > archlute, i.e. the Italian baroque lute. But I guess that Vivaldi > wouldn't mind if someone played it on the German baroque lute -- or > even on the mandora, as Pietro Prosser suggested a few years ago. > > In her preface, Rossella Perrone writes: > "In writing almost certainly for the «leuto» that he knew, that is, > the lute in use in Italy or the archlute, Vivaldi left the Bohemian > patron or his lutist the task of adapting the part. In any event, it > is significant that the three compositions dedicated to Wrtby, > together with the concerto RV 540, can be played on both types of > instrument and the keys of the works (C major in RV 82, G minor in RV > 85, D major in RV 93 and D minor in RV 540) are comfortable for the > archlute and the lute in D minor alike. "Moreover, in the three > compositions dedicated to the Bohemian count, considering the fact > that the pieces were certainly destined for a chamber group, the lute > part, unlike the concerto RV 540, in which the richer order of the > score allows an explicit doubling of the roles of the instruments (as > support for the basses in the ripieno and for the solista in the > solos), is notated only in the treble clef without employing the bass > clef. Nevertheless, since the lute part in score is always in the > middle, between the violin and the bass, with the exception of the > Larghetto of RV 82 (highlighting, with such an arrangement, the > derivation of the violin part from the «leuto» part), one can put > forward the hypothesis that the lutist of the period read from his own > line and the bass line at the same time, perhaps playing both the > melodic line as well as the basses for harmonic support. "Ever since > the publication of these compositions, as we were saying, the problem > of the type of «leuto» employed by Vivaldi has come up. The confusion > arose because of Vivaldi´s use of the treble clef. However, from the > autograph RV 540, where the notes in the treble clef are written an > octave higher and the basses on the true notes, we learn that the > parts of the three compositions dedicated to Wrtby (all in G clef), > were to be played by the archlute an octave lower and not on a small > lute with a register that could go as high as D5". > > > > 2. Would Vivaldi have written standard notation that a lutenist > > would then have entabulated > > according to the instrument in their possession at the time? > > > I guess so. There are some examples of this "modus operandi" in the > lute literature of that time. There is an interesting article written > by Pietro Prosser (in Italian, sorry): > http://riviste.paviauniversitypress.it/index.php/phi/article/view/05-0 > 2-INT04/44 > > > > > 3. For correct volume and tonal balance, what would be the most > > appropriate (and > > historically correct) number of violins, etc.? String trio? Two per > > desk?... > > > The Concerto RV 93 is scored for two violins, lute and "basso". > > > Best regards, > Fabio > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html Tom Draughon Heartistry Music http://www.heartistry.com/artists/tom.html 714 9th Avenue West Ashland, WI 54806 715-682-9362
