All this is very interesting. I couldn't actually track down the song.
Which of Caccini's books is it in?
I had never realized that the mighty theorbo had problems reproducing the
bass line! But from what you say it seems that it is the same as on the
guitar. The lowest note is A with a bourdon. You have to go up an octave
to get the G. This doesn't really matter - it just means that the parts
are sometimes inverted - the "bass" comes above the "treble". Our ears
can adapt to these things.
Regards
Monica
----- Original Message -----
From: "Martyn Hodgson" <hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk>
To: "Lex Eisenhardt" <eisenha...@planet.nl>
Cc: "Vihuelalist" <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2011 12:24 PM
Subject: [VIHUELA] Caccini's instrument {was Re: Strumming as basso continuo
{was: Return to earlier question: {was: Agazzari guitar [was Re: Capona?]}
Thanks Lex,
Caccini can speak for himself: 'the chitarrone is better suited to
accompany the voice, especially the tenor, than any other
instrument'.(G. Caccini, Le Nuove Musiche (Florence, 1602), sig. C2V
'Ai Lettori ... del Chitarrone ... essendo questo strumento piu atto
ad accompagnare la voce, e particolarmente quella del Tenore, che
qualunque altro.')
Further, Piccinini(1623) tells us Caccini used a chitarrone to
accompany himself before 1594.
The chitarrone did not, of course, at first have numerous long extended
basses. However it was tuned in a nominal A or G so, as previously
pointed out, the same problem would arise even if tuned in G with a
sung d and f# in the bass.
I suspect Striggio was using the term lute in a generic sense: it is
certainly not 'wrong' to use any form of lute from around this time to
perform his songs. See Rob Dowland Var of lute lessons for example and
Ms 704 Bib Con Brussels which contains intabulated settings of songs
by Caccini and his contemporaries.
regards
Martyn
PS Also see my recent message about email protocol, with which you may
not agree...............
--- On Sun, 18/12/11, Lex Eisenhardt <eisenha...@planet.nl> wrote:
From: Lex Eisenhardt <eisenha...@planet.nl>
Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: Strumming as basso continuo {was: Return to
earlier question: {was: Agazzari guitar [was Re: Capona?]}
To: "Martyn Hodgson" <hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk>
Cc: "Vihuelalist" <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Date: Sunday, 18 December, 2011, 11:11
Dear Martyn,
I understand that there is a problem with the theorbo in A, in
Caccini's 'Reggami.'
According to Alessandro Striggio the elder Caccini could accompany from
a bass on the lute and harpsichord. So, what would be the right
instrument/tuning for this song?
Lex
> Other types of specific examples include Caccini's 'Reggami per
pieta'
> where the singer has a low F# which has to be played by the BC an
> octave higher since there are necessary low F naturals elsewhere in
the
> piece.
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