Dear Stewart
I agree with almost everything you write (especially about RD's
Musicall Banquet!) - I noticed it after sending and wondered who, if
any, would spot it first...... But I can't claim is what a deliberate
error.
Caccini doesn't say one has to only perform his songs to the theorbo -
but rather that it is the best accompanying instrument for the voice
(particularly the tenor). And I do agree that the composer would have
written his music to be performed by a wide variety of instruments.
However the question I was originally asked was whether Caccini would
have sang to the theorbo since Striggio had reported him singing to the
lute. The answer is yes.
The use of compound figures has been discussed before I recall. One
must bear in mind that the theorbo isn't always the large instrument
requiring both top courses the octave down so higher notes are more
practicable than might suppose. I suspect an instrument in nominal A or
G with just the first course an octave down was much more common
throughout the 17th century than is the practice nowadays. I have such
an instrument (fingered string length 76cm with double fingerboard
courses) and find it a real joy to play this instrument when
accompanying such things as English continuo songs by Lanier, Lawes and
the like and contemporary French songs by Lambert and LeCamus.
regards
Martyn
--- On Mon, 19/12/11, Stewart McCoy <lu...@tiscali.co.uk> wrote:
From: Stewart McCoy <lu...@tiscali.co.uk>
Subject: [VIHUELA] Caccini's instrument
To: "Vihuela List" <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Date: Monday, 19 December, 2011, 11:52
Dear Martyn,
A small correction: you mean Robert Dowland's _Musicall Banquet_, not
his _Varietie_.
Thanks for including the word "nominal" for the theorbo in G, which
opens up possibilities without having to postulate giant instruments in
G.
We have discussed the problem of non-existent bass notes on the
theorbo,
but there is also the problem of non-existent harmony notes. Caccini
used compound figures, e.g. 11/10, an octave higher than 4/3. They are
ubiquitous, e.g. 11/10 above g (the one below middle c') on the third
stave of the first song. It is possible to realise these notes at pitch
on a lute, but impossible on a theorbo.
Things start to look decidedly silly on page 2, stave 2 of the second
song (Dolcissimo), because the 11 appears above d (7 notes below middle
c'), followed by 10 above D (an octave lower). The same thing happens
again at the bottom of the next page. From this, I assume that the
octave one realises these figures should not be taken too literally.
Caccini uses a variety of clefs for the singer's part: treble (g2),
soprano (c1), alto (c3), tenor (c4), and bass (f4). Should we take the
pitch of the notes literally, or is it acceptable for a tenor to sing
Amarilli mia bella an octave lower than written?
I conclude that a certain flexibility is required when performing this
music.
If Caccini had intended his songs always to be accompanied by one
theorbo, it would be reasonable to expect all the bass notes to be
printed at the right octave for that instrument. However, if he thought
a bass viol or a keyboard instrument might join in, jumping up an
octave
for an occasional f# or g# would sound unnecessarily weird.
It seems likely that many pieces (songs as well as instrumental music)
which survive as intabulations for lute or theorbo, were composed first
in staff notation with no particular instrument in mind.
Best wishes,
Stewart.
-----Original Message-----
From: [1]lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu
[mailto:[2]lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On
Behalf Of Martyn Hodgson
Sent: 19 December 2011 09:57
To: Vihuela List
Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: Caccini's instrument
Dear Lex, As you say it does all seem a bit endless......
But might I suggest one reason (amongst others) why it may seem so:
only yesterday I gave a direct quote from Caccini's own, very
influential, book which very clearly has Caccini saying the
chitarrone
is the most suitable instrument of any to accompany the voice. Since
you're cropping messages others may miss what Caccini himself had to
say, so here is that earlier message again. I say others since I've
seen messages saying what about theorbos in a nominal G as well as
those in A.......
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
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
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