Dear lute friends, Thank you to all of you who helped me exploring a Sarabande (or Chaconne) in connection with the manuscripts F-Pcnrs Ms. sans cote [Bullen Reymes Lute Book], MS Egerton 2046 (British Library, London), A-KR MS L81 (Kremsmünster, Austria), etc. Extra big thanks to Peter, Anders, Bernd, Hubert, Anders, Matthay, Jean-Marie, and many others from the lute community. Please find below a short summary of my resume:
This Sarabande has been attributed to Nicolo de Merville (1600 - 1643) a French lutenist and composer. In the manuscript MS Egerton 2046 (British Library, London), this piece consists of seven movements, each is a variation of the basic scheme. Very similar pieces, with and without title and attribution towards Merville, are included in various manuscripts, such as A-KR MS L81, B-Br Ms. II 276, CZ-Pnm Ms. IV.G.18, D-Mbs Mus. Ms. 21646, F-Pcnrs Ms. sans cote (Bullen Reymes MS), F-Pn Rés. Vmb. ms. 7 Ms. Barbe, GB-En Ms. 9452 (Panmure House Music Book Nr. 5), GB-Ob Ms. Mus. Sch. E. 411, RA-BAn Ms. 236 R, RF-Span MS O.N124, US-Rm Ms. Vault M140 V186S. Interestingly, each piece differs from the other manuscript, new movements have been added or other have been modified. This shows the highly variability and vitality of lute playing at this time, and the result of music traveling from one instrument to the other and from country to country. I was wondering about the where about and provenance of this piece in the MS Egerton 2046 (British Library, London): I learned that the English diplomat in Paris Mr. Bullen Reymes (16131672) took lute lessons in Paris by both René Messangeau and Nicolas de Merville (musicien ordinaire du roi) between 1632 and 1633. Thus, it was in Paris that Mr. Reymes learned the up-to-date French lute repertoire, and actually he is one of the original writer of the F-Pn Rés. Vma ms. 1404 (Paris, France), one of the richest source of music by Messangeau, Merville and other composers. It is known that Mr. Reymens used his manuscript during social events and that he entertained the English ambassador Sir Isaak Wake. I assume that Mr. Reymes imported this piece to England following his return to London. Here I present the amateur home recording of the Sarabande in g minor from the MS Egerton 2046 ( https://youtu.be/pvSx5NQ5C7k ) which comes in the Accords Nouveaux tuning "Flat French" (f,d,b,g,d,A,G,F,Es,D,C), and I added two more movement each one from the manuscript US-Rm Ms. Vault M140 V186S and F-Pcnrs Ms. sans cote (Bullen Reymes MS). The Flat French Tuning was very fashioned at this time and represents the authentic way to play the lute during the early 17th century both in France and England. Thank you, Ernst Biochemist in Vienna To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
