Frank Nordberg wrote:
I have kept the post where Andrew R. first brught up the Moravian ms.
He said:
> There is a book of "chorales" in tablature from c.1750 in the Moravian
> Archives in Bethlehem PA, that may be for cittern.
In other words, he wasn't at that time absolutely sure what instrument
the music was itnended for.
But apparently the manuscript came with a six course cittern and at
least one painting that included a lady playing such an instrument.
There are photos both of the instrumeng and the painting at ning.
I'm not joined up to this ning thing - and so I'm in the position of
anyone searching the Internet for information on citterns - the
information is hidden. Is the instrument in the ning photo (and,
presumably in the painting) a bell cittern? Is it tiny - or large - like
Bellman's? And, if not (pace the 'late' 1790s Storm MS) citterns are
more likely to have been tuned chordally by the mid 18th century?
As far as I know, the curious "maj7" tuning is known from the Moravian
ms, the Storm ms., two old Hamburger cithrinchen manuscripts (mss
40622 and 40268 in Biblioteka Jagiellonska, Krakow) and Johann Arnold
Vockerodt's description of the Hamburgerr cittinchen in his 1718 book
"Gründlicher Musikalischer Unter-Richt." Of these sources only the
Moravian ms. has the slightest possibility of having been written for
an other instrument than a cittern.
That's a very interesting summary. I think James Tyler (or Donald Gill?)
has somewhere mentioned these Hamburger cithrinchen MSS. And described
the music as simple, single line, plectrum stuff? Definitely not writing
in parts, like the Moravian chorales.
(The bell cittern was, I think, popular in Britain in the 17th century.
Didn't Talbot write about it?)
The Moravian tablatures don't indicate pitch so I don't know how Andrew
has concluded that the tuning is GCEgbe.
So all the evidence we have so far points toward a cittern but of
course, we still don't have absolute proof.
'Absolute proof' sounds just a bit too tricky, but reasonable
conjecture might be more attainable. The evidence, then, is the tuning
- and that only from two old Hamburger cithrinchen MSS (for a small
instrument, perhaps played in a rather different way). And some
iconography that only might be relevant.So maybe the tablature really is
for the more popular mandora. But then again there's the Bunsold MS of
chorales for cittern - but in a chordal tuning not the 'maj7 'tuning.
Fancy part writing isn't generally the cittern's strongest point.
Curious.
Stuart
Frank Nordberg
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