Martyn Hodgson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2008 13:57:10 +0000 (GMT) From: Martyn Hodgson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [BAROQUE-LUTE] Edlinger Lutes in South Dakota To: Edward Martin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Thank you for this. Just a thought, but the marks on the belly over and above the rose sound a bit like the sort of marks left by a strumming guitarist. Could it have been used as a 'Wandervogel' lute/guitar in the early20th century? I realise it's got many more than 6 courses but I presume they might not have felt the need to string them all if it was just, say, a son of the house having a strum on the old lute he found in the attic...................... MH Edward Martin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Dear ones, I have an interesting story. Dan Larson and I just returned from the National Museum of Music, in South Dakota. It was an absolutely fantastic experience. They have many, many lutes by Harton, Diefenbrouchar, Sellas, Edlinger. They also have guitars by Stradivarius, Sellas and Voboam. Many violins by Stradivarius, Ganeri, Amati, etc. It was unbelievable. The museum let us have full access to the Edlingers! We examined them for about 10 hours, and I got to hold them in the playing position, etc. They have been examined in the 1970's by Lundberg and others. One is 76 cm mensur, the other is 81 or 82 cm, and they were perhaps originally by Tieffenbrucker, or perhaps a Bolognese maker. Later, they were converted to 13 course baroque lutes by Thomas Edlinger; the longer instrument in 1724, the shorter one in 1728. The 76 cm is flat back in 11 ribs of bird's eye maple, the 82 cm is multi ribbed yew. What really startled me was the 76 cm lute. It is documented that these lutes had been in a Czeck castle for hundreds of years. It appeared to me that 2, or 3 different players used this lute. It showed heavy usage, so it was more than likely played at a professional level. One player played near the bridge, due to smudge & dirt marks from the fingers, as well as the thumb. These marks were wide, and seemingly from finger marks. One player played close to the rose , and used a long nail, as there are multiple thin scrape marks (perhaps hundreds of these marks), from a long right hand nail. That player even played in front of the rose, towards the neck, on all the diapason courses! It tells me that on this particular instrument, there were more than one player using very different techniques. As well, they played a technique with the thumb pointed towards the rose, as the old paintings show, but _NOT_ by the bridge. The longer lute in yew showed patterns and evidence of it being played very close to the bridge. The little area at the treble end of the bridge was worn down from overuse of the pinky being planted there. It seems that these lutes, although in possession by the same family in the same castle, are similar in that they are both Edlinger conversions to 13 course baroque lutes with bass riders. They do appear to have had dissimilar techniques and player positions, as evidenced by the wear on the sound boards, suggesting that the same player did not play the 2 instruments, and the shorter one had at least 2 different players. All in all, in was a humbling experience, to examine these masterpieces, so close up, and to hold them in playing position. The marks I mentioned on the shorter instrument do not show up well on photography, but are very open & obvious to the naked eye. ed Edward Martin 2817 East 2nd Street Duluth, Minnesota 55812 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] voice: (218) 728-1202 To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --------------------------------- Sent from Yahoo! - a smarter inbox. --------------------------------- Sent from Yahoo! - a smarter inbox. --
