Dear All
Anthony Bailes LP recording of 'Pieces de luth'; EMI REFLEXE;
IC 06330938, was my introduction to French baroque lute music.
After that I was hooked.
I have enjoyed his recent CDs (although I had not yet heard this, his
most recent one), but regret that the recordings (in particular "Old
Gautiers Nightinghall") do seem to have become a little more
reverberant, which may take away somewhat from his recent excellent
string choices on the Wengerer: Nick Baldock trebles, Dan Larson, Lyons
Meanes, and Mimmo Peruffo loaded basses (although, I imagine that with
this 76cm lute pure gut basses should also work well). AB seems to be
one of the few pioneers still experimenting seriously in gut stringing.
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Indeed, Anthony B. has always had an experimental atttitude to historic
research. In his excellent article for Lute News 85, April 2008, he
said, of the old Bologna lutes so sought after by the French, that
Trichet tells us "French lute players were looking for instruments
which were very resonant, and capable of sustain"; and he goes on to
tell us of his experience of playing old lutes, "The last, and most
important point is that notes on such instruments have more sustain
coupled with a more gradual and even decay to the sound. This is
particularly important as it can give the impression that a note sounds
on longer than it actually does."
In his Gaultier recordings, AB considers this so necessary to his
interpretation of this music that he appears willing to sacrifice ideal
string length (and possibly barring), adopting the 76cm historic Wenger
lute, just for the greater sustain this vintage lute affords.
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Jakob Lindberg seems to confirm AB's experience, claiming two almost
contradictory characteristics for his Rauwolf: "this has exactly what I
want. It has that clarity but also sustain, which is amazing".
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It seems to be the function of this quality that AB is seeking to study
with his recent recordings, at the expense of any characteristic
specifically associated with more usual string lengths of around 68 cm
(as correctly suggested by Martyn). Of course one might have preferred
AB to have discovered another 69.5 cm Rauwolf, Greiff (or whatever),
but no doubt he had to settle for the Wenger, or possibly chose it to
isolate what this could bring, in spite of string length and barring
differences.
%
The question then (implied by Martyn) is what AB may have gained or
lost in choosing a lute which might seem more suitable for late German
Baroque.
AB mentions the elegeance and economy in the music, and it is possible
that this also extended to the playing position and thus the length of
the lute chosen, as seen in the rather nonchalant confortable elegant
style of Charles Mouton:
http://tinyurl.com/39r6xvd
However, AB does have very long fingers, and seems to have very little
problem in playing with such string lengths:
http://tinyurl.com/77x475k
Although the two do indeed look very different (and possibly, as Martyn
says, the second might have been incongruous to a French audience of
the time).
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Soundwise, and this could be more important, we might have expected the
276 year old Wenger to have lost a little in the mid register (as
compared to the 80 to 100 year old 68 cm lutes that the French were
seeking out), and with perhaps more bass presence, due to the 76cm
loaded basses: the French with their smaller lutes, may rather have
been exploring the mid range, at the expense of these frequency
extremes.
Only listening to AB playing French music with this lute can confirm or
infirm, whether this is indeed the case.
Unfortunateley, MP3 and recording equipment may not be up to the job of
discriminating this (can we be sure that we are not hearing the mics,
the room acoustics rather than differences in lutes).
But here is a recording of a modern 67cm Warwick Frei (415) strung in a
not too different way, from the Wenger, with loaded basses and Nick
Baldock Meanes and trebles.
http://luthiste.com/downloads/Mouton.mp3
and here is an extract from Une Douceur violente, AB on the Wengere
lute (375, loaded Basses, Larson Meanes, Baldock Trebles):
Seventeenth-century French lute music
[1]http://www.ramee.org/extraitsramee/1104/1104-01.mp3
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Personally, trying only to concentrate on the tonal differences, and
abstracting from player's style, as well as recording level and 415/370
pitch (an almost impossible task?) I enjoy both, and I do hear a great
deal of "presence" in the case of the old lute (with no obvious mid
lack), but with exactly the slightly veiled (slightly nasal?) quality,
which AB claims obliges him to play well back near the bridge with old
lutes; this is my reaction, but I am not a musicologist, specialist in
french baroque music.
Just to compare, here is the 69cm Rauwolf (with some gimped basses and
some first generation loaded) but playing Weiss:
http://www.musicamano.com/music/weiss.mp3
I do find the Rauwolf more "agile" (which might be important for the
French repertoire) and a little less veiled and nasal; and this could
indeed be something to do with the difference of string length, or just
relating to the recording differences.
%
Finally an extract from "Old Gautiers Nightinghall" with AB playing on
a modern 12c lute, by Paul Thomson (stringing?):
http://www.ramee.org/extraitsramee/0707/0707_01.MP3
The sound to me, here, is more bright (due to the pitch?), but with
less depth; however, this is not the same tuning (or stringing), and
the recording is more reverberant.
$
In conclusion, Martyn is right, I don't think we should advocate
performing French lute music with non-j-barred, 76cm lutes, and I
understand his "mise en garde" to that effect (would any one, including
AB, order the Wengerer model from their lutemaker for the French
repertoire? I would doubt it; while I for one did hesitate about
ordering a 69cm Rauwolf, before going for a 70cm Warwick); but I have
enjoyed the sound of the short extract from Une Douceur violente, in
spite of any doubts I might have had.
That is of course just a personal reaction from a non specialist,
addicted to AB's old LP.
Regards
Anthony
________________________________
De : Edward Martin <[2]e...@gamutstrings.com>
A : [3]baroque-l...@cs.dartmouth.edu
Envoye le : Vendredi 16 mars 2012 3h50
Objet : [BAROQUE-LUTE] Ne Anthony Bailes CD
Dear Ones,
For those on the list who enjoy well played 11-course French baroque
lute, there is a new release by Abthony Bailes, on the Ramee
label. it is entitled, 'Une Douceur violente", and it contains works
of Mouton and Gallot. He recorded this program on his authentic lute
by Georgi Ferdinand Wenger, Augsburg, 1722. The catalog number is
RAM 1104, and it is available in the USA, in usual outlets.
This is an announcement, not a review. The instrument is a large
one, and the pitch is consequently quite low, at a70, in essence
making it in a b-minor tuning. Beautiful sound and playing, highly
recommended.
ed
Edward Martin
2817 East 2nd Street
Duluth, Minnesota 55812
e-mail: [4]e...@gamutstrings.com
voice: (218) 728-1202
[5]http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id60298871&ref=name
[6]http://www.myspace.com/edslute
[7]http://magnatune.com/artists/edward_martin
To get on or off this list see list information at
[8]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
--
References
1. http://www.ramee.org/extraitsramee/1104/1104-01.mp3
2. mailto:e...@gamutstrings.com
3. mailto:baroque-l...@cs.dartmouth.edu
4. mailto:e...@gamutstrings.com
5. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id60298871&ref=name
6. http://www.myspace.com/edslute
7. http://magnatune.com/artists/edward_martin
8. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html
