Dear Bill,
I think I can (briefly) answer your questions:
There is a HUGE amount of music that survives for this instrument. If
you check my web page for the 18th century and do a CTRL-F for "english
guitar" there are at least 274 publications:
http://applications.library.appstate.edu/music/lute/C18/1700.html
More of these sources now labeled "guitar" are probably for this
instrument as well.
The quality? It varies . . . it is an amateur instrument and much of the
music is just an arrangement of a melody--a single line at the end of a
publication really for piano and voice. But I must admit that the piece
Rob played and his playing was disarmingly effective; hearing one of
these instruments always makes me want to play one . . .
There is a nice sonata by J.C. Bach:
J.C. Bach c1775
Bach, Johann Christian. A sonata for the guitar with an accompaniment
for a violin (London, [England]: Longman, Lukey, and Co.) [BUC]
English guitar and violin in staff notation
The second question is easy: to my knowledge, this instrument was NEVER
called the "English guitar" in the 18th century. Always "guittar" or
even "guitar" with various other spellings/other names in German and
French.
Gary
On 1/31/2013 5:00 AM, William Samson wrote:
(Semi) serious question. What music was composed for this instrument
outside Scotland? - Is it any good? (- the music from outside Scotland,
that is).
Second question - What did they call this instrument back in the day?
Specifically, was it ever called "The English Guitar"?
Bill
From: Rob MacKillop <robmackil...@gmail.com>
To: Lute <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Thursday, 31 January 2013, 8:50
Subject: [LUTE] The English Guitar
I'm no fascist, so if you want to discuss the so-called English
Guitar,
I suggest you do so here, not in the thread of my video performance
(which everyone except Martyn seems to have seen). I only ever said
don't use my video thread to discuss the wider issues of the guittar.
My reason for creating a separate thread is that it makes it easier
for
me to avoid. The reason for avoiding the discussion is that there are
a
few regulars here who cannot discuss anything without killing the
subject for anyone who has a love for it.
So, what is an English Guitar?
Rob (exits stage left...)
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Dr. Gary R. Boye
Professor and Music Librarian
Appalachian State University
