Lute List,
Thanks for all of your advice on the Lully and A440 . . . I knew there
would be lots of opinions out there and sound practical advice.
I'm leaning towards tuning the theorbo to G; I'm familiar with the
tuning and think it should fit fairly well. I might also tune up to
440, but I've had some bad experiences with that in the past--ripped a
bridge off a baroque guitar using a mix of strings rather carelessly--I
made up my mind not to ignore string tensions after that! I also think
of Flatt and Scruggs, the old bluegrass band from the 1940s and '50s;
they played everything up a half step on their instruments in the early
years and then all of their instruments (banjo, guitar, fiddle,
mandolin, bass) developed problems, usually neck warping. But I'd be OK
with a little more tension on the theorbo; less so the guitar . . .
G theorbo seems to match the pieces well anyway.
Gary
On Tue, Aug 8, 2017 at 8:04 AM, Ron Andrico <[1]praelu...@hotmail.com>
wrote:
It's interesting how lutenists can get tangled up in the web of
complexities concerning string materials and tensions and the most
historically appropriate instrument for a particular style of music.
In an ideal world, it would be nice to time travel and play the
"correct" instrument for music of Lully, complete with unwashed
clothes, unbathed musicians, and a big jerk who keeps pounding his big
stick on the floor, drowning out any subtle flourishes you may wish to
add. You may even wish he would accidentally pound his own foot with
his stick and die of gangrene.
The point is the music, and we should be flexible and take advantage of
the opportunity to add our plucked strings and informed approach
whenever reasonably possible. I say tune it up and play musically.
RA
__________________________________________________________________
From: [2]lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu <[3]lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu> on
behalf of Gary Boye <[4]boy...@appstate.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, August 8, 2017 12:47 AM
To: [5]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
Subject: [LUTE] A440?
Lute List members, Help!
I've been asked to play on some Lully excerpts from Le Bourgeois
Gentilhomme in early October. I have a theorbo, lute, Baroque
guitar .
. . no problem. But the conductor wants to do it A440. All of my
instruments are strung for A430 (and one A415).
My initial response is to say no, but I want to encourage some
early
music performance here, so my only options would appear to be:
1) Re-string an instrument for A440 ($$$!)
2) Try some type of capo (OK for guitar, less so on theorbo)
3) Try to finger it at F#m or Fm and stay tuned low
4) Tune high and risk it (!)
5) Try to convince them to play at A430 (seems doubtful)
It's frustrating, but again, I'd like the experience of doing
something
to encourage some early music performance here . . . Any thoughts
appreciated.
Gary
--
Dr. Gary R. Boye
Erneston Music Library
Appalachian State University
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