Stewart McCoy
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:31:52 -0700
Dear Monica et al, I watched the programme this morning on i-player, and I have to say, I enjoyed it very much. Of course there was a lot of nonsense about the history of the instrument, but, in a funny sort of way, that was fun too: "... and at home there was this: the sound of the ud, an ancient ancestor of the guitar, a kind of Arabian lute, played by friends of my father into the night. Two instruments clearly linked, but worlds apart." "So where did it all begin? I was surprised to discover that the instrument in the form we know today, with its seductive hour-glass figure, has only been around a couple of hundred years." "... and it goes back a long, long way. Nearly 3400 years old, and located in modern-day Turkey, this Hittite carving shows a man playing a guitar-like object with a long fretted neck. According to the great classical guitarist, Andres Segovia, the guitar's origins can be traced all the way back to Greek legend ..." [John Williams:] "The guitar, back in 14th and 15th century, was originally a, a popular instrument with four strings. It was used for strumming and accompanying dances, popular dances, country dances, and songs. It didn't have the, what we call, the polyphonic technique of playing with the fingers like this, when you could play, you know, Bach fugues ... [he demonstrates] ... with different voices, arpeggios ... you do with the right hand. The old guitar, the original popular guitar, didn't have that. It was used like with a pick ... like that ... and strumming ... or even playing ... everything was strummed." "Loose women were referred to as gitterns." "... but I hadn't just come to Cordoba for the serenades. Back in the 9th century this was the capital of the Spanish territory, conquered by the Moors from the Middle East and North Africa, who brought with them that distinguished ancestor of the guitar, so familiar from my own childhood, the ud." Seriously though, what I did find interesting was all the clips from old films, for example clearly seeing Django Reinhardt's left hand as he played his guitar with two fingers, and Andres Segovia's huge, podgy fingers. There was much variety, from Flamenco with Paco Peña, to the Carter Family in America. Seeing Bert Wheedon performing in his youth, and interviewed as an old man, was a delight. Television thrives on moving pictures, so the bias towards guitar music from the recent past is understandable. I look forward to seeing the next instalment. Best wishes, Stewart McCoy. -----Original Message----- From: Monica Hall [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 06 October 2008 08:24 To: Rob MacKillop Cc: Vihuelalist Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: History of the guitar on BBC1 (one!) I videoed it and have just watched half of it. What a waste of time. The cittern player was Michael Tyack who is a member of the Lute Society. I suppose it takes all sorts... Monica ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rob MacKillop" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Nelson, Jocelyn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu> Sent: Monday, October 06, 2008 7:21 AM Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: History of the guitar on BBC1 (one!) > I made the mistake of actually staying up to watch the programme. It > was definitely the worst programme I've seen in a long time. We had > John Williams, for instance, saying that the 4c guitar never had any > polyphonic music, it was only strummed, and that the modern classical > guitar was superior. Thanks, John! What an ignoramous. There were quite > a few gems along those lines. > > I forgot the name of the lute/cittern/vihuela player they found. He was > dressed in period costume (the presenter called it a 1970's medieval > costume, and he was quite accurate) and gave the impression he dressed > and lived like that all the time. The message was clear: early music > people are nuts. > > I should say that I have a personal story here. The researcher for the > programme phoned me about two months ago to ask if I could give him > information about the so-called English Guitar. He knew only one story, > apparently, about the harpsichord maker, Kirkman, buying guittars to > give to prostitutes in order to put the middle-classes off of buying > them, buying his harpsichords instead. He kept giggling uncontrollably > about this story and refused to listen to anything I said. He sounded > like a 14-year old. I refused to take part in the programme. My fears > were justified. > > Looking forward to Part 2! > > Rob MacKillop > > -- > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html