Eugene C. Braig IV
Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:30:19 -0800
Greetings Stuart, Interesting, but I'm away from appropriate reference here in the day-job office. I do have a pretty extensive collection of recordings made with early mandolins. I'm pretty certain the only I have of music by a Merchi is on modern instruments; a trio in D for two mandolins and basso continuo and a duo for two guitars in D by Giacomo (b.1726) appears on Circolo Mandolinistico Italiano by Ugo Orlandi and the Citta di Brescia orchestra on the Nuova Era label. Those works are very pleasant, but not particularly remarkable. That first wave of tremendous mandolin popularity, especially in Paris, ran ca. 1760-1790.
A bit from the guitar entry from the (legally accessed) online version of Grove: > In Paris, the Italian-born guitarist Giacomo Merchi was still recommending > the traditional five double-course in Le guide des écoliers de guitarre > (c1761), but by 1777 (in his Traité des agréments de la musique exécutés > sur le guitarre) was advocating my manner of stringing the guitar with > single strings single strings are easier to put in tune, and to pluck > cleanly; moreover, they render pure, strong and smooth sounds, approaching > those of the harp; above all if one uses slightly thicker strings. A bit on colascione: > The smaller type, tuned an octave higher and referred to as colasciontino, > was often played in duet with the colascione or the guitar, and in this > fashion the instrument was introduced into northern Europe by two pairs of > touring brothers, Colla and Merchi. There is also a pretty decent article on Joseph Bernard Merchi that touches quite a bit on Giacomo, colascione, mandolin, and guitar, including this quip: > He is often confused with his brother Giacomo (di Brescia) since almost > all their published works simply have the name Merchi. I'll see if I can dig up any more when back home. Best, Eugene > -----Original Message----- > From: Stuart Walsh [mailto:s.wa...@ntlworld.com] > Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 2:27 PM > To: Eugene C. Braig IV > Cc: 'Vihuelalist' > Subject: Re: [VIHUELA] Re: Baroque guitar duo (Merchi) > > : > > *Pssst*, that's "misspelling." > > > > Teasingly, > > Eugene > > > > > > Good point Eugene! Anyway....do you know anything about the Merchis and > the mandoline? I wonder what the status of Merchi's (be it G. or J-B) > in the mandoline world? There is at least one recording of Merchi > mandoline music and, according to a catalogue of the time, 'M'. Merchi > published three oeuvres, mentioning mandolines: two Duo (presumably > meaning set of Duos) for mandoline and violin and one Trio (=set of > trios?) for 2 violins or mandolines and bass. > > > Stuart > > > >> -----Original Message----- > >> From: Stuart Walsh [mailto:s.wa...@ntlworld.com] > >> Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2009 7:11 AM > >> To: Monica Hall > >> Cc: Vihuelalist > >> Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: Baroque guitar duo (Merchi) > >> > >> Monica Hall wrote: > >> > >>> Spelling has never been my strong point! > >>> > >>> Monica > >>> > >> Good grief! I was pointing out my mis-spelling not yours!!! > >> > >> Do you know anything that has been written about the Merchis? (Other > >> than Groves, Tyler and the SPES intro) Or any reason to think that a > >> publication that says it's by Giacomo Merchi rather than just M.Merchi, > >> should not be by Giacomo? > >> > >> > >> Stuart > >> > >>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stuart Walsh" > <s.wa...@ntlworld.com> > >>> To: "Monica Hall" <mjlh...@tiscali.co.uk> > >>> Sent: Friday, January 16, 2009 7:45 PM > >>> Subject: Re: [VIHUELA] Re: Baroque guitar duo (Merchi) > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>>> Stuart Walsh wrote: > >>>> > >>>>>> Finally got to listen to this. V. nice - but is it 2 Stuarts > >>>>>> playing - and are they playing baroque or classical guitars? > >>>>>> > >>>>>> Monica > >>>>>> > >>>>> Thank you for listening Monica. It's just me playing - finally > >>>>> coming to terms with a multi-track recording device I got ages ago. > >>>>> And it's just my very (very!) humble five-course guitar - but with > >>>>> the bourdons reversed so the thumb hits the bourdon first. According > >>>>> to Tyler this publication is from 1757. I think it's a fine little > >>>>> Minuetto and it has a sort of swaggeriness that sort of reminds me > >>>>> of Mertz from a century later. > >>>>> > >>>>> So now I'm fascinated by Merchi ("the Jack and Joe mystery"). There > >>>>> seems to be very little on the Internet on the Merchi brothers - > >>>>> little more than a couple of paragraphs about their concerts and > >>>>> speculations about their dates. There is an online pdf in Italian > >>>>> on G or J's song accompaniments. There is also the Groves entry > >>>>> which says that Giacomo and Joseph Barnard are frequently confused. > >>>>> Tyler has a couple of pages and the SPES edition of some of > >>>>> Giacomo's (if it was Giacomo?) works and an introduction (in > >>>>> Italian). Do you know of anything else? > >>>>> > >>>> And, of course, your discussion of stringing from Joseph Bernard > >>>> (not Barnard!)on your website too!! > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>>> Stuart > >>>>> > >>>> > >>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stuart Walsh" > >>>>>> <s.wa...@ntlworld.com> > >>>>>> To: "Vihuelalist" <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu> > >>>>>> Sent: Sunday, January 11, 2009 7:29 PM > >>>>>> Subject: [VIHUELA] Baroque guitar duo > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>>> Here's the Minuetto from the fourth Duetto 'a due chitarre' by > >>>>>>> Giacomo Merchi...1770s-ish? James Tyler and Robert Spencer > >>>>>>> recorded the preceding Allegro (how long ago!)and maybe recorded > >>>>>>> this one too. Merchi also published 'Sei Duetti a Chitarra e > >>>>>>> Violino Con sordina' and number 4 is almost the same as the fourth > >>>>>>> Duetto for two guitars but there are a lot of small differences. > >>>>>>> The guitar/violin version has an additional movement and, at a > >>>>>>> cursory glance, the guitar/violin duets look a bit more fancy than > >>>>>>> the guitar duets. > >>>>>>> > >>>>>>> http://www.pluckedturkeys.co.uk/Minuetto.mp3 > >>>>>>> > >>>>>>> Stuart > >>>>>>> > >>>>>>> > >>>>>>> > >>>>>>> To get on or off this list see list information at > >>>>>>> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > >>>>>>> > >>>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------- > -- > >>>>>> > >> --- > >> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> No virus found in this incoming message. > >>>>>> Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.176 / Virus > >>>>>> Database: 270.10.8/1897 - Release Date: 16/01/2009 06:52 > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------- > -- > >>>>> > >> -- > >> > >>>>> > >>>>> No virus found in this incoming message. > >>>>> Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.176 / Virus > >>>>> Database: 270.10.8/1897 - Release Date: 16/01/2009 06:52 > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > -- > >>> > >>> > >>> No virus found in this incoming message. > >>> Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com > >>> Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.10.8/1897 - Release Date: > >>> > >> 16/01/2009 06:52 > >> > >>> > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > > Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com > > Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.10.9/1900 - Release Date: > 18/01/2009 12:11 > > > >