Thank you for reading my observations on
stringing and commenting on them at length. This is a very long message
and I suggest anyone not interested in the topic presses their delete key
now.
I have occasionally included references where I thought it was
helpful. However I wanted to avoid referring to individuals by name and
in any case the things which I say have "been suggested" are now widely
assumed notions rather than the ideas of a single person. They are
in the public domain.
The point about "speculation" is that it is not supported by any hard
evidence. When it comes to assumptions we are all entitled to speculate
but we should try not to let our immaginations run riot!
Point by point...
1...."Corbetta may indeed have seen Carre's book, as most likely it was
published a few months before La Guitarre royalle was printed. It is
hardly a matter of wild speculation to suppose this".
We don't know whether Corbetta had seen Carre's book or not. We can't be
certain that it appeared in print before "La guitarre royale". We don't
know how many copies of it were printed or how widely it circulated.
2.... "We don't really know what moved Carre to include his advice to add
a
bourdon to the fourth course. Monica seems to think that he changed his
stringing in imitation of Corbetta, and that his words in fact are a
reference to Corbetta's tuning".
I think it is unlikely that Corbetta would copy what Carre had said given
that Corbetta was the most distinguished guitarist of his generation and
didn't need any advice from anyone else.
3..."I would assume the possibility that Corbetta has copied Carre's advice
into his own preface, and put it in his own words".
There is no way that you can prove that is the case.
4.... "In his preface Corbetta complains that: 'There are always envious
people who say that my style is too difficult, because a part of my pieces
approaches that of the lute."
This has nothing to do with the method of stringing that Corbetta may have
used. Having a bourdon of the 5th course does not make the music any
more difficult to play. He is referring to the style of his music
which is not predominantly strummed like that in his 1674 book where he
makes a similar remark.
5.... "He must have realized that the music from his
1671 collection would not work in re-entrant tuning, and he was careful to
make it clear that, on the contrary, 'French' stringing was acceptable for
his works.
Certainly he thought that a fully re-entrant tuning was not suitable for his
music but he clearly thought that the French method was. Nothing he says
suggests that it was unsuitable or inferior.
6....."In this manner, he may have anticipated more profits from the
group of French players who at that time were starting to add
fourth-course bourdons to their instruments. Most likely Antoine Carre was
one of those."
The profits from the sale of the book would have gone to Bonneuil to whom
Corbetta had already ceded the privileges.
7...."Monica concludes her discussion of 'La Guitarre royalle' by saying:
'There is no reason why we should not take what Corbetta has said at face
value. The method of stringing which he refers to, with octave stringing
on the fourth course but not the fifth, is clearly the one intended for
the music in "La Guitarre royale" and probably the one he used himself
throughout most of his career."
We can all pick and chose what we take at face value. Corbetta presumably
wrote the preface to "La guitarre royale" himself and is clearly referring
throughout to the way in which he thought his own music should be played.
It is reasonable to take what he says at face value unless there is good
reason to do otherwise. Presumably you would take everything else in it at
face
value.
7...." However, if we would follow Corbetta's instructions, we would just
end up
adding fourth-course bourdons to guitars in re-entrant tuning. He has not
said anything about the fifth course. We could of course speculate on what
Corbetta would have thought of removing the fifth-course bourdon of a
guitar in 'Italian' tuning, if he really thought that 'French' tuning was
the only good option for his music. And it would be interesting to know
why he has never mentioned that".
It may not have ever have occurred to him to mention it because he may never
have used a
bourdon on the 5th course in the first place. The evidence suggests that
re-entrant tuning was widely known and used in Italy.
8...."The objections that are raised to the use of a fifth-course bourdon,
about
the (supposed inferior) quality of plain gut bass strings, the
inconveniences with campanelas and ornaments on strings of uneven
thickness, may have been completely irrelevant to him".
This seems an extarordinary thing to say. Why would anyone at all use a
re-entrant tuning if there was a better option readily available? It would
have been the most important factor in deciding
what to do. It is still an important issue today. Why else do players
use nylgut.
9..."Contrary to what Monica seems to believe, it is really possible that
there were players in Paris who used octave stringing on both the fourth
and fifth courses (and yes, perhaps even 'always').
There were obviously Italian players in Paris at the time but there is is
no way of knowing what method of stringing they used.
Quite by chance I came across a reference recently to Colista. He was in
Paris on a diplomatic
mission in 1664 and he may have played to Louis XIV. Sanz refers to
him as the "Orpheus of our time" and he was probably a re-entrant tuner.
Scaramouche may have been in Paris
but unless you have discovered a source of information which describes how
he strung his guitar he is irrelevant. We don't know what method of
stringing Bartolotti used.
