Hi: I'm not certain that there is such a thing as a "true cittern" or that modern day citterns are any less "true" than the historical. The 18th C. guittar was referred to by various names (cetra, cittern, etcetera..ha, ha) and it was totally different in construction, tuning and technique from the various Renaissance citterns. Does that make the guittar any less a "true cittern"? Or any more true because it is historical? What about the Renaissance citterns relation to its apparent predessor, the citole? Since the name derives from the Kithara (from which we get zither, citera, crwth, guitterne, guitar and a host of others..perhaps sehtar and sitar), what is a "true cittern'? Is any particular version then any more "true" to a name with such a flexible and elastic application throughout time? Because the modern cittern has a mandolin/violin based tuning hardly makes it any less true than a Renaissance or Baroque cittern, both of which were instruments that were extremely different from each other. The modern cittern is no less true, but like the Renaissance Baroque and Portuguese versions, merely another development in the evolution of a vast family of sometimes only vaguely related musical instruments. That's my opinion, anyway. Brad
James A Stimson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Dear All: I agree in general with Doc's comments about "true" citterns. I'd been using that term, however, to distringuish historical citterns and copies of them from what modern-day Celtic musicians call a cittern, which is actually an octave mandolin. Cheers, Jim To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site! --
