Going back to the OUP article Martina posted, it demonstrates exactly the kind of conclusion that I neither understand nor agree with because it locks the cittern into a period and doesn't allow for variations in structure, size and tuning that deviate from the earliest surviving examples of the instrument. If scholars treated the guitar in the same way, single-strung six-course instruments would be something other than guitars. "Roots" are important, but I think some people exaggerate their importance too much. It's an extension of Plato's idea that the "ideal" chair exists somewhere and all other chairs are an interpretation of it, but instead of allowing for variety, it gets tied up with the idea that earliest is "best".
Along with conclusions such as the one Martina quotes are those that declare that an instrument went into decline - as hinted at when the author speaks about the changes in 17th-century England (tuned like a guitar and played with the fingers). What's the problem? The European lute was once played with a plectrum, then finger-style became the norm. There are people who think that "thumb under" is the only way to play because it's seemingly earlier than "thumb out", and they claim this even if the evidence says otherwise. It's a mystery to me. Things change. The so-called English guittar and like instruments across 18th-century Europe were known as citterns at the time, in the various languages. John at Magnatune decided to call my instrument "baroque cittern" for purposes of marketing. I think I had suggested something more complicated because I wanted to avoid use of the national adjective. I had also suggested Cetra or Kitara, as on Demarzi's title page, but maybe he thought that was too obscure. Anyway, the point is that adjectives help us describe instruments where variety exists - classical, steel-string, electric, flamenco, baroque, etc. are all guitars, no problem. I think before I'd met Rob I would have been happy to call my cittern an English guittar as that was the accepted orthodox name. I never thought it was a good name because it is a cittern rather than a guitar, per se, but what the hell. I see things differently now, not only because of Rob's campaigning but also from my own research into the instrument throughout Europe. Sure, there are national differences in terms of structure, tuning, number of courses, repertoire, use, but when taking it all in and looking at the big picture, I conclude that they are all citterns and that the cittern has had a consistent history in Europe. Thanks to Martina for posting the article. Doc To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
