Well, my apologies to all. My statement largely was meant to be tongue in cheek, and I intended no slight to the early Jugendbewegung movement or Wandervögel groups. After all, they constituted the earliest seed of what has flowered into one of the most active camps of modern art music for the mandolin, an instrument I consider with great fondness (and some justifiably would consider cheesier than guitar lutes).
Of course, Matanya and Mathias are both correct. There _were_ reams of shoddily constructed guitar lutes built to target a fickle crowd of amateurs; such is the case with any popular instrument (e.g., consider the modern guitar or the mandolin in the early 1900s). I suppose the only defense for my initial overzealous rant is the operative term "most;" most guitar lutes were shoddily constructed, as most mass-produced modern guitars are. There were indeed a number of beautifully crafted guitar lutes too. I've seen both levels of craftsmanship and, while I'm not inspired to own any them, can understand how others would be. Even the nicer "working-class" pieces have a kind of cool nostalgia about them, perhaps the coolest kind of nostalgia as they might be affordable. Yes, I concede they are as interesting a representative of an interesting era in music history as any other instrument to predate yesterday. I also understand that the members of a modern Elizabethan reenactment group might not be inspired to take up a more proper lute out of sole interest in the lute, which may very well be misguided motivation (not to mention an expensive investment of both time and money). A modern guitar in a lute-like shape may be just the tool for this job. Best, Eugene At 01:54 PM 10/07/2003 +0000, Mathias Rösel"zZWwi wrote: >I -- no, I should rather not comment on such idiosyncratic views. Let me >say that much: I own two different ones of them and I am fond of >occasionally playing them. At 11:58 AM 10/07/2003 -0400, Matanya Ophee wrote: >At 07:57 AM 10/7/2003 -0400, Euge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >At 06:35 AM 10/7/03 -0400, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > >Yes, that's what she's looking for. I'm chatting with her in email > about it > > >and trying to talk her out of it and go for a real lute instead. She's > part > > >of an Elizabethan re-enactment group and they want to add music. > > >Unfortunately the lutar is not the appropriate instrument for it. > > > >Frankly, guitar lutes under any name are not the appropriate instrument for > >anything. They don't sound like lutes, they don't sound like guitars, they > >just don't sound any good at all...and most are rather shoddily > >constructed. The very conception of the instrument was in a superficial, > >visual aesthetic to serve a fickle crowd of amateurs celebrating some > >imagined, idealized, pastoral past. > >That is a rather harsh indictment of an entire cultural movement that >existed in Germany for several decades before and after the turn of the >past century, the Vogelwand movement. There were literally hundreds of >books, sheet music, song books, and instruments in general circulation. I >used to own one of those many years ago. Eventually sold it, but not before >I lent it to Menashe Baquiche for a gig he got playing it on stage at the >Habimah Theatre in a production of Twelfth Night. It was, obviously, a >_visual_ stage prop, but it served the purpose, which is exactly the same >purpose the original poster needs it for. > >As for the quality of construction, that is the same as with any other >musical instrument. Some are shoddily constructed, and some are very well >made. You can see examples, some very ornate, at the Frankfurt MusikMesse >even today, which means that there is still a market for the instrument in >Germany. > >Whether this instrument will be suitable for the particular production the >poster needs it for, depends to a large extent of the _music_ she would be >expected to play. If she has the freedom of choice, a real lute may well be >a better choice, if she can play it. But if the music is dictated by the >director of the production, as is usually the case, then she may not have >the liberty to choose the instrument and must either find the lutar, or >give the gig to someone else. > > >Matanya Ophee >Editions Orphe'e, Inc., >1240 Clubview Blvd. N. >Columbus, OH 43235-1226 >Phone: 614-846-9517 >Fax: 614-846-9794 >mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://www.orphee.com >
