Hi, I'm playing a 11-ch. and a 13-ch. swan neck baroque lute (the Martin Hoffmann type 169_, which actually is made my JCH).
The term "german theorboe" could be irritating because Baron used it for a different instrument (a large D-Minor lute with the upper two courses shifted into the basses) but many lutenists and luthiers still call the instrument german theorboe - even on the bill for my instrument it's named like this and Lutz calls it in his booklet "Theorbenlaute" (theorboe lute), which is correct because it is theorboed (second pegbox) but still a regular baroque lute. Anyway we got used to feel that theorboes are that large beasts with the reentrant tuning and the german swan neck type of lute has more to do with a liuto attiorbato so I would tell it simply a baroque lute maybe with the addition it would be a late model with swan neck. A historical problem is IMO that we don't have examples of a 14-ch. instrument. I think there is only one work for it (the g-minor suite - cello suite 5 by Bach dedicated to a Monsieur Schouster, written in staff notation.) It's hard to tell if we can tell by this one example of someone who was no lutenist and whose few compositions for the lute are still in discussion that there really was such an instrument (it could well be that the great Maestro made a tiny mistake widening the bass range of the instrument to g). Falckenhagen and Weyrauch changed the basses to fit to a 13-ch. instrument both respected lutenists. Best wishes Thomas Am Mon, 2004-01-05 um 05.15 schrieb sterling price: > Hi- I play a 14c baroque-lute. I use the 14th course > all time in Weiss where it makes sense-for instance in > c major keys. The thing about playing a 14 course > baroque lute is the music is designed for 13 courses > so having a 14th can be confusing for the thumb when > playing a 13c then a 14c like I do. I moved the 14th > over so there is a bigger space between 13 and 14. > Also-just call it what it is-a baroque lute. The > difference in sound is barely noticable. > Sterling Price > > --- Michael Stitt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Dear all, > > > > Am I right to assume that Bach's music is the only > > music to require that low Gg - fourteeth course? > > > > The ambiguity and terminology of description for > > this lute has always been a bit of problem for me. > > When asked what instrument I play and Courses versus > > `number of strings', it becomes a mouthful. I am > > asked: `What instrument do you play?' I play a 14 > > course German theorbo, is usually my reply. But > > then explaining that each course has two > > `doubled-up' strings but the first two are single, > > making a sum total of twenty-six NOT twenty-eight > > strings... Then there is `fourteen course??!' - I > > thought the Baroque lute has thirteen courses? My > > response is: `Yes, a Gg tp play Bach's BWV 995, > > 1997, & 1000' Almost finally, but is it really a > > theorbo or a Baroque lute? `Yes it is a theorbo > > because it has the extra bass pegbox'. Why the > > German bit? `It is based on a lute constructed by > > JCHoffmann who was German...'. End of breath... > > > > > > I bet a guitarist does not get this, six strings > > will do! hehe. > > > > Regards, > > > > Michael Stitt > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > Do you Yahoo!? > > Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now > > -- > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Find out what made the Top Yahoo! Searches of 2003 > http://search.yahoo.com/top2003 -- Thomas Schall Niederhofheimer Weg 3 D-65843 Sulzbach 06196/74519 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.lautenist.de / www.tslaute.de/weiss --
