Martyn wrote:
- Castaldi can be played on a large(ish) instrument eg my A theorbo
at 90cm fingered string length;
This sounds quite strange: I've recorded the Castaldi book some years ago;
my theorbo has a diapason of 81cm, and my hands are quite large. I think
that it's rather impossible to play the music of Castaldi on a lager
instrument, if you want to play the all the notes in the position they were
written.
The same thing happens in the music of Gianoncelli, I'm studying at the
moment. I'm shure that he used a very small archlute. On the other hand, if
I'm not wrong (I've not the facsimile under my eyes), Valentini gives an A
tune for the archlut, that means small instrument; true is that Valentini
was from Rome where the pith was very low (A= 390 Hz), and Gianoncelli in
Venice, where the A was high (A= 462 Hz).
About the second string of the theorbo, I think that some elementary
knowledge of the physiscs of the string can help (I've illustrated this
passages in my dissertation about the invention of the early theorbo) .
Infact we know that exists a coefficient called 'breaking index' (I don't
know the exact english terminology) that puts in relation the vibrating
lenth of the string and the pitch, depending of the material of the string.
This coefficient is 248 for the gut (248 Hz. x m.). With this number we can
calculate the maximum pitch that a gut sting can reach before breaking,
despite its diameter.
If we imagine a vibrating lenght of 80 cm (= 0.8 m), we can have:
Max. frequence: 248/0.8 = 310 Hz
310 Hz is a little lower than an E at 440 Hz (e = 329.63 Hz), that means
that the string cannot reach an e, but breacks before. If we assume a lower
pitch (i.e. 415 Hz.) or shorter diapason (i.e. 78 cm.), we can have an high
e on the second string (single or doubled with a lower one).
Ending I think that this way of stringing the theorbo with the doubled
second sting, in octave, is of foundamental importance for playing the
Sonate by Pittoni.
Diego Cantalupi
