Dear Arthur, sorry for my delay, I had to work a little... :)
I didn't say divisions have no bass. I said weight is on the treble, usually, and the bass can be reduced, depending on how fast or difficult the treble division is. According to the category of patterns of broken chords, I should have to agree that the spezzate delle gagliarde pp. 13 / 17 are divisions because treble notes do not precede bass notes. Or, in terms of chord-thinking, it's always 1-2-3 and never 3-2-1 or 3-1-2. And yes, the spezzate on pp. 26 / 40 / 43 are brise, then, because they include inversed patterns of broken chords. However, I'm still uncertain about that category. I have just now played through the pieces you named, and I cannot say that these spezzate have very much in common with traditional renaissance lute divisions. Perhaps, I'm a little biased on this, but IMHO everything points in the direction of what was popular in France just at the time. BTW, I have difficulties with discovering inversed broken chord patterns in each of the French masters' pieces. Regarding the owner of the book, nothing can be safely deduced from the settings of the pieces (with or without reprise), because - at least the master copy of the S.P.E.S. facsimile - is a print which is addressed at the public. Btw the virtuoso figurations of the spezzate are not so much virtuoso if you slow down a little >:) I'm an average lute player, and I still can play them at a reasonable tempo. > It is the brise spezzate that are "flowing," In brise style the melody is > part of the broken > chords, and a good player would emphasize it. Yes, and what's more, IMHO a good player would have to make clear not only the treble line but also all other voices that are there. Especially those pieces that you consider style brise include middle voices at several places. All the best, Mathias -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
