Arthur Ness
Tue, 23 Aug 2005 15:34:27 -0700

>That information is also given in the notes
>to Paul's CD.

Glad to know that you obtain your musicological information from CD 
liner notes. I suspected as much, but now you confirmed it. Thank you.

>We know the Codice Lauten-Buch is not lost or destroyed
>because the current owner hired an Italian
>lutenist to give a private recital in his home.  He
>played directly from the original manuscript, which is so
>famous it would be easy to spot.

Who are the "we" in this statement? the Royal Ness We? What you seem 
to know, and to repeat here shamelessly, is nothing more than 
unsubstantiated hearsay. You do not not know who the putative current 
owner is, you do not know who was this alleged Italian lutenist, you 
do not know when and where this supposed concert took place, and you 
cannot even cite one single living lutenist who would swear to have 
been present when this event took place.

>Matanya Ophee persists in perpetuating the
>story on this list and in his reprint that Tuffolo
>(Chilesotti's grand nephew) and
>Bussandri (his grandson) have declared that the original
>has not survived.  I doubt they ever made such a claim.

Not only they, but also your friend Dinko Fabris. And your doubts 
about my statements, as much as you are entitled to them, can be 
easily refuted. For example, you once expressed the doubt that the 
entire repository of Francesco microfilms, first collected by John 
Ward and the one you used to make up your Francesco book 35 years 
ago, was given to me by John and is now in my possession. You doubt 
that is true? then come on over to my house and take a look. Too far? 
you can ask somebody who lives closer to come and check. There are a 
few members of this list who live practically around the corner and 
would be happy to verify this for you.

The statements made in my edition where written by Toffolo himself, 
and approved for publication by Bussandri. If you doubt this is true, 
why don't you ask them?

>How would they know the fate of a rare and valuable book
>that was sold nearly a century ago, before either
>wasborn, and has been in
>private hands ever since?

Good question. Perhaps you could now tell us how do _you_ know that, 
since you too was not even born then?

>   And I doubt either has any
>particular interest in lute music, or moves in the
>Italian lute community.

And the relevance of this is what? Toffolo is the author of the 
latest and most complete biography of Oscar Chilesotti, and also the 
author of the preface to my edition of the Codex. Heis also a 
prolific writer on many relevant subjects and his articles are 
currently published in il Fronimo. Bussandri is the owner of the 
Chilesotti museum. So whether they are directly involved in Italian 
lute circles, the fact remains that they are directly involved in all 
affairs concerning Oscar Chileostti. Of course, you do not doubt that 
Dinko Fabris has any
particular interest in lute music, or moves in the Italian lute 
community. Or do you?

>It is a "Codice Lauten-Buch."  By leaving out the
>largest word on the title page, Lauten-Buch, Ophee is
>suppressing the information that the book is
>German (actually Bavarian, where Italian tablature was
>in use).

The reasons for eliminating this superfluous marketing ploy by the 
Breitkopf & Haertel publishing company from the title was carefully 
explained in my edition. The text of the title page is not serial, 
but parallel.

>Unfortunately the reviewer in the current issue of
>_The_Lute_ was taken in by this, and mistakenly writes
>that it is a lost Italian manuscript.<sigh>

Some people in this lute world are not easily taken in by your silly 
delusions and require more than just your word for anything. As long 
as all you can provide is unsubstantiated hearsay and rumors, 
responsible writers will ignore you.

>In any event, until a facsimile appears, Dick Hoban's
>tablature edition for Lyre Press will serve most
>lutenists.

Certainly will. And as for the likelihood of another Forni facsimile 
appearing: I doubt that very much. Not today. I actually considered 
doing a facsimile, since I own a pristine copy of the original 1890 
edition. But the costs of printing such a book today are such that 
publishing it today is only possible if the price to the end-user 
would be someplace around and beyond the space station. Not going to 
happen. I am not a suicidal publisher, and neither is Forni. And if 
you doubt what I say, try and obtain an estimate from a printer. Many 
commercial printers in the US enable you to obtain estimates on line. 
Just give them the dimensions of the book, number of pages, type of 
binding and number of copies you want to print. And it is not going 
to serve lutenists any better than my book.


>It also has updated information (missing in Ophee's
>book, although he owns Dick's edition) giving the
>correct titles and composer attributions for many of the
>anonymous pieces.

My book gives a precise citation of the Hoban book. If I reproduced 
any of the information contained in there, you would have accused me 
of plagiarism. Right?


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
http://www.livejournal.com/users/matanya/  




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