--- gary digman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I resolved > never to attend another > lute concert sponsored by Sfems because the lute > simply could not be heard > from more the 6 or 7 rows back where all the lute > players (who cannot afford > season tickets) were forced to sit. I refuse to pay > $40 for a ticket to > watch someone play a lute I cannot also hear.
The volume of the instrument is not the issue. The approach of the player is. I too have sat in the audience at lute concerts not being able to hear. The last lute concert I went to was by a very big name lutenist. I had a number of my guitar students at this concert and they all told me the same thing "That was OK, but the lute sure is really soft." I knew the pieces this performer played. During the show I kept thinking, "Now when is he going to start PLAYING the darn thing???" I sat there, straining to hear nuances that I happened to KNOW were there, but were impossible to pick up in a venue of that size (big but not overly-large hall). There was no way any of my students or the general public in attendence would have been able to discern these points. I can certainly appreciate refinement of tone and delicacy of touch. The lute responds well to this - in a small room. But there are places (i.e. a large room) in which being SO incredibly sensitive is downright inappropriate. When I got my degree in guitar, the word drummed into us was always "projection." Over and over - "know your hall." In a small place use all the dynamics and tone colors your can. In a big one, you may have to forego this in deference to other types of musical expression. Although there are indeed some lutenists who understand this I have seen very, very few of them in person. The lute can indeed respond to being pushed without sacrificing tone quality! Chris __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
