Dear All, Just a few comments:
Anthony Rooley was a great inspiration to me when I went to one of his lecture-recitals in 1973. His enthusiasm was infectious and he was friendly and encouraging. I have seen him only occasionally since, but have always had the same impression. At the Lute Society bash last weekend I saw another pioneer who I had not seen for a few years - Philip MacLeod-Coupe. He made the lute which Tony Rooley used on those Dowland song recordings in the early 1970s and he brought it with him. I had seen it before, but it is now a better instrument. It was made in 1970, with the then usual rather wide neck. Some years ago Philip rebuilt it as a 6c lute but the proportions were still a little odd, so recently he has taken off the capping strip, cut away the ribs to fit a new mould and taken about 25mm off the body - so it is now about 25mm shorter and the rose is now in the right place! There is now a wonderfully historical-looking bridge mark where the first 6c bridge used to be. If I understood him correctly the soundboard is not the original - it dates from the first conversion to a 6c lute. But the nice thing about it is that the body is still in use. I remember the original lute sounding rather quiet and thin on those early recordings, but the "new" lute is quite strong and very clear, a lovely instrument which Philip just plays for his own pleasure. I think it is probably wrong to assume that Julian Bream or Wanda Landowska were louder than their modern counterparts - in fact it seems to me that with both lutes and harpsichords, as modern makers have got closer to historical models and methods (and as players have developed better techniques) the instruments have sounded louder and fuller, with lots of overtones which the mid-20th C instruments lacked. Oh, and I must mention the splendid part-concert (about 30 minutes) which Jacob Heringman gave at the weekend. All Bakfark, played standing up, with ravishing sound, including a seven minute fantasia which had the audience spellbound. And not a Pyramid string in sight. Best wishes, Martin To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
