Hi all,
I'm short on time, so I'll try to make this brief.
I agree with Howard in the sense that I think when Vivaldi
meant mandolino, he indicated mandolino. He clearly
knew what a mandolino was, and wrote for it very effectively,
IMHO. There are accounts of mandolinos having existed at
the Pieta where he worked (records survive, and they
bought *lots* of mandolino strings!... some things never
change...)
I agree with Eugene that what Vivaldi meant by "leuto" is still
open to debate. For a number of reasons, I don't think
these leuto parts work well at the upper (written) octave
(and yes, I play the mandolino). What ever the instrument,
I have argued in the past that we need to consider the
context of these works in seeking answers. Yes, Vivaldi
was "Italian", but RV 82, 85, 93 and 540 all have Germanic/
Bohemian ties of one form or another. The man was, after
all, famous for knowing his customer....
RV 540 (in D minor) was written for a specific occasion, a
visit by the son of the King of Poland and the Prince Elector
of Saxony to the Pieta in 1741. It is essentially a concerto
grosso for soloists with orchestral accompaniment. Its fun
to speculate as to the lutenist at such a grand event, and I
personally like the sound of the D-minor Baroque lute very
much for this piece. In RV 540, Vivaldi does give specific
instruction for the Leuto to double the bassi in the tuttis.
The title seems to indicate muting for the orchestra
"Concerto con Viola d'amore e Leuto e con tutti
gl'Instromenti sordini". The strange and wonderful Concerto
for molti instrumenti (RV 588) was also performed at the
same event, and it clearly names mandolini, and theorbi...
so what ever the leuto is, it is probably not a mandolino
or theorbo, at least in this context.
According to Talbot, RV 82, RV 85, and RV 93 were written
a decade earlier (1730-31) when Vivaldi was in Prague,
not Venice. In spite of the modern orchestral performance
practice, these are two simple trio sonatas and a small-
scale concerto, scored for a trio and quartet of instruments
respectively. These pieces bear a dedication to the
Bohemian Count Johann Joseph von Wrtby, and
according to Talbot ("Vivaldi") are written on "an unusual
paper of central-European provenance".
In my article, I sought to explore the germanic/bohemian
mandora/galichone as a possiblity for these pieces, as
others (Pietro Prosser, principally) have established its
popularity among Bohemian nobility at the time. I found
nothing to disqualify the mandora, and some compelling
idiomatic things, but claim no proof ultimately.
Yes, these pieces are all playable on an archlute in G
as many today prefer. Many also play them on guitars
(who's intervals the mandora shared). As I've mentioned
here before, a mandora tuned in D is simply an archlute
in G without its chanterelle.
Best,
Eric
ps - The article was "Pondering Vivaldi's Leuto", Lute
Society of America Quarterly, Volume XXXVII, No. 1
August and November 2002 (published October,
2003) pp 4-7.
On Nov 14, 2007, at 6:49 AM, EUGENE BRAIG IV wrote:
----- Original Message -----
From: David Tayler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 0:08 am
Subject: [LUTE] Re: Vivaldi
Also works nice on 6 course mandolin, and archlute
in mandolin tuning. On mandolin you have not the
parallel octaves, and the modulating parts are
easier with the open e string in the middle.
As Eric Liefeld notes in his article for the LSA Quarterly (sitting
in a hotel far from home, I don't have the citation on hand, but
hopefully he'll happen by to comment), playing the Vivaldi lute
works as scored on 5- or 6-course mandolino leaves a gap in the
middle range. This is the way O'Dette recorded them for Hyperion.
He has since turned to favor archlute for the works to designate
"leuto."
Orchestra is way bigger than I like for this
piece...
Of course, this is the rather well-known Il Giardino Armonico. In
spite of the single-strung archlute (or perhaps because of it...I
know it's in spite of and not because of the plectra applied to
mandolini) their recording of the Vivaldi lute and mandolin works
is my favorite. The recorded RV 93 as scored, one instrument per
part: "leuto" (whatever that meant), two violins, and basso continuo.
Eugene
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