Dear All, I have been told, I hope reliably, that, if, at the time of Dowland, you wanted to attack an army of soldiers armed with muskets, you would first send a small group of soldiers ahead to draw their fire. Before the enemy could reload, the rest of your army attacked them. Needless to say, the men in that small group stood little chance of surviving. They were known as the Forlorn Hope. It comes from the Dutch "verloren hoop", meaning "lost troop", but translates conveniently into English, because those soldiers had a forlorn hope of surviving.
I enjoyed much of Karamazov's performance, not least the way he kept the rhythm steady, unlike so many self-indulgent players today who constantly play around with the tactus. I didn't mind the funny sound effects, but I felt cheated when I heard that last chord. That's not Dowland. We may not know some things about Dowland's playing, but we do know he wanted to finish that piece with a major chord. In fact it would seem that he had strong views on the matter, since he hammers out the major third 12 times in the last two bars: |\ |\ |\ |\ _a________________________________________ _________a_____a_b_a_b_a_b_a_b_a_b_a_b_a__ ___a_c_d_c_c_d_c_d_c_d_c_d_c_d_c_d_c_d_c__ _c___c_e___c_e____________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ |\ |\ | |\ |\ | |\ |\ | |\ | | ___________a__________a______ _b_________a_______|__a___||_ _d_________d__c__a_|__c___||_ _______a___c_______|__c___||_ ___a_d_____________|__c___||_ _________a_________|__a___||_ It is an emphatic statement, and a fitting climax to an extraordinary piece of music. To play a wrong note deliberately in the last chord, not only discredits the composer, it also insults the listener. In terms of musical logic, it is like a lawyer strongly arguing his case, and then undermining his own argument by supporting the opposite point of view in his final sentence. In artistic terms, it is like an artist painting a wonderful landscape for you, and then throwing a bottle of ink at it just before he hands it over. If the role of the musician is to create cynicism and anarchy, it is fair game to destroy the work of others. If not, he should show some humility and respect for the composer and for the audience, and stick to the script. Best wishes, Stewart McCoy. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dante Ferrara" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Lutelist" <[email protected]> Cc: "Lutelist" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008 8:33 PM Subject: [LUTE] Karamazov > My, my. We are an overheated lot tonight! > > Yes, the final chord sounds a bit strange and out of place, but if that's > how Edin wants to play it, well fine by me. I wouldn't, he would. > > As none of us has ever met Dowland, we'll never know whether he thwacked his > strings harshly near the bridge for effect or gently picked the strings near > the neck joint for a different effect. And who are we to say that everything > should be played straight, identical in attack, tone quality and the rest? > > Reading between the lines, I reckon there are some lutenists who think every > lute tune between 1500 and 1700 was played without a shred of humour or > personality. Imagine two hundred years of a Europe-ful of lutenists, none > daring to stray from the written page. Come on, lighten up! > > Let me diffuse the tension by offering my short videos... > > http://www.youtube.com/DanteFerrara > > DF -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
