Rob,
The Talbot MS gives the small (lesser) French theorbo string length c 76cm as
tuned in D. If this was at 'French' pitch (whatever this means in the context -
French pitch as recorded in England, French Opera pitch, chamber pitch........)
then, if the same pitch levels and string stresses are the same, this equates
to an instrument in A at 99cm (ie as the very largest extant instruments).
However, solo instruments like the 'Lesser French Theorboe' seem to have been
pitched at the uppermost extreme of gut breaking stress (to paraphrase: tune
the highest pitched string as high as it will go) whereas even the longest
theorboes seem to have had a small 'safety factor', possibly to allow for local
variations (eg, a 98cm instrument in G at 440 is around a semitone/tone below
the breaking pitch), so on this basis the French instrument could be between 89
and 94cm. This also fits in very well with Talbot's measurements (88/89cm) for
the English Theorbo in A and is, of course, very significantly larger than the
small instruments some propose (75 to 82cm) for the double reentrant A tuning.
I'm not sure of the real evidence to suggest French theorbos were smaller
than Italian instruments; certainly Talbot's measured instrument suggest much
the same sizes and evidence from paintings of professional musicans (eg the
Puget mentioned earlier) also show large theorboes in France (incidentally, in
this latter case, not only double strung on the fingerboard but also the
basses! - but note the hand position: plucking very close to the bridge).
Incidentally, altho Talbot only gives measurements for the English Theorboe
in A, he gives the same tuning for the French theorbo and since he describes
the French theorbo with a string length of 76cm as being a small ('Lesser')
French theorbo, it's not at all unreasonable to suppose (as Gill and later
commentators did) that the string length of the French double reentrant theorbo
in A would also have been around 89cm.
Martyn
Rob Lute <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Well I for one found that fascinating, Martyn. Thanks. Malcolm Prior has
just told me that - after a discussion with Lynda Sayce - my theorbo (which
he is making at this very moment) has grown to 85cms from 84. It will be
tuned to A=440. As I will be using it primarily for accompaniment, that
suits me fine. I can't afford multiple theorbos (Theorboes?) so this size
seems ideal - big enough for Italian ensemble work, but not too big for some
of the solo repertoire.
Something not mentioned in your message is pitch. I love French baroque at
low pitch, A = 392. My guitar is tuned that way, and 11c also. I know not
everyone agrees on 392, but I love it. Let's assume for the sake of
discussion (not arguement) that Robert de Visee played at 392, what would
that mean for the string length of the large French theorbo and also the
theorbe de pieces? We believe, do we not, that the large French theorbo was
smaller than its Italian counterpart, but not in the 70-80cms region? I'm
wondering if I could tune my 85cms theorbo to 392, thinking in A with double
re-entrant strings. I suppose that would be the same as tuning it to G (A 440).
Rob
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