On Sat, Oct 18, 2008 at 2:36 AM, David Tayler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I've been experimenting with substituting the harpsichord in high > baroque pieces with organ and archlute--the archlute has less of a full > sound than the theorbo but the treble makes a nice counterpoint for > Bach
I play a lot of Bach c.s., and usually bring my archlute. High and fast basses and complicated figures make it easier for me on archlute than on theorbo. I'd say half of these concerts are with harpsichord, the other half with organ. For much, I prefer the organ because the lute is better heard, as are the solo instruments. Just like you said. But I've learned that the combined sound of harpsichord and lute can be very, very good, too. The lute makes the attack of harpsichord more mellow and the harpsichord boosts the volume of the lute. If all goes well it becomes one instrument with the best qualities of both. With an organ I try to play something else than the organist does: other counterpoint, different chord shapes, to be distinctly heard. But with the harpsichord it's perfectly all-right to play the same fills, same top notes in chords and same arpeggios. If it goes well we'll blend. There's one group where we play every month the same concert twice: once with organ (a big one with the orchestra sitting on the balcony next to it) and once with harpsichord. Both can be good. Actually, the concert with harpsichord is in a ridiculously huge church, and in some pieces the lute can be better heard than the harpsichord, who's sound seems to 'blow away'. David - looking forward to playing the Musikalisches Opfer soon :-) ******************************* David van Ooijen [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.davidvanooijen.nl ******************************* To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
