Hello Martin, I can't address the theorbic implications, but I am very interested to see that first bit, where i does a single, selected rest stroke in order to play the course it comes to rest on following the m stroke is exactly what I've been doing on the d-minor Baroque lute in many places. Not from any instruction, it just felt logical, conserving of motion, and yet another way to get control of the fingers. And stay in touch of location, or continue in a bassward direction when that is what is happening. I believe crossing the i over the m, instead of using a was already commonplace in 17th century French lute playing; specialists can confirm or correct me on this one.
Perhaps getting a little OT from your specific theorbo concerns, I think many of us who came to lutes in general from modern guitar have a tendency to overuse the a finger, often to the detriment of style, and sometimes technique as well. Because of an old tendonitis injury I spent several months playing with no use of the a finger at all- even complex Weiss sonatas; it was a revelation how much could be accomplished this way- technically and musically. By the way, this counterintuitive, unnatural (at first) finger crossing is generally more manageable from the thumb out (or up/center, whatever) hand orientation. Dan >Hi! > >Looking through Francesca Torelli's excellent theorbo tutor (published by Ut >Orpheus Edizioni), I was a little surprised by two of her recommendations >for right hand arpeggiation. She explains (p 23)the technique in which 4 >note arpeggios, for example, are played p i m i, with the index finger >playing the highest note of the chord last, on the third course. So the >first bar of Kapsberger's Toccata Seconda Arpeggiata becomes... > >----------- |------------- >----------- |------------- >---0------- |-0------------ repeated 4 times >---3------- |----------3--- >---3------- |----3--------- >---2------- |-------2------ > ./. p i m i > >However, she suggests that once you have played the second note, you should >rest the index finger on the third course ready to play the final note of >the 4 note pattern. I don't play this way myself (though I can make it work) >and wonder if other people do. Also, if there is any mention of this "rest >stroke" technique in the original sources. > >On p 24, she prints the above mentioned Toccata, with the recommendation >that the student should vary the RH fingering patterns so as to ensure that >all the notes in each chord are played in ascending order. The trouble with >this recommendation is that very often in the piece, the notes on the first >and third courses have a melodic function as well as an harmonic one. The >pattern in bar 6, for example, is notated as follows; > > >-------- ---------------- >---2---- which could be realised either as ---2------------ or as >-------- ---------------- >---0---- ------------0--- >---3---- ------3--------- >---3---- ---------3------ > ./. p i m i > > > ------------------ > -----2------------ > ------------------ if you follow Torelli's suggestion > -----------0------ > --------3--------- > --------------3-- > p m i m > >Or perhaps-p i i m ? > >The result is that the melodic move Bb-A is reversed. > >She admits that "This technique may seem complex and difficult in the >beginning..." ! To my ear, it also alters the piece significantly, in this >bar and a number of other places. What do people think? I wonder if anyone >can think of passages like this in the Italian theorbo repertory where the >arpeggiation is written out in full, thus giving us a hint? > > >Best wishes > >martin > > > > >To get on or off this list see list information at >http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- Rachel Winheld 820 Colusa Avenue Berkeley, CA 94707 [email protected] Tel 510.526.0242 Cell 510.915.4276
