Dear Stephen
To guide me I have Louis Pernot's
> recording of this work, which I have often found very helpful (though
I find
>
> his tone rather harsh--does anyone else?).
Yes, Louis Pernot, himself, seems a little disappointed in the sound
quality of the recording.
I have not heard him play on his own lutes, which are strung with
Charles Besnainou gut spring-string basses, but recently he came to
play my 11c Stephen Gottlieb lute strung with Mimmo's loaded basses
with Venice octaves. His playing struck me as very clear, and
rhythmically well defined and articulated, certainly not warm or
"Romantic", but not dry, as it can sound on this recording.
It is true that he plays back near the bridge, but this is necessary
with Charles' bass strings, as they have 25% stretch (at 3Kg they are
more like 2Kg strings). Thus he adopts more or less the same position
as T. Satoh does for his low tension strings (and has been doing that
since the 70s)
[1]http://louispernot.com/artist.html
[2]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~lsa/old/Cleveland2006/TSatohConcert.htm
l
Now it is possible that if a player moves back to the bridge, because
the basses are supple, while the trebles are normal gut high tension
strings (as Louis' are, but T. Satoh's aren't) that the trebles might
become a little dry. However, I did not really notice that when Louis
played on my strings and lute.
I have heard Charles Besnainou play his lute with carbon bass spring
strings, and the sound was very open and free, and not at all dry; so I
don't think it can be a defect of this string type.
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[3]http://tinyurl.com/yel63kz
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although they did have that characteristic carbon sound (which of
course would not be the case with Louis' gut version).
As to Louis Pernot's playing, I was extremely impressed. I only
had to hand T. Satoh's Weichenberger transcription, which he told me he
had never seen before, and I was surprised to hear him play it straight
off, without any hesitation, and with remarkably lucid rhythmic
stability. That was what I noticed most, his rhythmic clarity. I had
difficulty mastering the piece after a month, and he could play it at
"full tilt" while sight reading; but looking at Louis' artistic
history, I understand why: he began playing the Baroque lute before the
age of fifteen
[4]http://louispernot.com/images/louis2.jpg
Regards
Anthony
---- Message d'origine ----
>De : "Stephen Arndt" <[email protected]>
>A : "Lute List" <[email protected]>;
> "Suzanne Angevine" <[email protected]>
>Objet : [LUTE] Re: tempos in Francesco Fantasias
>Date : 12/03/2010 21:16:12 CET
>
>I am not exactly responding to Susanne's message, but making a related
> comment. I have been playing through and home-recording Denis
Gaultier's "La
>
> rhetorique des dieux" on my 11-course. To guide me I have Louis
Pernot's
> recording of this work, which I have often found very helpful (though
I find
>
> his tone rather harsh--does anyone else?). But, generally speaking, I
simply
>
> cannot play these pieces at the same tempos (or tempi for the Italian
> purists, or tempora for the Latin purists) as he does, which I find
very
> frustrating. I don't know how one works up to those speeds, unless
one plays
>
> a piece over and over with a metronome, gradually increasing the
number of
> beats per minute, which I actually do, though before long I seem to
reach a
>
> limit that I can't manage to surpass no matter how long I practice. I
assume
>
> that Mr. Pernot knows very well what he is doing and is playing these
pieces
>
> at the speeds at which they were intended to be played.
>
> In a related vein, I have been working through Elias Mertel's "Novus
hortus
>
> musicalis" on my 10-course, and I generally play the pieces as fast
as I
> comfortably can, though I suspect that I am playing practically all
of them
>
> too slowly on account of my technical limitations.
>
> Any suggestions for improving speed or advice on determining the
proper
> tempo for a piece would be much appreciated.
>
> Best regards to all,
>
> Stephen Arndt
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Suzanne Angevine" <[email protected]>
> To: "Lute List" <[email protected]>
> Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 11:26 AM
> Subject: [LUTE] tempos in Francesco Fantasias
>
>
> > Yesterday I got out a Francesco Fantasia I hadn't played in awhile.
Its
> > one of the easier ones, since I'm not that advanced a player. But I
> > thoroughly enjoyed playing it - the counterpoint, the
expressiveness of
> > it. Later in the day I listened to a CD of a big name player doing
> > Francesco pieces. What struck me most was the utter contrast
between what
>
> > I had enjoyed about playing the music, and what I heard. Not just
on the
>
> > same Fantasia, but almost the entire CD was BRIGHT, and very PERKY
> > sounding. In thinking about it, I felt that this effect was due
almost
> > entirely to the fast tempos chosen. Now this player has exceptional
> > technique, and can play fast and cleanly. And it is to be admitted
that
> > the CD is rather old, and may no longer represent the player's
point of
> > view on Francesco exactly. But it got me thinking about tempos.
Someone
>
> > on this list recently commented that folks generally try to play
too fast.
>
> > Is there some actual musicological evidence somewhere that says
what
> > tempos should be used? Or do moderns just play fast because we live
in a
>
> > fast paced world, and playing well fast shows off our skill? A
moderate
> > tempo on the Fantasia in question allows some time and space for
> > expression of the music to bloom, but a fast, perky tempo just
makes it
> > sound like pyrotechnic display, not what would earn a player the
name of
> > "il divino". So, any musicological evidence for proper tempos in
> > Francesco's music?
> >
> > Suzanne
> >
> >
> >
> > To get on or off this list see list information at
> > [5]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>
>
>
--
References
1. http://louispernot.com/artist.html
2. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Elsa/old/Cleveland2006/TSatohConcert.html
3. http://tinyurl.com/yel63kz
4. http://louispernot.com/images/louis2.jpg
5. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html
