Although the principle is the same as organ stops, the sound is very different. It is much more noticeable on the lute. This is owing to the position of the "split" On an organ, when there is no "split" you do not hear the effect, it is only when the octaves are "on" for half of the keyboard that you hear the voices dropping in and out.
If the lute were tuned in such a way that the split was around middle C, or the B just below, it would still be more obvious than the organ, but it would sound much better. If you look at early french music, some of it is composed very nicely so that it does not run over the split as much, in either the melody or the bass line. By Dowland's time, that would have been impossible as both outside parts are much more wide ranging. An early exception: Capirola runs over the split all the time, but usually the texture is one voice at those moments. Another split of sorts was the split between the academics and the noodlers. I would say that Dowland, Morley, Holborn, and a few others were writing music in the style they were taught at University, so I would term it academic as opposed to "pedantic" William Byrd, as an example, writes beautiful counterpoint, but it isn't pedantic. There was a big fad for noodles at the turn of the century, the academics refused to write music in that style, and of course were secretly jealous at the popularity of those that did. If they were alive today, they would still be jealous, because the noodly works are performed more. This is not, in fact due to the presence of the Spaghetti Monster. There was a kind of middle ground as well, that of the elegant variation, where composers managed to work in the noodles withought removing the counterpoint. Holborn's "Countess of Pembroke" is one of the more successful examples of the elegant variation style. So practically, the academic works sound better on unsion lutes; the folky/dancy/noodly works can sound a bit more sparkly with some octaves. But I think we all can hear that Attaingnant need a different lute than Holborn. You can make a pretty good case for "last" in which the sixth course or seventh course is octavized, there are scattered references to this. As for Mouton, writing in a much later style, the octaves became more desirable as the basis of the music was harmonic, not contrapuntal, in addition of course to the extra courses. Still, it is important to realize that the two practices coexisted for several generations. dt At 08:04 AM 3/27/2010, you wrote: >Well - in Mouton's Piece de luth printed in Paris in 1699 at least >the 6th course must be octave strung as there are passages in which >the separate strings of this course are to be sounded successively - >the bass string is represented by a standard size c and the high >octave string with a little c. > >Dowland is probably being a bit pedantic here objecting to the >consecutive octaves. It is not really any different from organ >stops which go in octaves. > >Monica > >----- Original Message ----- From: "Lynda Kraar" <[email protected]> >To: "Lute list" <[email protected]> >Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2010 2:10 PM >Subject: [LUTE] Re: String tension > > >>I re-read this quote (Big D/Besard): >> >>"Secondly, set on your Bases, in that place which you call the sixt >>string, or >>vi; these Bases must be of one bignes, yet it hath beene a generall >>custome >>(although not so much used any where as here in England) to set a >>small and a >>great string together, but amongst learned Musitions that custome is >>left, as >>irregular to the rules of Musicke." >> >>Does this mean that octaved courses went of out fashion, or that they >>were only in fashion in England for awhile? I would think that after >>stressing in the earlier part of the post that the highest string was >>the loudest, perhaps this was a way of making the lower courses sound >>louder? >> >>What say ye? >> >> >>Lynda >> >> >> >> >>To get on or off this list see list information at >>http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
