Much of the modern music for lute I have to play, or see, is guitar music indeed. No wonder, as it's the sound and idiom most composers will be more familiar with. But what works on a guitar does not necessarily work on a lute, even if you can play the notes without problems. The other way around is just as true, of course. I must say I prefer pieces written on keyboard, as keyboard texture and feel comes closer to lute than guitar does. The downside is that music written by keyboard players might need extensive editing to make it playable, whereas even a modesty accomplished guitar player will have a better idea of what can actually be played on a lute (although you'd be surprised how many composers don't think of such mundane matters as playability or even range). A slightly OT side track to this is that what works on modern strings does not always work on, the often clumsy, gut strings, a point entirely missed even by accomplished lute players/composers only familiar with synthetics and metal.
David -- ******************************* 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
