Jorg,
I don't know whether my big theorbo was based on a historical model or not.
It was my first theorbo and I was just thrilled to have one. I finally
decided to get rid of it and buy a smaller one when I had a bad experience in a
performance. I made a page turn but the instrument was so big and ungainly
that by the time I swung my arm around I'd gotten lost and it took me several
long moments to find my place again. Getting lost was my fault of course, but
I figured why make life any harder than it has to be?
I agree with much of what you say about the unusual instruments surviving.
I wonder whether even the huge instruments might fall into this category.
After the theorbo went out of fashion, a huge instrument very well have been a
sort curiosity that the family kept in the attic to bring out after dinner:
"Look at my grandfather's contraption. Can you believe people used to actually
play immense these things?" But this is just conjecture.
What is not conjecture is that we know that many sizes of theorbo existed
and were in use. There seems to be a current push towards the Roman theorbo as
the HIPest catch-all option among the HIP, but this was just one type of
instrument in use among many. Of course this is appropriate for very low
Southern pitch. What about very high Venetian pitch? I suspect it may have a
lot to do with the visual appeal with modern audiences and conductors. Just as
an example, I know several people with giant theorbos, (including, at one time,
myself) but I can't name anyone playing a Paduan theorbo. Is anyone even
making Paduan theorbos?
Chris
Christopher Wilke
Lutenist, Guitarist and Composer
www.christopherwilke.com
--- On Thu, 6/2/11, Hilbert Jörg <[email protected]> wrote:
> From: Hilbert Jörg <[email protected]>
> Subject: [LUTE] Re: Double stringed on a theorbo?
> To: "Christopher Wilke" <[email protected]>
> Cc: "lute List" <[email protected]>
> Date: Thursday, June 2, 2011, 3:11 AM
> Dear Chris,
>
> can it be, that the historical original to your old theorbo
> survived, because it was so big? A luthier just told me some
> days ago, that we may just know the more or less extravagant
> instruments of the old days, the representative ones
> with ivory or impressing ornaments etc. The normal (and
> maybe the better) ones were played till they couldn’t be
> used any more, so we may just know the top of the range and
> not the every-day selection. Interesting idea ...
>
> My own instrument may be quite similar to your current one,
> and the need to play close to the bridge is a real good
> point.
> Thanks for answering so detailed!
>
> Jörg
>
>
>
>
>
> Am 01.06.2011 um 14:43 schrieb Christopher Wilke:
>
> > Jorg,
> >
> > I can only partially answer your question
> from experience. At one time I owned a huge theorbo
> (single strung) with a 99cm string length. Now I have
> thankfully gotten rid of the beast and play on a double
> strung "toy" with a 76cm fingerboard length. I usually
> use synthetic strings, but have used gut in the past and I
> feel that there is no sacrifice in terms of volume with the
> small instrument. If anything it is much louder, but
> this has something to do with the player.
> >
> > I play close to the bridge, which I
> can only do on the small theorbo. With my giant lute,
> if I tried to pluck by the bridge it was physically
> impossible for me to fret notes in low positions. (I'm
> six feet tall) By stretching my arms out I could only just
> manage to pluck over the rose. This gave a pleasant
> tone, but one that was easily covered in virtually any
> ensemble. If the piece gave me enough time and I could alter
> my posture and position so that I could pluck a bass note
> closer to the bridge, it sounded fantastic.
> Unfortunately, I found rarity with which I had time to
> manage this to be musically unsatisfying. And then
> there were the mistakes from the ungainly lunge back to
> "regular" position! I never had double stringing on
> this instrument, but I imagine that the strings would easily
> jar together because of plucking closer to mid-point of the
> string length
> >
> > As for slurring and what not, I find
> this no more difficult with double stringing over single,
> but again I'm doing this on a smaller instrument. I
> find it very effective for strumming, which sounds,
> fittingly enough, like a big guitar.
> >
> > Chris
> >
> > Christopher Wilke
> > Lutenist, Guitarist and Composer
> > www.christopherwilke.com
> >
> >
> > --- On Wed, 6/1/11, Hilbert Jörg <[email protected]>
> wrote:
> >
> >> From: Hilbert Jörg <[email protected]>
> >> Subject: [LUTE] Double stringed on a theorbo?
> >> To: "lute List" <[email protected]>
> >> Date: Wednesday, June 1, 2011, 3:27 AM
> >> Dear collected wisdom,
> >>
> >> as the old italian theorbos seemed to be quite
> huge and
> >> double stringed (for 1-6), I am not aware of
> anyone to play
> >> such an instrument in my neighborhood. I recently
> had the
> >> possibility to test an instrument of about 90 cm,
> which was
> >> amazing but single stringed. Does anybody know
> such a double
> >> stringed instrument? Does it really make sense for
> continuo?
> >> Are there other experiences in terms of power,
> playability,
> >> slurs, comfort etc.?
> >>
> >> Thank you very much,
> >> Jörg
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> To get on or off this list see list information
> at
> >> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
> >>
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
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