Hold it there, Bill. Lautenwerk appears to have been a perfectly real instrument. Check out fine recordings of Robert Hill, Geoffrey Thomas (in this case, Bohm's music, not Bach's), Elizabeth Farr, Kim Heindel, etc. on such a thing.
In this case, "Prelude pour La Luth o Cembal" literally translates as "Prelude for the lute or harpsichord." The playability of Bach's hypothetical lute works is a matter of frequent discussion. At least in some cases, lautenwerk seems a fair enough speculation. In some cases, the lute version is a setting in somebody else's hand. I will leave detail to those more knowledgeable than I on the subject. Best, Eugene > -----Original Message----- > From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On > Behalf Of William Samson > Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 5:10 AM > To: dc; lute-cs.dartmouth.edu > Subject: [LUTE] Re: BWV 998 > > I have heard that 'luth o cembal' was perhaps a keyboard instrument > that sounded like a lute - I've even heard it suggested that it was a > harpsichord strung in gut, but I very much doubt the feasibility of > such an instrument - It would be a nightmare to keep in tune, as we > lutenists know only too well. Sorry I don't have any sources for this > information - just speculative hearsay I'm afraid. Maybe somebody has > some more concrete information? > > Bill > From: dc <den...@free.fr> > To: lute-cs.dartmouth.edu <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> > Sent: Wednesday, 19 October 2011, 9:27 > Subject: [LUTE] BWV 998 > I apologize if this subject has already been discussed here, but I'm > wondering if Bach's Prelude (marked "Prelude pour la Luth o Cembal), > Fugue & Allegro BWV 998 is playable as written (i.e. in E flat major, > with all the low bass notes) on a type of lute Bach might have known. > If so, what would the tuning (and the range) of such an instrument have > been? If not, how do scholars interpret or explain "pour la Luth" on > the manuscript? > Thanks, > Dennis > To get on or off this list see list information at > [1]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > -- > > References > > 1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
