I would say the lute is a more fragile instrument than the violin. Also, the lute fell out of favor for a long period of time and consequently wasn't valued as highly as the violin. And the better (Italian especially) makers were widely known among players, and their instruments would in particular be valued and cared for. On Apr 20, 2012, at 2:23 PM, Herbert Ward wrote:
> > According to Wikipedia, there are many Strativarius violins > in active use today: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Stradivarius_instruments > > But I never hear of anyone playing a historical lute routinely. > In fact, it seems rare for anyone to even handle one. > > Is this because the thin soundboard becomes fragile with age? > > -- > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
