On Apr 30, 2012, at 11:34 AM, Roman Turovsky wrote: > JSB didn't play gamba either as evidenced by his reassignment of nicely > playable lute part in the MatthäusPassion to an impossible one for gamba in > the 2nd version. > Any gambist would tell you that that "gamba" part is pure hell.
And anyone who doesn't have to worry about sounding good playing it will tell you that it's brilliantly "composed" to illustrate the pain and weight in the text: Come, sweet cross, I will say then: My Jesus, give it always to me. Should my pain become too heavy, Then help me to carry it myself. Viewed in that light, replacing the lute with gamba was a masterstroke. Whether you agree or not, you have to keep in mind that a composer has more things in mind than whether the player finds a part easy or difficult. -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
