----- Original Message -----
From: "Arthur Ness" <[email protected]>
To: "Stephan Olbertz" <[email protected]>
Cc: "Lute List" <[email protected]>; "Baroque Lute List"
<[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, May 12, 2013 2:41 PM
Subject: [BAROQUE-LUTE] Re: Kohlhase-notation
Dear Stephan,
I wouldn't necessarily call the Kohlhase notation musicological, since
it is simply a way of notating lute music on a continuous staff, rather
than one with the conventional break between the hands for keyboard,
marimba and harp music. Often erroneously called "keyboard"
notation when used for lute music, this designation can result in
misunderstanding about the nature and use of transcriptions of
tablature into pitch notation. And no one calls notation for marimba
and harp, "keyboard" notation. Why should lute music in pitch notationm
be called "keyboard"? It's a misnomer coined by guitarist. Preferable
is the conventional term "grand staff" notation. Too frequently the
term "keyboard" lute notation suggests to the uninitiated that
the music has been arranged (adapted) for a keyboard instrument, e.g.,
a Boesendorfer, whereas the grand staff has long been the standard
pitch notation for lute. And some pioneer 20th century lutenists
seemed to have played only from pitch notation, e.g., Gerwig.
Two world-touring lutenists told me that , when working up a piece for
a recital or CD, they always consult a transcription, or if none is
available, make their own.
In recent years Thomas Kohlhase seems to be the earliest to use the
continuous staff, with an imaginary line for middle C. That is, 5
(bass clef) lines +5 (treble clef) +1 (middle C with ledgerlines) =
eleven lines and ten spaces::
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
g __________________________
____________________________
c __ __ __ __ ___
____________________________
F __________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
The reasoning behind this staff layout is that regular grand staff for
keyboard separates the left and right hands, whereas with lute there is
no separation, and the continuous clef better reflects the shape of
the music. A leap of a ninth, F to G looks the same as a ninth, e to
ff.
I long thought our Doug Smith was the first to use the continuous
clef, using it for examples in an article on Weiss in Early Music
(1980) and then in his Weiss edition (1983 ff.), but Kohlhase was
earlier in the New Bach Edition (1977, rev.1982), and[perhaps still
earlier in his dissertation on Bach's lute music of 1972. But still
earlier Schrade used the continuous staff in his edition of the works
of Luis Milan (1928). But his bizarre edition is so unique it deserves
a separate name, Schrade Method.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephan Olbertz" <[1][email protected]>
To: "Baroque lute Dmth" <[2][email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, May 11, 2013 11:20 AM
Subject: [BAROQUE-LUTE] Kohlhase-notation
> Dear all,
>
> do we have an earlier source for the so-called "musicological
notation" of
> lute music (with a space of one ledger line between the staves) than
> Kohlhase's NBA-edition? From his foreword it seems that he invented
it.
>
> Best regards
>
> Stephan
>
>
>
> To get on or off this list see list information at
> [3]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
--
References
1. mailto:[email protected]
2. mailto:[email protected]
3. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
