Dear theoj89294,
It's my understanding that they represent instances of "let this note
ring". In nearly all cases it helps the voice-leading in the polyphony
or keeps a bass note going until the next chord change.
One finds this practice in many previous lute books (though not all),
such as Antonio Rotta (a double-cross), and Simon Gintzler (asterix) -
both from whom he borrowed heavily for his publications. DaCrema, on
the other hand, not so much. SG's fantasies are labeled "Simon
Sentler" and his intabulations are (typically for Phalese)
unattributed. The major Josquin motet intabs in PP '52 are by
Gintzler. Howard Mayer Brown's Printed Instrumental Music before 1600
is an immense help in sorting out many of those anonymous settings.
Sean
On Jan 3, 2014, at 9:50 AM, [email protected] wrote:
I was looking through Pierre Phalese, Hortus Musarum, 1552
(available online - search "Phalese Hortus IMSLP" )
Phalese puts an asterix (*) on the staff often sometimes multiple
ones, and in very specific placement, and I realized these must be
markings to 'stop' a string from sounding? I am very curious about
this. Are there other examples of notations used in lute tab to stop
strings? Does this suggest the sustain of lute strings back then might
have been more robust than we may think? trj
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