I used to have one. There is a lot of repertoire for it, though arguably none of it 'big' repertoire. There is a little bit in the Wemyss ms, Panmure 4, and there is a large number of German pieces - Reusner, for example: the printed pieces in his books are for eleven courses, but the hand-written extras include a twelfth course. Many German mss (including Weiss) have music which uses just twelve courses, enough to make me wonder if there was in Germany a 12c instrument in currency.
As for continuo, the instrument is closer to an 11c, but suitable for smaller ensembles. If you are serious about continuo playing of English songs, then perhaps an English theorbo would be better suited. I often felt one more course would give me the great 13c repertoire, while one fewer would be more apt for the French repertoire. It's a bit of an in-betweenie, so to speak. One word of warning, that extended peghead can be a nightmare when putting new strings on...I shed a few tears! Rob www.robmackillop.net > On 17 May 2014, at 18:08, BENJAMIN NARVEY <luthi...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Dear All, > > Does anybody on this list have any experience with 12c lutes? I am > considering getting one if I can get the funds together and I would be > grateful for any counsel drawn from actual experience. I have never > even laid finger to fret on one of these lutes before, so it is a bit > of a leap of faith. That said, there is clearly so much music that > could be played in either "vieux ton" or "nouveau ton" on this lute, > and I think it is the ultimate historical continuo beast for so much > 17c repertoire, in particular English music (Purcell, Lawes, etc.) > > Also: string lengths. I know they can be very small (around 55cm) to > very big (perhaps 76cm or so). Any suggestions? I am kind of torn > between having perhaps a smaller solo instrument and a larger one that > I could use for accompaniment. > > Any thoughts? > > Best wishes, > > Benjamin > > -- > [1]www.luthiste.com > t +33 (0) 1 44 27 03 44 > p/m +33 (0) 6 71 79 98 98 > -- > > References > > 1. http://www.luthiste.com/ > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
