I refer to the video below of a very sensitive rendition of
Spinacino's setting of Josquin's "Adieu mes amours," a perennial
favorite in our household. The lutenist, while playing with
imagination, a secure touch and with great delicacy, seems to
consistently skip the lowest member of the sixth course. I would be
prepared to accept that this was a conscious choice so as to avoid
overpowering what appears to be a unison-strung sixth course. Any
thoughts?
Well - if you stop the video at 1.46mins. you get a reasonably clear
picture of the strings on the fingerboard. I don't know if it is my
imagination but it looked to me as if the 4th, 5th and 6th were octave
strung and that the treble string on the 6th course was on the thumb
side of the course.
I couldn't hear any octave doubling in spite being hypesensitive to
such things.
But due to old age my eyesigtht and hearing are not what they were so
perhaps I am imagining it...
Nicely played though.
Monica
[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOphOD16DCc
I also have to add that the bits of rubato used in her interpretation,
while expressive and individualistic, are not necessary. Josquin
provided all the necessary ebb and flow in his phrase structure without
added time shifts, as can be heard in our adaptation for solo voice and
lute:
[2]https://mignarda.bandcamp.com/track/adieu-mes-amours?v=xOphOD16DCc
I'm routinely frustrated to hear interpretations of music from this era
that demonstrate a lack of understanding of the importance of pulse.
Dalza's setting of Bart Tromboncino's "Poi che volse" is one of the
most frequently misunderstood pieces when performed as a lute solo -
nearly everyone misses the enjambment of the end of the first phrase
with the beginning of the repeat. Singing the frottola helps immensely
and one sees how stretching a bit yet remaining true to the pulse
results in an interpretation that even meets the stringent standards of
our manager.
[3]https://mignarda.bandcamp.com/track/poi-che-volse-la-mia-stella
Sorry if this seems like a plug. I'm just trying to demonstrate that
pulse is very important - a fact that seems to have escaped those who
came to the lute via Segovia.
RA
> Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 09:03:54 +0000
> To: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> From: [email protected]
> Subject: [LUTE] Re: 16th century tuning and stringing
>
>
> > The voice-leading implies the stringing. One example that comes
readily
> > to mind is the third measure of Up Merry Mates from A Pilgrimes
Solace.
> > The lute part has in the bass (the only moving line), starting on
the open
> > fifth course, C-D-E-F# leading to this chord:
> >
> > __e__
> > __a__
> > _____
> > _____
> > _____
> > __a__
> >
> > Dowland could have included the G on the fourth course without
making it
> > difficult to play. His not doing so means either that he didn't
care that
> > the bass line dropped a seventh for no good reason, or that he
assumed
> > octave stringing on the sixth course, supplying the middle G.
>
> My two pennyworth - surely the bass line is going to drop a 7th
anyway as
> the previous four notes on the 5th course will be doubled in the
octave
> above if it is octave strung. Why put the G on the 6th course anyway
if it
> is readily available on the 4th.
>
> What you will have with octave stringing is
>
> c' d' e' f#'
> c d e f# g
> G
>
> You could argue that the 5th course was in unisons and the 6th course
> re-entrant on that basis.
>
> The voice leading does not necessarily imply the stringing. These
> idiocycracies are inherant in the instrument. Skips of a 7th are
common in
> baroque guitar music and are perfectly acceptable.
> Unless I have misunderstood what you are saying.....
> Monica
>
> >
> >
> >
> > To get on or off this list see list information at
> > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>
>
--
References
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOphOD16DCc
2. https://mignarda.bandcamp.com/track/adieu-mes-amours?v=xOphOD16DCc
3. https://mignarda.bandcamp.com/track/poi-che-volse-la-mia-stella
