Dear Edward,
Despite what the pegs on the vihuelas suggest, I've found plenty of
evidence that it was strung with a single first. We need to review our
ideas on the subject of vihuela stringing ...
Best wishes
Antonio
__________________________________________________________________
From: Edward Martin <edvihuel...@gmail.com>
To: lute net <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Sunday, 21 January 2018, 14:56
Subject: [LUTE] Double first courses (chanterelles)
Dear Collective wisdom,
When did double first courses cease to exist on renaissance lutes?
We
know from early on, and from the middle ages, they were double strung
on every course, including the treble. In terms of iconographical
evidence, I looked at the Caravaggio "Lute Player", an the subject
(he
or she) is playing a 6 course lute, double strung throughout,
including
the treble, and there are 6 pegs on the upper and lower side of the
peg
box. Caravaggio's birth- death dates are 1571â1610. So, perhaps
his
subject had an old fashioned lute for the time, or perhaps
double-strung first courses lasted longer than we may think.
Vihuelas also her double strung in the first courses, at least the
instruments show 12 pegs for the 6-course vihuela.
I tried to look up some information to answer my questions, but I
could
not find any in the sources I used.
So, my questions are:
1. When did the double first courses stop, or go out of vogue? Was
it universal, or did some countries / nationalities stop the practice
earlier or later than others.? Did Francesco use a double first
course?
2. Why did the double chanterelle stop? We know that later, lutes
only had pegs and pegboxes to accommodate a single treble.
3. What evidence is there to support the "when and why" of this
practice?
4. If a double chanterelle was the norm for a great part of the
renaissance, why is it that it is so infrequently that we see a
modern
player doing this practice?
Thanks in advance.
ed
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