Relax, Howard. No one is on trial here. Perhaps anathema is a less
apt choice to describe alternatives to a right-hand position for
playing post-1600 repertory on proper lutes. But for all intents and
purposes, thumb-under technique is certainly not an historically
appropriate right-hand position for what we call baroque lute. That is
not to say it was never used, but Besard (Dowland) and Vallet, said it
in print, and there are countless pictorial representations from the
period that strongly suggest the right-hand thumb was very, very much
out.
This is a difficult truth to countenance for all those notable soldiers
of the famous 1970s thumb-under brigade, who fought long and loudly to
distinguish themselves from lute-dabbling classical guitarists (even to
the point of eschewing the wearing of the ceremonial black turtleneck),
but it is a truth nonetheless. I'll say it here: Based upon the body
of surviving evidence from the period, lutes with diapasons designed to
be used for post-1600 music were historically intended to be played
with the right-hand thumb out, not under.
RA
__________________________________________________________________
From: lute-...@new-old-mail.cs.dartmouth.edu
<lute-...@new-old-mail.cs.dartmouth.edu> on behalf of howard posner
<howardpos...@ca.rr.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 1, 2019 5:18 PM
To: Lutelist <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Subject: [LUTE] Re: RH folk style
Iâm not aware of anyone on this stating categorically that thumb-in is
anathema on the d-minor lute. But I could easily have missed it, or
deleted it and forgotten about it. I tend not to waste time dealing
with categorical statements about how every player in history played
the same way. And if, by chance, I've ever written anything here in the
last 25 years that sounds like a categorical statement about the way
every player, ever, played the same way, chalk it up to sloppy writing
(or thinking), delete it, and forget about it.
> On Aug 1, 2019, at 9:23 AM, G. C. <kalei...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> People on this list f. ex.?
To get on or off this list see list information at
[1]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
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References
1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
