It ´s interesting to read through the years and the sources that the
lute is indeed an instrument
that has been played for a selected few- as George points out with the
Burwell quote-
or for more persons as Hans Newsidler described it in 1544:
"... wo die Musica und zuvor die Lauten/ so ein kunstreich Instrument
ist/ in Collationen bey versamlungen viler personen gepraucht wird/
verendert sich aller menschen gemuet beladen mit schwemuetigkeit/ in
freyd/ wollust und ergetzlichkeyt..."
Best,
Magnus
On Monday, November 18, 2019, 7:42:46 PM GMT+1, George Torres
<[email protected]> wrote:
Eight hours? That's a heck of a party! Nevertheless,
congratulations
Tristan!
Peripherally related, and just for kicks and gigglesâ¦the following
quotes are from the Burwell lute tutor:
"The lute is a noble instrument, not made for debaucheries, ranting
or
playing in the streets to give serenades to Signora Isabella. âTis a
grave and serious music for modest and sober persons, and for the
cabinet rather than for a public placeâ¦this instrument requireth
silence and a serious attention."
"The lute is a closet instrument that will suffer the company of but
a
few hearers, and such as have a delicate ear, for the pearls are not
to
be cast before the swine."
"To play in taverns, that never happened but to a man in Paris (who
was
paid for his abuse by some learned of the lute, that made cinnamon
beaten in breaking the lute upon his head) "
Cheers,
Jorge
On Nov 18, 2019, at 8:48 AM, Tristan von Neumann
<[1][1][email protected]> wrote:
Here's one thought:
Lute concerts are often given in large halls or churches, though they
are not really attracting a huge crowd.
Huge crowds are also not really the setting in which lutenists
florished
back then.
Recently, I had been invited to play the lute at a 30something
birthday
party on saturday night, a crowd of about 40 people max. Not one of
the
guests had probably ever heard Renaissance music.
The host assured me that he wanted this and would deny any requests
for
other music from the stereo.
It was a two bedroom late 1800s apartment with 11.5 ft./3.50m
ceilings
and all doors were open, I played in a 215 sqft/20 m � room where I
sat
on a chair in the corner at a table lit with a lamp.
So I played straight from my 500+ p. book (message me if you are
interested in my selection), for about 8 hours (it actually felt more
like two).
There was no programme, I just selected pieces on the fly according
to
"room temperature". There were sight-reading glitches, but no one
noticed or cared.
The reactions were very positive and no one complained about the
music
though most of the people normally listened to house, electro and
other
non-early musical styles.
The music was described as:
* never annoying
* with a huge range of emotions
* very pleasant for conversation
* very interesting to listen to if you care to come close
* filling the whole apartment (!)
This was probably a setting more historically accurate than listening
to
French chanson intabulations in a church.
The acoustics were perfect for a full and clear sound.
I found this house concert situation very pleasing. You need to say
goodbye to silence though. But having conversations to lute music is
a
whole other experience, as is playing lute for people not consciously
listening most of the time.
You end up with two or three people sitting closer and listening, the
rest enjoying the atmosphere.
I would highly recommend this experience.
What are your experiences with house concerts? Has anyone ever played
in
the background?
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