Richard, the unfortunate lutenist was the Mark Smeaton that Theo
mentioned, and he probably did.
On Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 10:55 PM Christopher Stetson
<[1]christophertstet...@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks for asking, Theo, and hello all.
Judging from what I see on facebook and youtube, there doesn't seem to
be a dearth of young (well, young to me) enthusiastic and very talented
players, and I suspect the lute world will go on as it has, a small
collection of passionate, dedicated, opinionated, sometimes irascible
lovable misfits with a somewhat spectrum-y devotion to detail and an
unquenchable appetite for discussion about whether a completely
incongruous harmony in one measure of a composition in an ancient book
represents the radical vision of the composer or a tired typesetter's
mistake. I was a minor player in the '70's lute revival, which I
would say was a part of, but did not grow out of, the early music
revival. It had its good and not-so-good parts, though it was a
sweet time, as most times are when you are young. Yes, I think we
were inspired by the take-it-to-the-streets, DIY aspect of the folk
music revival, but also by the revivalist efforts of predecessors from
the '50's like Michael Shaeffer, Konrad Ragossnig, Eugen Dombois, and
the above-mentioned Julian Bream, who of course were inspired by Arnold
Dolmetsch, Diana Poulton, Joseph Iadone, Walter Gerwig and others from
the 1920's and '30's, back to Thomas Mace's irritated attempt to
reawaken faltering interest in the 1670's. And I don't think lute
players in general have ever been seen as particularly sizzling except,
as Phil Ochs might say, outside of a small circle of friends.
Best to all, stay safe, and keep playing,
Chris.
On Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 8:19 PM
<[2]theoj89...@new-old-mail.cs.dartmouth.edu> wrote:
Dear luters:
What does the future hold the lute?
In the waning days of this wonderful email list (Thanks Wayne!!),
I
thought I would invite thoughts regarding the future of the lute
and
the lute community. As I muse, it seems that this present lute
revival
started in 1960's - 70's largely out of the folk music revival
and
early music revival. I notice that many of our fellow lute
enthusiasts
are growing older (as am I). And with the recent passing of
Julian
Bream, I thought it prescient to reflect:
What will the next 10, 20, or 50 years look like for the lute and
lute
community?
Is interest in the lute on the decline, ascendency, or moving in
some
other direction?
Is this trajectory different in different countries?
The internet has revolutionized access to manuscripts,
publishers, and
recordings. Will the internet ultimately drive interest to
diversions
other than the lute?
And when will Hollywood finally make a sizzling historical
romance
about a lute player and bring the lute back to be a symbol of
seduction, as it should be? (Hopefully the movie won't be about
Mark
Smeaton.)
Thoughts?
theodore jordan
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References
1. mailto:christophertstet...@gmail.com
2. mailto:theoj89...@new-old-mail.cs.dartmouth.edu
3. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
