> Honestly I can't understand why people when discussing English and > German 18th C. citterns completely ignore the French/Flemish tradition > these instruments represent. Surely they must offer a cmpletely > different perspective to the entire matter of 18th century citterns? >
I don't think they offer a completely different perspective. The French vogue or fad seems to start around 1770 - a decade or so after the British fad. The French instrument is typically tuned in A and with seven courses and a slight, but important difference in tuning: E, A, D, e, a, c#, e. (This disposition of intervals, transposed to C is mentioned in an English source - and also, interestingly, in G and in a disparaging way, in a Russian one). The publications are dominated by Carpentier and C.F.A. Pollet (and one or two by his brother). Correte wrote a bit for the istrument too in his mandoline tutor. Whereas the guittar repertoire is usually a single line, the 'cistre' or 'cythre' repertoire (also, always, called guitthare allemande)has a rudimentary bass line. A fair chunk of the French repertoire is guittar music, transposed to A and with a simple bass line added. Both Pollet and Carpentier mention C-tuned instruments. The existence of lots of guittar music in French sources - and 'ingleza' music in at least one Portuguses source, makes me think that Norwegian sitrenk music may well have included music from the guittar repertoire - a sort of International pop music of simple little tunes. Carpentier seems to have been writing for an 8 course instrument and Pollet's later publications are for a theorbo-like instrument with the bass notes optionally an octave lower, but still playable on a seven-course instrument. This makes me think of another complication - the introduction at the end of the 18th century of instruments clearly related to wire-strung instruments and sharing the tuning and some of the reperoire - the gut-strung harp-guitars, 'lutes', harp-lute-guitars. ----------------------------------------- Email sent from www.ntlworld.com virus-checked using McAfee(R) Software visit www.ntlworld.com/security for more information To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
