Hi Stuart
I haven't had time to read it all properly because I have just come
back from holiday ...and it seems to peter out at the end ....is that
because you are going to add some more? But this is very interesting
topic.
Thanks for saying it's an interesting topic! There is a lot more (oh
no!) ...with pictures wherever too. The nice thing about the Internet is
that it would be quite a coup in itself if absolutely no one was interested.
The two sources which use scordatura like crazy are the Gallot ms.and
Campion and several other guitar books include pieces in scordatura
but they are not usually common chord tunings. The main purpose
seems to be to enable one to play in "difficult" keys.
I was hoping there might be similar alternative tunings to Foscarini's.
On the other hand there is yet another fascinating issue: why
guitarists wanted to play in strange keys? It's not what plucked
instruments typically do.
Incidentally do you know the picture of the "Waldegrave" sisters at
Houghton Hall? Three charming little girls. one playing the English
guitar. I've just come back from Norfolk where I visited this
particular stately home for the first time.
I'm not sure that I do. But I uploaded a photocopy of a painting of some
children with an English guitar a while ago. I can't find it anywhere
though.
Going back to Foscarini and his alternative tuning: he writes campanella
passages. Now it's probably possible to do campanellas in just about any
tuning but it's a lot easier in some than others. One easier way is
(Foscarini's) tuning in thirds (taken up in a sophisticated way by the
much later Russian guitar). Another way is re-entrant tuning. Foscarini
is writing campanellas around 1632. Is anyone else writing campanellas
at his time or before? Old Fosco couldn't have been setting a trend
could he?
Stuart
Monica
----- Original Message ----- From: "Stuart Walsh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Vihuelalist" <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 9:04 PM
Subject: [VIHUELA] alternative tunings for Baroque guitar
I have been looking at some Foscarini pieces in an alternative tuning
and,
just for the hell of it, I'm trying to do a little website about
them. My
idea is to do the website as a sort of blog - a bit at at a time.
But blog software (I'm using WordPress) only lets you put postings in
reverse chronology - the latest post is first - whereas I'm wanting to
build up the thing the normal way around.
I've given it the title, "Foscarini's 'la cordatura diferente', Russian
guitars and erotic dance" (!) Anyway it amuses me... No part of it is
quite ready yet but there are a few provisional posts already: here:
http://www.tuningsinthirds.com/Foscarini/
(anyone who's interested in these things will no doubt see where it's
going)
Anyway what I'm after is information about alternative guitar tunings
(for
Baroque guitar). I've never tried any other than Foscarini's but I know
there are lots. It would be especially interesting if there were other
guitar pieces that use Foscarini's alternative tuning - lowest course
raised a tone and top course lowered a tone B-d-g-b-d' .
The online pdf thesis of Julian Navarro Gonzalez discusses alternative
tunings on pp344-345 but I can't follow it and I can't even see
Foscarini's alternative tuning.
Any advice or sources of information on alternative tunings and any
comments, fatal flaws etc would be welcomed ( I think).
Stuart
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