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Post by robmackillop on Feb 21, 2017 23:26:30 GMT
Hopefully this will be of interest here. During the period circa 1620 to 1650, the French experimented with nearly 30 different tunings for the lute, as well as changing the number of strings, or double courses. It was clearly a period of great experimentation. One of the leaders in this revolution was René Mezangeau, and after he died, his principal student, Ennemond Gaultier, wrote a touching tribute to his teacher. Ennemond Gaultier went on to be arguably THE lute composer of the period. He wrote this Tombeau - a musical memorial tomb, if you like - lamenting the death of his great teacher.
Here the lute is tuned to a Dm chord for the first six courses, and thereafter is tuned in a scale of C Major for the bass notes. I got the lute on Christmas Eve :-) And am still getting used to it.
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leoroberts
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Post by leoroberts on Feb 22, 2017 9:51:37 GMT
30 different tunings? I struggle with dropped D... lovely playing, Rob. I do like a bit of lute music.
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brianr2
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Post by brianr2 on Feb 22, 2017 10:54:56 GMT
I really enjoyed this Rob. Four hundred years old and still fresh. Thanks for posting.
Brian
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Feb 22, 2017 11:18:43 GMT
I really enjoyed this Rob. Four hundred years old and still fresh. Thanks for posting. Brian Blimey! Rob, you certainly look young for your age! Keith |
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Post by robmackillop on Feb 22, 2017 11:26:50 GMT
Oh, I think I look about 400 years old, and sometimes feel it too!
Glad you like it, Brian.
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Phil Taylor
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Post by Phil Taylor on Feb 22, 2017 16:50:33 GMT
That has a great sound - enjoyed it muchly.  Phil |
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Post by vikingblues on Feb 24, 2017 7:29:52 GMT
You make the idea of playing a lute seem very appealing Rob. Assuming I shut my eyes so I don't get reminded of all those extra strings! Lovely sounds!  Mark |
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Post by robmackillop on Feb 24, 2017 7:34:56 GMT
Cheers Phil and Mark.
Yes, a lot of strings, but some guitarists take off every other string, making all the courses single. Doesn't quite sound the same, though.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2017 11:32:44 GMT
Wasn't aware of much French Baroque music for lute Rob, so this was a big surprise. Brilliant stuff. Ever since learning the classical guitar I have loved the music of Sylvia's Leopold Weiss, particularly his two Tombeaus.
How does the French style differ from German Rob? I know that ornamentation sometimes plays a part, and whether you come from above the note or below, but are there other things we should be looking out for?
Robbie
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Post by robmackillop on Feb 25, 2017 17:11:41 GMT
Cheers, Robbie. The main thing about the French baroque is that they were searching most of the time, searching for what eventually became more clearly defined as being baroque. There is a big difference from the Mezangeau material of the 1610s to 1630s, and what Robert de Visée was doing towards the end of that century. You can hear some of that in this piece. You get the sense it is more of a rambling mood piece rather than what it actually is: an Allemande. They used a lot of what is called notes separée - arpeggio tied notes, and sometimes it's hard to completely follow a melody, as the focus shifts to different registers. The Germans thought the French were incoherent, but the early German baroque lute is heavily influenced by the French. But Weiss and others carved out more clearly-defined parts and harmonic movement. So, the French stuff has been overlooked. It's also very instrument-specific, and doesn't transfer to the classical guitar very well at all, so has been largely ignored by guitarists. It's wonderful music to indulge yourself in.
I hope that helps?
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Jo whoever he is.
