On the Sound of Early 16th-Century LutesAuthor(s): Djilda Abbott and Eph SegermanSource: Early Music, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Oct., 1975), p. 417Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3125431 .Accessed: 19/12/2010 10:26

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Consort of Viols, and the many busi- nessmen, schoolteachers, doctors and whoever else fills the Register of Early Music. Of course few young people can afford to buy expensive instruments, and I would never disparage the oppor- tunities that universities provide for them. But how are they to carry on when they graduate?

On the sound of early 16th-century lutes We have noticed some evidence that might indicate different early 16th- century practices for achieving an artificial rasp to the tone of the lute.

At the end of Gombosi's translation of Vidal's introduction to his collection of the repertoire of Vincenzo Capirola appears the statement: 'that you make it so that the first fret almost touches the strings, and so on to the end, because as the frets are nearer to the string, the strings sound like a harp, and the lute appears better'. Could this refer to anything else but the buzzing sound of the bray harp which was so common at the time? The low action of a modern flamenco guitar also leads towards this kind of effect.

In Durer's painting The Feast of the Rose Garlands at the National Gallery in Prague, there is an angel playing a lute which appears to have an irregularly shaped membrane between the strings and the body, and it seems to be attached at the neck-body join. The painting seems to have been subject to damage as there is considerable dis- colouration, and we admit that this may be an alternative explanation. His silver point drawing of an Angel with Lute dated 1497, also shows a light band on the body next to the neck under the strings, but there is no indication here that the band is raised above the sound- board as there is in the painting. We have tried putting such a membrane on one of our lutes and it certainly gives each note the appropriate percussive and buzzing effect without seriously deadening the strings if one keeps to the lower positions. The effect was much more pronounced on the bass strings than on the trebles and our experience is identical to a literal inter- pretation of Virdung's (1511) names for

the strings which Uta Henning trans- lates (Lute Society Journal, 1973) as Big Buzzer, Intermediate Buzzer, Small Buzzer, Big Singing String, Small Sing- ing String and 'Fifth' String. A membrane with such a function might be the identity of the mysterious 'second bridge' between the bow and the neck on medieval bowed instru- ments, which appears too often in paintings to ascribe it to artists' error.

If the buzzing type of tone quality was universally desired on lutes of the time, the membrane device could have been an expedient on lutes whose necks had come up too far to accomplish this end by adjusting fret heights. If the membrane was removable and had the purpose of offering alternative tone qualities, we would have expected it to appear more often in the illustrations of the period.

A buzzing tone quality was certainly esteemed on wind instruments of the time. We can only agree with Joan Rimmer when discussing the bray harp described in the Talbot Manuscript (Galpin Society Journal, XVI, 1963, 70): 'The rich buzzing sound induced by the brays, which was a matter for scorn to seventeenth century ears, was of course valued in the [Renaissance] hey-day of this kind of harp'.

DJILDA ABBOTT EPH SEGERMAN

Northern Renaissance Instruments, 18 Moorfield Road, Manchester M20 8UY.

Details of Victor Nerinckx's bagpipes In Early Music of April 1974 I read an article about the bagpipe-maker Victor Nerinckx. I should like to draw atten- tion to the fact that the Chanter is not in C-sharp but in C. The lowest tone of the Chanter is G. If this is not the case it's due to the reed and not to the Chanter, as the author of the article, M. Lutgerink, mentions. We have made a fingering-table for this Chanter, so that Dutch and Flemish folk-songs can be played on it. The drones can be tuned in G or A, according to the key of the song one wants to play.

If there are any difficulties with the reeds information will be supplied by Hans Goddefroy, flautist of the ensembel for ancient music 'Au Joly Bois', Strijpsestraat 4 Eindhoven Nederland, tel. 040 (Eindhoven) 510872 or Frans v/d Hurk.

Victor Nerinckx is very busy and pre- fers arrangements by telephone and for callers to collect the bagpipes.

He wants to build the 'grande cornamuse' with drones 1.50m long. If anyone could give information about this instrument please write to me. FRANS VAN DE HURK, Oranjestraat 3, Eindhoven, Holland.

I would appreciate comments from anyone who has used viol kits success- fully. PAULINE DURICHEN, 37-B Roland Avenue, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2G 1K5.

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Trumpet-like crumhorn tone I have just returned from visiting the Musikinstrumenten Museum in West Berlin. The Director, Professor Dr Berner, kindly allowed me to play at some length the Naumberg crumhorns and rauschpfeifen. Some of the readers of Early Music may not be aware that these instruments have been restored to excellent playing condition and that the museum makes generous provision for musicians to play them. This includes cornetti and shawms.

Although these instruments have been played in concert, there is hitherto no recording of them and fellow crum- hornists may be pleasantly surprised to hear the full, trumpet-like tone of these original crumhorns and the flexibility

of volume of the rauschpfeifen. German speakers may also be inter- ested to hear Professor Berner's theories concerning the Dorian mode basis of the windcap instruments, which he partially supports by quoting the humorous description of the crum- horns in Agricola.

Professor Berner is retiring this year but his successor, Dr Krickeburg, will no doubt offer the same generous facili- ties to students. Dr Krickeburg is greatly interested in the attempts of English crumhorn makers to produce 'real' crumhorns. JAMES FURNER, 5 Gable Court, Lawrie Park Avenue, Sydenham, SE26.

Article Contentsp. 417

Issue Table of ContentsEarly Music, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Oct., 1975), pp. 329-440Front Matter[Editorial] [pp. 329-330]Dance under Louis XIV and XV: Some Implications for the Musician [pp. 331-340]The Renaissance Guitar 1500-1650 [pp. 341-347]On Playing the Lute [pp. 348-351]How to Hold a Lute: Historical Evidence from Paintings [pp. 352-354]Instrument Makers-1: Luthiers. Howard Schott Visits the Workshops of David Rubio and Michael Lowe [pp. 355-357]Two More Dufay Songs Reconstructed [pp. 358-360]The Medieval Recorder [pp. 361-364]Buying a Harpsichord - 2 [pp. 365+367]London Salerooms [pp. 368-369]The Stringing of the Five Course Baroque Guitar [pp. 370-371]Performing Early Music on Record-2: Continental Sacred Music of the 16th Century [pp. 373+375+377]Orlando Gibbons: An Index of the Full and Verse Anthems [pp. 379+381]Lute Society Profile [pp. 383+385]The Lute Worldwide 2 [pp. 387+389+391]Where the Wind Blows [pp. 393+395+397]BooksReview: untitled [pp. 399+401]Review: untitled [pp. 401+403+405]Review: untitled [p. 405]Review: untitled [p. 405]

Review: Corrections: Jacobean Consort Music, Books 5 and 6, Selected from Volume IX of "Musica Britannica" [p. 405]Review: Corrections: Suite No. 1 in D Minor for Viola da Gamba and Basso Continuo (From Pices de Viole, Book IV, 1717) [p. 405]Corrections: Arnold Dolmetsch [p. 405]Corrections: Renaissance Music Emerges in Japan [p. 405]Review: Corrections: Essay in an Instruction to the Heroic and Musical Art of the Trumpeter and Kettledrummer [p. 405]MusicReview: untitled [pp. 407+409]Review: untitled [p. 409]Review: untitled [p. 411]Review: untitled [pp. 411+413]Review: untitled [p. 413]

Obituary [p. 413]Correspondence and QueriesCollegia in American Universities [pp. 415+417]On the Sound of Early 16th-Century Lutes [p. 417]Trumpet-like Crumhorn Tone [p. 417]Details of Victor Nerinckx's Bagpipes [p. 417]Making Early Keyboards [p. 419]Recorder Players [p. 419]Guild of Luthiers [p. 419]Lute Duo [p. 419]Authenticity [p. 419]

Activities [pp. 420+423+425+427]Bruges 1975 [pp. 427+429]Early Music at Kirchheim [pp. 429+431]Recordings: Quarterly Checklist 14 [pp. 431+433+435+437]Early Music in Northern California [pp. 437+439]Collectors' Choice [p. 440]Back Matter [pp. 366-438]