On the Sound of Early 16th-Century Lutes

Author(s): Djilda Abbott and Eph Segerman

Source: Early Music, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Oct., 1975), p. 417
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3125431 .
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Consort of Viols, and the many businessmen, 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 opportunities that universities provide for
them. But how are they to carry on
when they graduate?

On the sound of early

16th-centurylutes

We have noticed some evidence that

might indicate different early 16thcentury 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
RoseGarlandsat 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 discolouration, 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 soundboard 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 interpretation of Virdung's (1511) names for

the strings which Uta Henning trans- of volume of the rauschpfeifen.

lates (Lute SocietyJournal, 1973) as Big German speakers may also be interBuzzer, Intermediate Buzzer, Small ested to hear Professor Berner's
Buzzer, Big Singing String, Small Sing- theories concerning the Dorian mode
ing String and 'Fifth' String. A basis of the windcap instruments, which
membrane with such a function might he partially supports by quoting the
be the identity of the mysterious humorous description of the crum'second bridge' between the bow and horns in Agricola.
the neck on medieval bowed instruProfessor Berner is retiring this year
ments, which appears too often in but his successor, Dr Krickeburg, will
no doubt offer the same generous facilipaintings to ascribe it to artists' error.
If the buzzing type of tone quality ties to students. Dr Krickeburgis greatly
was universally desired on lutes of the interested in the attempts of English
time, the membrane device could have crumhorn makers to produce 'real'
been an expedient on lutes whose necks crumhorns.
had come up too far to accomplish this JAMES FURNER, 5 GableCourt,Lawrie
end by adjusting fret heights. If the ParkAvenue,Sydenham,SE26.
membrane was removable and had the
purpose of offering alternative tone Details of Victor Nerinckx's
qualities, we would have expected it to bagpipes
appear more often in the illustrations In EarlyMusic of April 1974 I read an
of the period.
article about the bagpipe-maker Victor
A buzzing tone quality was certainly Nerinckx. I should like to draw attenesteemed on wind instruments of the tion to the fact that the Chanter is not
time. We can only agree with Joan in
C-sharp but in C. The lowest tone of
Rimmer when discussing the bray harp the Chanter is G. If this is not the case
described in the Talbot Manuscript it's due to the reed and not to the
(GalpinSocietyJournal, XVI, 1963, 70): Chanter, as the author of the article,
'The rich buzzing sound induced by the M.
Lutgerink, mentions. We have made
brays, which was a matter for scorn to a fingering-table for this Chanter, so
seventeenth century ears, was of course that Dutch and Flemish
folk-songs can
valued in the [Renaissance] hey-day of be
it.
The
can be
on
drones
played
this kind of harp'.
tuned in G or A, according to the key of
DJILDA ABBOTT the song one wants to play.
EPH SEGERMAN
If there are any difficulties with the
Northern Renaissance Instruments, 18 reeds information will be
supplied by
M20 8UY.
MoorfieldRoad,Manchester
Hans Goddefroy, flautist of the
ensembel for ancient music 'Au Joly
Trumpet-like crumhorn tone Bois', Strijpsestraat 4 Eindhoven
I have just returned from visiting the
Nederland, tel. 040 (Eindhoven) 510872
Musikinstrumenten Museum in West or Frans
v/d Hurk.
Berlin. The Director, Professor Dr
Victor Nerinckx is very busy and preBerner, kindly allowed me to play at fers
arrangements by telephone and for
some length the Naumberg crumhorns callers
to collect the bagpipes.
and rauschpfeifen. Some of the readers
He wants to build the 'grande
of Early Music may not be aware that cornamuse'
with drones 1.50m long. If
these instruments have been restored to
could give information about
anyone
excellent playing condition and that the this
instrument please write to me.
museum makes generous provision for
FRANS VAN DE HURK, Oranjestraat
3,
musicians to play them. This includes
Eindhoven,Holland.
cornetti and shawms.
Although these instruments have I would appreciate comments from
been played in concert, there is hitherto anyone who has used viol kits successno recording of them and fellow crum- fully.
hornists may be pleasantly surprised to PAULINE DURICHEN, 37-B Roland
hear the full, trumpet-like tone of these Avenue, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
original crumhorns and the flexibility N2G 1K5.
417