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Scan 855
A dictionary of music and musicians, 1926
10 lines. Read by computer on 10 September 2026. Printed page 787. See the scan on archive.org.
1the oldest instrumental compositions we possess, were written (Mahillon's Catalogue, 1880, p. 246). Many instruction-books were written for the lute, with examples in tablature; the oldest known to exist in this country is the Lauttenbuch of Wolf Heckel (Strasburg, 1562), preserved in the Library of the Royal College of Music. The next in order of date are The Science of Luting, licensed to John Allden in 1565; A Brief and easy instruction to learne the tableture, to conduct and dispose the hand into the Lute [by Adrien Le Roy]. Englished by J. Alford, Londoner, 1568; an English translation by F. K. (London, 1574), of the famous Tutor of Adrien Le Roy, which had appeared in Paris in 1551; Thomas Dallis's MS. Lute-Book, 1583, in the library of Trinity College, Dublin; and William Ballet's MS. Lute-Books (1594) in the same library. There is another in the British Museum by Thomas Robinson, written in the form of a dialogue (London, 1603). We must not omit the treatise by Thomas Mace (London, 1676), to which we have so frequently referred. Praetorius, in his Organographia, was careful to describe the then (1619) familiar lute. He gives (p. 51) a graduated family of lutes with their quints or chanterelles, which show how much variety in size and scale was permitted. They are—(1) Klein Octav (a); (2) Klein Discant (b); (3) Discant (c); (4) Recht Chorist oder Alt (d); (5) Tenor (e); (6) Bass (f); (7) Gross Octav Bass (g).
3Thus it will be seen that the lute generally known and described here, the 'French' lute of Mace, is the Alto lute. Vincentio Galilei, the father of the astronomer, was the author of a dialogue on the lute (Venice, 1583). Other noteworthy continental publications were by Judenkünig, Vienna, 1523; Gerle, Nuremberg, 1545; Hans Neusiedler, Nuremberg, 1556; Melchior Neusiedler, 1574; Ochsenkhuns, Heidelberg, 1558; Kargel, Strasburg, 1586; Besardus, Cologne, 1603; Campion, Paris, 1710; and Baron, Nuremberg (already quoted from), 1727.
5Much valuable information collected about lute makers and the literature of the lute is communicated by Carl Engel in his admirable catalogue of the Victoria and Albert Museum referred to. The finest lutes were made in Italy; and Bologna, Venice, Padua, and Rome were especially famous for them. There would appear to have been a fusion of German and Italian skill in northern Italy when the Bolognese lutes were reputed to excel over all others. Evelyn in his Diary (May 21, 1645) remarks their high price, and that they were chiefly made by Germans. One of the earliest of these was Lucas (or Laux, as he inscribed his name on his instruments) Maler, who was living in Bologna about 1500-20. There is one of his make at South Kensington, represented in the drawing, a remarkable specimen, notwithstanding that the head is modernised, to correspond with that of the modern guitar, the strings are single, and the belly later adorned with painting. According to Thomas Mace, 'pittifull old, batter'd, crack'd things' of Laux Maler would fetch a hundred pounds each, which, considering the altered value of money, rivals the prices paid nowadays for fine Cremona violins. He (p. 48) quotes the King (Charles I.) as having bought one for £100 through the famous lutenist Gaultier; but the correspondence of Huygens (Musique et Musiciens, etc., ed. Jonckbloet and Land, 1882) relates that the lute belonged to Jehan Ballard, who would not part with it. After his death Charles I. bought it of the relations for £100, and gave it to Gaultier. [Among the last occurrences of the lute in the orchestra are in Bach's 'Passion according to St. John,' in the bass air, 'Betrachte, meine Seele'; and in Handel's 'Deidamia,' 1741. A collection of lute compositions by Spanish masters of the 16th century was edited by G. Morphy, and published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1902. On the history of the lute in France see Rivista Musicale, v. 637, vi. 1.]
7LUTENIST, a lute player. In the 16th and 17th centuries lutenists, or, as they were sometimes called, 'lewters' or 'luters,' invariably formed part of the musical retinue of kings and princes, and one at least was commonly attached to the households of nobles and landed gentry. On August 8, 1715, a lutenist's place was created in the Chapel Royal of St. James's, and John Shore was appointed to it, who held it until his death in 1752, when it was given to John Immyns, who filled it until his death in 1764. The office afterwards became a sinecure, and was eventually annexed to the Mastership of the Children as a means of increasing the stipend. It continued until the death of William Hawes in 1846, when it was abolished.
9LUTHER, MARTIN, born at Eisleben, on St. Martin's Eve, Nov. 10, 1483. For the main facts of the life of the great Reformer, the reader must consult some other work, as our space compels us to confine ourselves to his relation to music, and especially to the hymns and services of the Church. It was after his departure from the Wartburg, March 22, 1522, that he began to occupy himself with projects for the reform of the services of the Church, among which his alterations in the musical parts of the Mass led to such great results. There is ample evidence that German hymns were sung during the service before Luther's alterations; but if not the actual founder, there is no doubt that he was the establisher of congregational singing. The musical part of the Mass had grown to an inordinate length;
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