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Scan 799
Grove's dictionary of music and musicians;, 1904
19 lines. Read by computer on 10 September 2026. Printed page 786. See the scan on archive.org.
1the finger-board these deeper strings were attached to pegs elevated by a second and higher neck. These extended instruments became afterwards known as theorboes, and in time virtually banished the older single-necked lutes. Mersenne's engraving of Lute and Theorbo (Tuorba, Téorbe) gives nine frets besides the nut, to the lute twenty-one strings, to the theorbo twenty-three strings (eight to the upper neck). [See Chitarrone, Theorbo, and Archlute, the bass theorbo.] The fingers of the right hand, without a plectrum, touched the strings pizzicato in melody or chords. The tender charm and colouring of the lute-player's tone can, in these days of exaggerated sonorousness, be scarcely imagined.—The frets of the finger-board followed a division by half-tones, and in the old lutes were eight to each pair of strings. Later, as will be presently shown, they were carried farther in the higher strings. Mace (Musick's Monument, London, 1676, p. 50) said nine was the best number, but there was a limitation to this stopping nearer the bridge, by the proportions of the strings in length, thickness, and weight being unduly disturbed to the detriment of the tone. According to Baron (Untersuchung des Instruments der Lauten, Nuremberg, 1727) and an older authority, Praetorius, the lute had originally four open notes (a); in course of time two G's were added (b). Melchior Neusiedler of Augsburg, who was living A.D. 1574, added the F, making thirteen strings in all, the highest, or Chanterelle, being a single string. This compass Baron calls Gamaut, and the deeper bass strings he calls Brummer or Bombarte, the finer ones Bombärlein. Brummer was usually applied, and the appellations in German, Italian, and English were as follows:—
3g'. Quintsaite.—Canto.—Treble.
4d'. Kleinsangsaite.—Sottana.—Small Mean.
5a. Grosssangsaite.—Mezzana.—Great Mean.
6f. Kleinbrummer.—Tenore.—Counter Tenor.
7c. Mittelbrummer.—Bordone.—Tenor.
8G. Grossbrummer.—Basso.—Bass.
10At page 122 of his work, Baron gives the compass of an 'eleven course' lute thus,
12the two highest (the melody strings) being single, the remainder pairs. His division of the finger-board has ten frets for the F; eleven for the G; and twelve for each of the highest six. There is thus a compass of 3 1/2 octaves from C below the bass stave to the f''. We gather further from him that this tuning would represent 'cammer,' or theatre pitch; for the 'chor,' or church pitch, the chanterelle would be tuned to the treble G, to the greater peril of the strings (Mahillon's Catalogue, 1880, p. 247). This would be the 'Discant Lute' of Praetorius; see below. Praetorius (Organographia, Wolfenbüttel, 1619, p. 49) has G for the chanterelle. There were, at last, thirteen pairs of strings in large lutes, descending at the tuner's pleasure to the deep A or G. Mace (p. 41) explains a large compass of strings as bringing the stopping 'to a natural form and aptitude for the hand.' There were other tunings besides the above D minor. Mace gives a new French tuning in E minor, and a 'flat' tuning which he preferred; referring to that we quote from Baron (b) as the old lute, theorbo, or viol-way: but he wisely remarks (p. 191) 'that tuning upon any instrument which allows the artist most scope, freedom, and variety, with most ease and familiarity, to express his conceptions most fully and completely, without limitation or restraint throughout all the keys, must needs be accounted the best.'
14It must have been very troublesome to keep a lute in order. Mace, in his often-quoted work, recommends that a lute should be kept in a bed which is in constant use, and goes on to say that once in a year or two, if you have not very good luck, you will be constrained to have the belly taken off as it will have sunk from the stretch of the strings, 'which is a great strength.' Mattheson said a lutenist of eighty years old had certainly spent sixty in tuning his instrument, and that the cost in Paris of keeping a horse or a lute was about the same. Baron replied that the horse would soon be like one of Pharaoh's lean kine.
16In Italian lutes of early date the tuning pegs were disposed diagonally across the head in two rows, the projections for tuning being at the back. They were afterwards inserted at the side of the head as in a violin, the head being bent back at an obtuse or even a right angle to the neck. Ultimately metal screws replaced the pegs, but only when large single strings were put on instead of double strings. The lute is now esteemed solely for the great beauty of its form and design. Inlays of various hard woods, tortoiseshell, ivory, and mother-of-pearl, and sometimes painting on the sound-board, have been employed to decorate them. Through their decorative value many lutes have been preserved; and many were transformed into Vielles or Hurdy-gurdies. Lutes and viols having been made by the same artists, the word luthier in French still designates a maker of violins.
18The lute player had not our musical notation; systems special to the instrument, and known as Tablature, being long in vogue. [See also Musical Times, 1899, p. 530 ff.] The lute and organ are the two instruments for which
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