God how I love the music of Barbara Strozzi! I've only got 2 CDs of her compositions, but one of them (La Voce Sola, sung by Renata Dubinskaite) is so exceptionally fine that about 2 years ago I bought 6 copies and gave it to 5 of my friends and teachers who have discerning ears. That disc really sets a musical standard for me in baroque singing!
Notice the gamba has a few double frets: the first and the 6th. That's because singers know that B flat is not A sharp, nor is E flat the same as D sharp, etc. I'm not there yet with tying such additional frets, but the various temperaments before equal temperament definitely give more color to the choice of key.
I'm not that familiar with Strozzi, but I sure like what I have heard.
I didn't notice the double frets on the gamba--looking more closely at the singer and the lutenist. He does not have double frets, so do they have to be careful in coordinating certain chords?
I recall in a treatise in his chapters for viol players, Thomas Mace assumed the reader could already play the lute. I think the earlier chapters were about the lute. Something these instruments have in common are frets, and those are gut strings tied at whatever point on the neck where the notes are "right," which means there is a range of temperaments possible, however deliberate or intuitively such positions are chosen. So I'm sure the players adjust their frets to be in agreement for whatever key they are playing. I remember reading about a consort making a recording with a loaned chest of viols a few centuries old. In the interview, the player said for more than a full day. they simply experimented with tunings and frets to find the best consonances between the viols of different sizes. She described it as a wonderful surprise and pleasure that that was how they spent more than their first day together with the instruments.
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God how I love the music of Barbara Strozzi! I've only got 2 CDs of her compositions, but one of them (La Voce Sola, sung by Renata Dubinskaite) is so exceptionally fine that about 2 years ago I bought 6 copies and gave it to 5 of my friends and teachers who have discerning ears. That disc really sets a musical standard for me in baroque singing!
And this recording you linked, how lovely! That gamba looks just like mine, though I can't play so nice.
Notice the gamba has a few double frets: the first and the 6th. That's because singers know that B flat is not A sharp, nor is E flat the same as D sharp, etc. I'm not there yet with tying such additional frets, but the various temperaments before equal temperament definitely give more color to the choice of key.
I'm not that familiar with Strozzi, but I sure like what I have heard.
I didn't notice the double frets on the gamba--looking more closely at the singer and the lutenist. He does not have double frets, so do they have to be careful in coordinating certain chords?
I recall in a treatise in his chapters for viol players, Thomas Mace assumed the reader could already play the lute. I think the earlier chapters were about the lute. Something these instruments have in common are frets, and those are gut strings tied at whatever point on the neck where the notes are "right," which means there is a range of temperaments possible, however deliberate or intuitively such positions are chosen. So I'm sure the players adjust their frets to be in agreement for whatever key they are playing. I remember reading about a consort making a recording with a loaned chest of viols a few centuries old. In the interview, the player said for more than a full day. they simply experimented with tunings and frets to find the best consonances between the viols of different sizes. She described it as a wonderful surprise and pleasure that that was how they spent more than their first day together with the instruments.
It's been many years since I looked through Musick's Monument. I bet it was a lot of fun working with those original instruments.
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