ANEWSVolume l4, Number 3 Viola da Gamba societyAI'acirlca November 200l

Lutes andVlolsHow to play them together

Recently a group of pacifica players invitedseveral local lutenists to play Dowland's fac#r7.-mac collection, which includes the "SeavenTeares" and additional pavans, almaines and galli-ards. Dowland published this collection "for thelute, viols, or violous," but these words have beenvariously interpreted - to mean that lutes were anintegral part of the ensemble, or would play an nd/z.a continuo, or would play independently. TheSchott edition notes that the Seaven Teares wereoriginally printed "consort way," or in a design thatenabled five or six players to place the same bookflat on a table and play in a circle.

Our group (too large for "consort way') playedfrom ordinary modem parts by Schott, the lute partin tablature. The experience proved enjoyable forboth parties.

Although there are a number of sources for con-sort music for lutes and viols, "any multi-part violpiece with a bass line is fair game for a lutenist,"says Michael Peterson, a Fremont surgeon who de-scribes hinself as a "lute evangelist" for the North-ern California Chapter of the Lute Society ofAmerica. "All we need is a bass line and the com-plete score to improvise a part - either a fast bassline, or chordal accompaniment - to give that spe-

PACIHCA PLAY DAY SCIIEDULEAll play days except those at Stanford are held at Zion Lu-

theran Church, 5201 Park Boulevard, Oaldand.The church is just west of the Park Boulevard exit off

Hichway 13. We meet at 930 a.in for the coached session.Lunch break is at 1230; players can go to nearby restaurants orbring lunch from home. Uncoached afternoon playing goes ontill 4roo p.in.

Sheet music, coffee and tea will be supplied. Please bring amusic stand and any music of your own you'd like to play.Consorts are formed based on the information you provide onthe enclosed postcard. Please mail it in immediately! Or e-maiL your data to John Mark, mark_bach8@hotmall.corn.

Newcomers and rank begirmers are welcome. If you'recoming for the first time, please phone ahead: (510) 531 -1471.

DATE COACH

Novenb®r 17December 8January 12, 2002Fel] muary 2002 aMarsh 9, 2002April 12-14May 1 I, 2002

• Date TBA

Roy WheldeDAny BrodoElisal)cth ReedJol]n Dom€nbung, StatLford campusTBAAnnual North/Soutl] Viol Meet, FresnoTBA

cial `plucked percussion' sound that fills out theoverall sound," Peterson says. "It takes a littlecareful listening, but when you are attuned, it addsa lot to the music."

For viol/lute playing sessions, Peterson recom-mends, besides Dowland, the mixed consort musicof Morley, avahable in modem editions. It wasoriginally written for a variety of instruments, in-cluding cittem, lute, and bandora (a wire-stringbass lute), but can be modified to fit whatever in-struments are present.

Hoping for future joint ventures, Peterson in-quired on the Lute Net, based at Dartmouth Col-

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Twopperson Membership ($35):Two playing members in the samehousehold. You share all the rightsand privileges of a Playing Member.

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Donations ($10, $25, eso, $100 ormore!) to VdGsmacirica will help usbuy sheet music and rental instru-ments.

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Make out checks to yzalGJ/Pac7/}ccr.Mail them with this form to:

Helen Tyrrell, TreasurerVdGSM]acificaP.O. Box 1880rinda, CA 94563

lege (the site can be reached viahttp ://groups. yahoo.com/gro upAute), for advice onother good pieces to play with viols. What aresome ideal pieces for combined lutes and viols?How can lutes work themselves into pieces scoredfor other instruments?

An especially informative note from the lutepoint of view came from Stewart Mccoy of theEngfish Lute Society, a lute instructor in the UK.

Mccoy begins by recommending Holbome'sPavans, Galliards and Almairs (London. \599) £orfive bowed instruments (viols or violins). There isno tablature part, but lutenists can make their ownlute part in the same way Dowland did for his mu-sic. Mccoy has arranged many of Holbome'sdances in this way.

`The important thing," writes Mccoy, "is for

the lute to track the viovviolin parts, more or less,duplicating as far as reasonably possible what theydo. AIl notes are covered by the string parts, so thelute can afford to leave out anything which mightcause technical problems. It may be best not todouble the Cantus, i.e., the highest part.

"However, Holbome ' s part-witing, partieu-

larly the Tenor and Quintus, is not awfully bril-liant. Bernard Thomas, who edited the edition forLondon Pro Musica, refers to Holbome's Quintusas `the silly part' -a part that is not very melodic,and was probably composed after the other partshad been composed just as a chord-filler. A con-scientious lutenist should not try to track banalstuff like that accuntely.

"For this music I believe it is not authentic to

play a continuo part from the bass line, filling insuitable chords without reference to the imer parts.Dowland didn't do that with his music, just as sur-viving organ parts didn't do that in English consortmusic for viols. Doubling parts is the order of theday, because this clarifies the part-writing, i.e. thepolyphony. Improvising chords over the bass ismore a baroque practice, where the continuo in-strument fills out the texture and clarifies the her-mony, but has the effect of obscuring the part-writing.

"That's the theory, but in practice it is appro-

priate to bend this rule according to what worksbest on the lute. Dowland would fill out chords

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here and there; sometimes he might intabulatenotes up or down an octave from the pitch of theviols; but his tablature parts are essentially intabu-latious, and are conceived in terms of the polyph-ony.

"As with Dowland, the lute can usefully embel-

lish final notes of sections. Oner embellishmentsare possible, but should be used sparingly.

"If you are looking for surviving tablature that

might be used with viols, you could dip into thefrve manuscripts of Edward Paston. I suspect heused a lute as an alternative for viols, rather than tobe played with viols, but his arrangements may beused either way. His repertoire was vast; hismanuscripts include a huge number of sacred andsecular songs and instrumental pieces. Generallyspeaking, the lute doubles the notes of all the partsexcept the Cantus.

`There is a modem edition of eight consort

songs by Wiuiam Byrd which I edited for Fretwork

Editions, where there is a lute part in tablaturewhich may be used with viols. The tablature is notoriginal, but is very similar to the arrangements ofconsort songs in Edward Paston's manuscripts."

And how should viol players adapt to lutes?Gamba Ivews asked this question of Greg Bar-

nett, who plays both instruments. When playinglute with viols, said Bamett, he perceived that `Thedecay of each note was completely buried by thesound of the viols. The attack of each note wasclearly audible, though. The combined effect wasthat each note began with a lute attack and finishedwith the sound of a viol, like some aggregateplucked/bowed instrument. jiwas really cool. "

The lutenist should use `ihe roundest, cleanestpossible attack" to best achieve this effect, Bamettsays. "A noisy attack or the shaxpness and bright-ness that cone from fingernails will lessen the ef-fect. Very clean attacks from the viols help a lot,too."

Vide welcome at SEEMS evening couegivlnsThe SFEMS Education Programs is presenting a

series of Wednesday-night "co llegium evenings,"informal community music-making events for ama-teur singers and instrumentalists. Viols of any sizeare particularly welcome.

Each evening focuses on one or two medievalRenaissance or baroque pieces, led by a Bay Areaearly music apecialist. Parts are available, by tele-phone request, two weeks prior to the event.

The next session, on January 23, will be led byFrances Feldon, who will conduct the Missa CelaSans Plus of Jacob Obrecht.

On February 27, Eileen Hadidian presents`Nueva Espafa: Renaissance Music in the New

Worlds."March 27's evening will be conducted by Fran-

ces Blaker-music of J.S. Bach and the North Ger-rnaus.

On April 24, Phebe Craig leads "Cori Zezzati:17th century polychoral music of Dominique Phi-not and Hans Leo Hassler."

The May collegium has been canceled.Please call ahead to reserve a space for yourself

by the 15th of the month for each event, or registernow for single or multiple events. For a bro-chure/registration form, contact Frances Feldon,program director, below.

All collegium evenings take place at the ParishHall of st. Alban's Episcopal Church, from 7:30 to9:30 p.in The church is located at 1501 Washing-ton Avenue in Albany (near Santa Fe and Solano).

Tuition is $12 per session.For a collegium evening brochure, or to request

advance copies of music for an upcoming evening,call Frances weekdays at (510) 527-9029 or e-mallher at franfel@aol.com

ClassifiedsVroLS MADE by Alexandra Saur. Beautifulcopies Of Bertrand, Jaye, and Hosldns mas-terpieces. (510) 558-6927, (510) 559-9563.

BAss VIol. with bow and hard case, $2000.Contact Gwen Rodtmn , arod3608®aol.cornor (909) 981-1633.

TREBm VroL by Domini. Shann,1981, afterThglish models; 38 cm string length. Coop-ered top, double purfling, inlaid fretboard andtailpiece, open scroll, tiger maple sides andback. Very light construction. Baroquetlackwood bow \with ivory nut by RalphAsshmead; hard case by Early Music Shop

#frg##Lby#\+±¥bow.Contact Oliver Iberien, (510) 834nd062;oliver.iberien®mindsDri.rL2.com.

TREBLE VloL by Higdus; neck replacementby him; viol in excellent condition. Earlyratchet bow by Neil Hendricks and hard case"arranged" by Herb Myers. $1,500 for viol,

bow, and case. Contact Kris Motitague,(650) 969-1668.

SEEKING A Bow: I am Lcoking for a goodtenor bow. Contact Bill Ijacar,jblazar@aol.com; (408) 737-8228.

W^r`iT To TRv AN ALTo? Pacifica has an altoviol available for short-temi loan, not rental,to any of our experienced Tnembers wantingto try such an unusual instnmenl lt is tunedA to a. one step up from a tenor. ContactJohn Mark, (510) 531-1471 ;mark_bach8@hctmaiJ.com.

THREE EARLy MUSIC INSTRUMENTSroR SALE:

• VloLA I)A GAMBA ~ 6 strings, made byKauvad Leauhardt, Munich. Grmany,1951/45. Very beautiful craftsmanshipand woods, Inlaid back. oTnale carvedoutscroll and floral cutout on top. Fantastictone. Top notch gamba playus havehighly praised it. hfomally appraised at$20,000. Price - $20,000 0.8.0.

• Vlol,ONE-6 strings, made by Karl Roy,Geigenmeister, Mittenwald, 195 8. Alsovery beatifu wood and craftsmanship.Wonderful tone. Price undecided at thistime. Will get appraisal.

• BAROQUE BAss-5 string, fiiction pegs,made by Kal.I Roy, 1958. Perhaps the besttone of the three. Price -$17.500. 0.8.0.

Contact Rapl[ae] Mendel, (415) 4574005.

Mark your calendarNO-3,2001

THml> ANNUAL, SACRAMENTo/DAvlsEARLy MUSIC MIXED CONSORTMIXER: A one+day get+ogether forearly music musicians from the Sacra-mentorDavis area to participate in or-gganized jam sessions and a big groupplay-in. All levels, instr`ments andsingers welcome. For information:(916) 731-5626 orzadckia®Dacbell.net.9:00 a.in.-6..00 p.in.. Davis Comm:unityCh:urch, 412 C Street, Davis.

NO- 4-10' 2001EI.DERHoSTEL, INC.: A weck-longworkshop for players of recorder, violada gamba and harpsichord. Faculty aremembers of the Farallori RecorderQuartet (Letitia Berlin, frances Blaker,I.ouise Carslake and Hanneke vanProosdy} plus early sting specialistShira Kanmen. For information: (510)5 594670 or tich-feb@mindsDring.com.To resister: h`ms@aol.com.Hidden Valley Music Serriinar, CarmelValley, CA.

NO-10, 2001vtol.S WEST COACHED PLAYDAY:Carol Heman's home, 357 West lothSstreet, Claremont, CA. Bring your ownlunch, If you'd Like to attend, pleasecontact Ed Harts to make sure he hasyour culTent phone number and/or e-mail address in case of change ofvenue. Please RSVP to Carol Hermandy November 5: (909) 621-2367;cchcamba@aol.com. For information,directions, ctc., contact Ed Hrfus: (562)5964892; charris@sulb.edu.10:00 a.in to 4:00 p.in., 357 West lotStreet, Clarenront, CA.

NoVIMJ)ER 10, 2001MII+PENINSULA RECORI)ER OR-CHES.IRA FALL WORICSHOII: "OldWine in New Bottles." The workshop,directed by Shelley Gruslch, will tracethe development of musical forms suchas `brelude," "aria," and ftyastoral," andexplore the evolution of each from theRenaissance throuch the present. Re-corders, viols, lutes, krumndoms andsoft Renaissance double reeds are in-vited. Registration before November 3is $39 general, $36 for hAI'RO andSFEMS members. After November 3,se2.00/$39.00.

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a.in. ,o 4:00 p.in.

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Random NotesContributors wanted: Send Ganba jve" yourconcert listings and reviews, opinions, workshop experiences,CD reviews, drawings, photos, poems or out-of-body epi-sodes. Send all contributions to Lyle York, Editor,1932Thousand oaks Blvd., Berkeley, CA 94707, or via e-mail:lyleyork@earthlink.net. Phone (510) 559-9273. Short classi-fied advertisements in plain text to be placed in Gcr7nbc7 Ivowfare free to VdGsmacifica members. For nori-members, adsare $5 per issue. Please mail your cheek for $5 to Ly]e York(address above), made out to VdGSpacifica. Deadline forcalendar submissions, classified ads and all edfrorial conthbu-tions for a given month's newsletter is the 15th of the preced-ing month (e.g., the deadine for the April issue is March 15).

Newsletters by e-mail: If you'd like toTeceiveyour monthly Go"ba News on-line, please e-mail Lyle Yorkat lyleyork@eathlinkmet. Your reply postcard will takee-mail form as well.

Join vdGS/Pacifica! The annual membershiprates are: Playing Members, $25 (can attend regular coachedconsort meedngs free, receive Gamba IvewT, and get a dis-count on apedal consort-coaching sessions); Two-PersonMenberships, $35 (two playing members in the same house-hold); Newsletter-Only Members, $ 10.

See Page 2 for a membership form.Another way to join is from the Pacifica web site,

http:/thome.pacbellmct/hesuome. Click on ``Join the Chap-ter.„

Pacifica chapter officers are:President, Julie Jefrey; Vice-President, Ly]c York; Secre-tary, Annette Bamett; Treasurer, Helen Tyrrcll; Membersat Large: Cindy Share, Coaching Liaison; John Mark,Rental Program Coordinator; Lee MCRac, VdGSA ChapterRepresentative ; John Dornent)urg, Alvin Roper, and EllenFarvell.

Information, please: our vdGS/Pacifica chap-ter Web site, http:/thome.pacbellJiet/hesuome, is maintainedand regularly updated by Helen Tyrren. It contains the ViolPlayers' Calendar, which is often more up to date than theGam6a Ivews calendar - along with a list of local teachers,sources for music, supplies, inext`r=±€ve viols, repairs, andtravel tips. The VdGSA (national) Web site is-.vdgsa.ore.Rent a viol: Pacifica has trebles, tenors and basses torent. Donations of viols and bows to our rental program areextremely welcome -we'll accept them in any condition.Rental fees range from Slo to $25 per month, In charge ofrentals is Jot]n Marlb at 10 Holyrood Manor, Oakland, CA94611 ; (510) 531-147l ; mark_bach8@hotoail.com.

The VdGSA, Pacifica' s parent organization, also rentsviols. For VdGSA members, rates are $250 per year for treb-les and tenors, $300 for basses, and $750 for a complete con-sort of viols. For more information, contact Stephen Morris,2615 Tanglowood Road, Decatur, GA 30033-2729; (404)325-2709; smmorris@mindspring.com.

The VdGSA has instituted a Rent-To-Own program. Ifinterested, contact John MaTlq address above.

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G¢ne6¢ NEWSc/o Bamct¢ 2502 Iiearst Avenue, Oakland, CA 94602

t Mary Elliott

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