The a Brief Survey of Plucked Wire
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Wire Connection By Andrew Hartig A Brief Survey of Plucked Wire-Strung Instruments, 15th-18th Centuries - Part Four Wire-Strung Instruments in the 18th Century alone over about a The development of new wire-strung instruments in the 50-year period. Much 18th century took primarily two paths: the modification of already of this music, in both successful forms (such as modifying the body of the cittern to make printed and manuscript the new French cistre), and the adding of wire strings to instruments form, still exists, in- originally strung in gut (e.g. mandolin and chitarra battente). The cluding around 30 con- trends that had started in the 17th century such as chordal tunings certos and above 1000 and extended basses, became more commonplace for many of the duets, trios, quartets, 18th century wire-strung instruments. and sonatas. Many One of the distinguishing marks of 18th century wire- manuscript collections strung instrument development is the segregation of instrument survive in France, types by region when compared to previous centuries. Whereas in Sweden, Austria, and the 16th century one could find the 4-course diatonic cittern played Hungary.1 throughout almost all of Europe, by the 18th century citterns existed as specific regional variants: the English guittar, Frenchcistre , Ger- Chitarra battente man Zister, Norwegian sister, Spanish citara, and Corsican cetera. The chitarra On the other hand, other instruments seemed easily to transcend battente can be found national bounds, as did the mandolin. today as a folk instru- ment in the south- Mandolins ern regions of Italy. Mandolins had been around in all but name since at least Though musicologists Side and front view of chitarra battente, the 15th century, essentially modified forms of the Renaissance have typically given an Brussels Conservatoire, Inv. No. 3181. Photos mandore (or “mandour”) and the even earlier Medieval bowl-backed 18th century date for courtesy of Peter Forrester. gittern. However, by the middle of the 18th century, some mando- its development, new lins had been modified to accept wire strings. A 4-course variety research suggests that this wire-strung guitar was in use at least as known as the Neopolitan mandolin was developed in Naples in early as the first half of the 17th century,2 though possibly was not the 1740s and had a very small string length (c. 30-33cm), tuned used commonly until the 18th. in 5ths like a violin, g-d’-a’-e”, but with doubled In structure, the chitarra battente is essentially a baroque courses. The smallest ones could have employed guitar with a shorter neck (due to the wire strings) and often — wire stringing throughout; the larger ones might though not always — a much deeper body with a vaulted back. have used a gut top-string or could have opted for Later models feature a “canted” soundboard like on the wire-strung a lower tuning. A 6-course version, the Genoese mandolin. Early models may have been nothing more than guitars mandolin, was built in the middle of the century converted for use with wire strings. in Genoa and employed common guitar tuning The chitarra battente was used primarily for strummed ac- (but an octave-higher), e–a–d’–g’–b’–e”, also in companiment, as the name itself indicates (battente = “strummed” doubled courses. Both types feature deep bowled or “beaten”). The five courses were either double- or triple-strung, backs and a “canted” soundboard, in which the and a re-entrant tuning a-d’-g-b-e’, such as that on the baroque soundboard is actually bent backward near the guitar, appears to have been used. With the exception of possibly bridge in order to increase the downward pressure one manuscript,3 no music specifically identified as being for chi- of the strings over the low bridge. tarra battente has survived, presenting the modern player with the The mandolin was quite popular, spread- creative task of reconstructing a possible repertoire. ing beyond Italy throughout most of Europe, where much music was published for it. For in- English guitar (guittar) stance, around 85 volumes of original mandolin One of the best known of the 18th century plucked wire- Genoese mandolin music, including tutors, were published in Paris strung instruments today (after the mandolin) is the English guitar LSA Quarterly - Spring, 2011 33 (or guittar), which historically also sometimes featured a went by other names, includ- second pegbox with up to five ing cittern, cetra, cetera, and unstopped bass strings tuned kitara.4 The guittar was cre- diatonically. ated some time in the middle As for the shape, the of the century. It shares some smaller cistre had the same features with the cittern of general shape as the guittar, the 16th and 17th century, sometimes with the addition but evolved to have a deeper of prominent “shoulders” or body of uniform depth, a com- “horns” in the upper third of plete (as opposed to partial or the body. Other body styles “cutaway”) neck, and often were also used, including an (but not always) a cambered exaggerated pear shape, lute- fingerboard. Some features shaped bodies evocative of new to the 18th century were the German Lautenzister, and the introduction of geared tun- flat-backed bodies evocative ers and a “watch-key” tuning of carved Italian citterns of mechanism, both of which the 16th century, which had assisted in the finer tuning of backs smaller than the fronts strings; the addition of holes so that the sides sloped. On Preston guittar, c.1770, NY State through the fingerboard for the Cistre by G. Le Blond, Rouen 1773. some theorboed cistres, we Historical Society in Cooperstown NY. use of a capo; and the addition University of Leipzig, Inv.Nr. 618. Im- even find instances where the Photo courtesy of Andrew Rutherford. to some instruments of a “key age courtesy of Andreas Michel. body extends further up the box,” which allowed the instru- neck on the bass side than on ment to be played by depressing keys with the right hand, turning the the treble. instrument into what Longman & Broderip referred to as a “piano The repertoire of forte guitar”!5 An additional change was that the guittar was usually the cistre is similar to that of plucked with fingers rather than being played with a plectrum. the guittar, including songs, The guittar typically had ten strings in six courses with the dances, opera numbers, and top four courses doubled and the bottom two courses single, and duos. There were more than was nominally tuned (low to high) c–e–g–c’–e’–g’. Though most of 30 collections of music and the surviving guittars have a sounding string-length of about 42cm, several tutors published in some larger examples are known (and would presumably have had the last three decades of the a lower tuning). 18th century, most of which There is a large number of surviving sources of music, survive today. on the order of more than 150 sources (although some of these are short). The surviving repertoire is comprised mostly of dances and Norwegian sister songs for theater. Some pieces are simply arrangements of works The Norwegian sis- extant in another form, though there are quite a few original works, ter8 was invented by Åmund as well.6 Arrangements exist for a varied combination of guittar Hansen (1734-1812), an solos and duets, and duos and trios with violin and other instruments. oboist and violin maker in Fredrikshald (what is today French cistre or guitthare allemande7 Halden). It can perhaps best Around the time the English guittar was developing in be described as a French cistre England, a similar instrument in both shape and size was developed with two “horns” protrud- in France. Publications of the time used several names, including ing from the sides towards cistre, cythre, cytre, and guitthare allemande. Structurally, many the tail end and two small features of the standard cistre were the same as on the guittar, as extra soundholes close to the they both shared the same tuning mechanisms, use of capo, string- bridge. While the sister is of- ing, and so forth. The main differences were in the actual tuning, ten referred to as a hybrid be- the number of courses, and body shape. tween an English guittar and a Most of the tunings for the cistre were essentially that of Hamburger Cithrinchen,9 this the guittar’s, but with the fifth course lowered a tone, nominally is not entirely correct. Han- (low to high) c-d-g-c’-e’-g’. Larger instruments (50cm mensur sen had been building both Theorboed lute-bodied cistre, prob- and larger) had seven fingered courses tuned E-A-d-e-a-c#’-e’ (a ably by Le Blond, Dunkerque, 1780. Cithrinchens à la Tielke and tuning essentially a minor third lower than the smaller instrument University of Leipzig, Inv.Nr. 629. French cistres à la Le Blond, with the addition of a bass course a fourth below). Larger cistres Image courtesy of Andreas Michel. and it's likely that he simply 34 LSA Quarterly - Spring, 2011 combined the two designs for his own design. from their 16th century coun- The extra soundholes may have been added at this terparts, such as a surviving time. The earliest known sister dates back to 1787 instrument by Johannes Bo- and has, like all early models, ten strings in six chum (Cologne, 1790),12 which courses: four double courses and two single fretted retains both the tapering body basses. An 11-string variant with one more single depth and the diatonic fret- bass first appears in 1797, though it is unclear if ting of two centuries before.