Archlute
Encyclopedia
The archlute is a European plucked string instrument
developed around 1600 as a compromise between the very large theorbo
, the size and re-entrant tuning of which made for difficulties in the performance of solo music, and the Renaissance
tenor lute
, which lacked the bass range of the theorbo. Essentially a tenor lute with the theorbo's neck-extension, the archlute lacks the power in the tenor and the bass that the theorbo's large body and typically greater string length provide.
The main differences between the archlute and the "baroque" lute of northern Europe are that the baroque lute has 11 to 13 courses, while the archlute typically has 14, and the tuning of the first six courses of the baroque lute outlines a d-minor chord, while the archlute preserves the tuning of the Renaissance lute, with perfect fourths surrounding a third in the middle for the first six. The archlute was often used as a solo instrument for the first three-quarters of the 17th century, but is rarely mentioned as a continuo instrument in this period, the theorbo being the lute class instrument with this role.
As continuo
bass lines were composed both faster in motion and higher in tessitura towards the end of the 17th century, the archlute began to eclipse the theorbo as the main plucked string continuo instrument. The theorbo lacked the higher notes of the bass lines and the increasing practise of doubling the continuo part with a bowed bass (cello
or viol
) made the archlute's lack of power in the tenor and bass a less important shortcoming.
The theorbo had been commonly used as the melodic bass instrument in trio sonata
s from the beginning of the Baroque and the archlute took over that function too, with the most famous example being Corelli
's Opus 1 and 3 trio sonatas which have partbooks for 1st and 2nd violin, 'violone o arciliuto' and a continuo part for organ, a simplified version of the 'violone o arciliuto' book. The violone o arciliuto book has just as many figures to tell the player what chords to play as the organ partbook, which suggests the archlute player would be adding chords above the bass where possible.
The archlute was used in Handel
's operas and like repertoire; Giulio Cesare
(1724) has continuo parts labelled both arciliuto and tiorba. Perhaps one player would play both instruments.
Music for solo archlute is usually notated in tablature
.
with a part labelled 'liuto' will mean 'arciliuto', the classic Renaissance lute being in disuse by this time. The most important composers of archlute music in the 17th century are Alessandro Piccinini
and in the 18th century Giovanni Zamboni
, whose set of 12 sonatas (1718, Lucca) for the instrument is extant, and Antonio Scotti and Melchiorre Chiesa, Milanese composers from late 18th century. Other known composers of archlute music were Antonio Tinazzoli, Giuseppe Vaccari and Lodovico Fontanelli.
, Axel Wolf and Luca Pianca
(the founder of Il Giardino Armonico
), who predominantly play archlutes, and Paolo Cherici
, Massimo Lonardi
, Luciano Contini, Paul O'Dette
, Jakob Lindberg and Nigel North
who use archlutes extensively.
The Edin Karamazov's archlute is featured on Sting's album Songs from the Labyrinth
, devoted to sixteenth-century music composed by John Dowland
, and Karamazov's album "Come, heavy sleep" (music by J. S. Bach and Britten).
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
developed around 1600 as a compromise between the very large theorbo
Theorbo
A theorbo is a plucked string instrument. As a name, theorbo signifies a number of long-necked lutes with second pegboxes, such as the liuto attiorbato, the French théorbe des pièces, the English theorbo, the archlute, the German baroque lute, the angélique or angelica. The etymology of the name...
, the size and re-entrant tuning of which made for difficulties in the performance of solo music, and the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
tenor lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
, which lacked the bass range of the theorbo. Essentially a tenor lute with the theorbo's neck-extension, the archlute lacks the power in the tenor and the bass that the theorbo's large body and typically greater string length provide.
The main differences between the archlute and the "baroque" lute of northern Europe are that the baroque lute has 11 to 13 courses, while the archlute typically has 14, and the tuning of the first six courses of the baroque lute outlines a d-minor chord, while the archlute preserves the tuning of the Renaissance lute, with perfect fourths surrounding a third in the middle for the first six. The archlute was often used as a solo instrument for the first three-quarters of the 17th century, but is rarely mentioned as a continuo instrument in this period, the theorbo being the lute class instrument with this role.
As continuo
Figured bass
Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of integer musical notation used to indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones, in relation to a bass note...
bass lines were composed both faster in motion and higher in tessitura towards the end of the 17th century, the archlute began to eclipse the theorbo as the main plucked string continuo instrument. The theorbo lacked the higher notes of the bass lines and the increasing practise of doubling the continuo part with a bowed bass (cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
or viol
Viol
The viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...
) made the archlute's lack of power in the tenor and bass a less important shortcoming.
The theorbo had been commonly used as the melodic bass instrument in trio sonata
Trio sonata
The trio sonata is a musical form that was popular in the 17th and early 18th centuries.A trio sonata is written for two solo melodic instruments and basso continuo, making three parts in all, hence the name trio sonata...
s from the beginning of the Baroque and the archlute took over that function too, with the most famous example being Corelli
Arcangelo Corelli
Arcangelo Corelli was an Italian violinist and composer of Baroque music.-Biography:Corelli was born at Fusignano, in the current-day province of Ravenna, although at the time it was in the province of Ferrara. Little is known about his early life...
's Opus 1 and 3 trio sonatas which have partbooks for 1st and 2nd violin, 'violone o arciliuto' and a continuo part for organ, a simplified version of the 'violone o arciliuto' book. The violone o arciliuto book has just as many figures to tell the player what chords to play as the organ partbook, which suggests the archlute player would be adding chords above the bass where possible.
The archlute was used in Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
's operas and like repertoire; Giulio Cesare
Giulio Cesare
Giulio Cesare in Egitto , commonly known simply as Giulio Cesare, is an Italian opera in three acts written for the Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel in 1724...
(1724) has continuo parts labelled both arciliuto and tiorba. Perhaps one player would play both instruments.
Music for solo archlute is usually notated in tablature
Tablature
Tablature is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches....
.
Composers
Any late Italian Baroque musicBaroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
with a part labelled 'liuto' will mean 'arciliuto', the classic Renaissance lute being in disuse by this time. The most important composers of archlute music in the 17th century are Alessandro Piccinini
Alessandro Piccinini
Alessandro Piccinini , was an Italian lutenist and composer.Piccinini was born in Bologna into a musical family: his father Leonardo Maria Piccinini taught lute playing to Alessandro as well as his brothers Girolamo and Filippo...
and in the 18th century Giovanni Zamboni
Giovanni Zamboni
Giovanni Zamboni was a baroque composer.Zamboni was an able musician—he mastered theorbo, lute, guitar, mandola, mandoline and harpsichord and he was also skilled in counterpoint....
, whose set of 12 sonatas (1718, Lucca) for the instrument is extant, and Antonio Scotti and Melchiorre Chiesa, Milanese composers from late 18th century. Other known composers of archlute music were Antonio Tinazzoli, Giuseppe Vaccari and Lodovico Fontanelli.
Performers
The most important living archlute players are Edin KaramazovEdin Karamazov
Edin Karamazov is a renowned Bosnian musician-lutenist . He studied lute with Hopkinson Smith at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis....
, Axel Wolf and Luca Pianca
Luca Pianca
Luca Pianca is a Swiss musician-lutenist whose specialty is archlute. In 1985 he co - founded Il Giardino Armonico, a pioneering Italian early-music ensemble based in Milan...
(the founder of Il Giardino Armonico
Il Giardino Armonico
Il Giardino Armonico is a pioneering Italian early music ensemble founded in Milan in 1985 by Luca Pianca and Giovanni Antonini, primarily to play 17th- and 18th-century music on period instruments....
), who predominantly play archlutes, and Paolo Cherici
Paolo Cherici
Paolo Cherici is an Italian lutenist. He has given performances all around the world, taking part in ancient music festivals.He studied the guitar under Ruggero Chiesa, later continuing with lute studies at the Schola Cantorum in Basel with Hopkinson Smith and Eugen M...
, Massimo Lonardi
Massimo Lonardi
Massimo Lonardi is an Italian lutenist who actively performs as soloist as well as in several ensembles all over Europe.He graduated in classical guitar with Ruggero Chiesa at the Milan Conservatory, then specialized in lute with Hopkinson Smith.His discography includes dozens of recordings and a...
, Luciano Contini, Paul O'Dette
Paul O'Dette
Paul R. O'Dette is an American lutenist, conductor, and music researcher specializing in early music.O'Dette began playing classical guitar, and while in high school also played electric guitar in a rock band in Columbus, Ohio, where he grew up...
, Jakob Lindberg and Nigel North
Nigel North
Nigel North is an English lutenist and guitarist.-Student days:He studied guitar on a scholarship to the junior department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama , taking up the lute in 1969, at the age of 15. He maintains he was more or less self-taught on the instrument...
who use archlutes extensively.
The Edin Karamazov's archlute is featured on Sting's album Songs from the Labyrinth
Songs from the Labyrinth
Songs from the Labyrinth is a 2006 album of recordings of the music of John Dowland by Sting and Bosnian lutenist Edin Karamazov. It entered the UK Official Albums Chart at #24 and reached #25 on the Billboard 200, strong charting peaks for a classical record on the pop album charts...
, devoted to sixteenth-century music composed by John Dowland
John Dowland
John Dowland was an English Renaissance composer, singer, and lutenist. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep" , "Come again", "Flow my tears", "I saw my Lady weepe" and "In darkness let me dwell", but his instrumental music has undergone a major revival, and has...
, and Karamazov's album "Come, heavy sleep" (music by J. S. Bach and Britten).
External links
- Chitarrone, theorbo and Archlute by Robert Spencer
- Archlute by David Tecchler, ca. 1725, Rome at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Pieces for archlute (or transcription for archilute), Francescovedremo 's channel (Youtube videos)