The Classical Music Book

56

MY LUTE,

AWAKE!

LACHRIMAE ( 1604 ), JOHN DOWLAND

M

usical instruments

developed rapidly from

the late 14th century

onward, as musicians refined their

skills and emulated court style to

attract patronage. The first organ

with pedals and 12-note chromatic

keyboard was recorded in the

German town of Halberstadt in

1361. Around 1440, while working
      in the Burgundian court, Dutch
      organist Arnaut van Zwolle drew a
      diagram of the earliest harpsichord,
      with keys that lifted vertical pieces
      of wood, called jacks, fitted with

plectrums that then plucked

strings. Zwolle also described the

dulce melos, a keyboard instrument

in which the strings were struck by

metal mallets, the earliest recorded

use of a piano-style action.

The rise of the lute

Beyond these innovations, the more

portable lute evolved to become

the emblematic instrument of the

Renaissance. Pietrobono, a much-

feted musician to the Este family

of Ferrara around 1450–1470, had

played virtuosic streams of melody

(not unlike fast electric guitar solos)

with a quill plectrum, while an

accompanist called a tenorista

played the slow, accompanying

lower parts on another lute. The

addition of gut frets, tied around

the neck of the lute, facilitated

left-hand speed and accuracy.

A more significant stylistic

change occurred when the lutenist

put down the plectrum. Stroking

the strings with the thumb and

fingers of the right hand, the

soloist could play all the voices

of a polyphonic piece. By the late

15th century, the lute was no longer

simply the companion of minstrels

but had moved to the heart of

court music and composition.

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Renaissance

instrumental music

BEFORE

1507 Francesco Spinacino’s

Intabulatura de lauto is

published in Venice—the first

printed collections for solo lute.

1545 The appointment of

“Mark Anthony Gayiardell and

George Decombe, viallines”

as court musicians marks the

debut of the violin in England.

AFTER

1611 Giovanni Girolamo

Kapsberger publishes his

Libro primo d’intavolatura de

lauto, music for the theorbo—a

lute with an extended neck to

hold additional bass strings.

c. 1630 English composer John

Jenkins produces his pavans

and In nomines for viol consort

in up to six parts, continuing

an English interest in music for

viol consort that lasts into the

time of Henry Purcell.

Blame not my lute,

for he must sound

Of this or that as liketh me;

For lack of wit with

the lute is bound

To give such tunes as

pleaseth me.

Thomas Wyatt

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