Antun Mrzlečki Osijek, 5.06. 2008.
Kapucinska 41
31000 Osijek
C R O A T I A
Fax: 00385 – 31 – 201 181
Dear Mr. Segerman,
Let me introduce myself. I am a capuchin (Franciscan) monk and I actively play the 13-course baroque lute.
For years I am puzzled with the statement of Nikolaus Harnoncourt in his book »The Musical Dialogue«, (Amadeus Press, Portland Oregon) p. 14, »It is not easy to imagine the sound of the lute, which had metal strings during the Middle Ages and was plucked with a quill plectrum. If we were to use similar metal strings on a Renaissance lute, we would have an approximate idea of how the Gotic lute might have sounded…The sound of a Renaissance lute with metal strings, plucked with a quill, resembles that of an old Flemish spinet: very clear, but not very loud, full in the fundamental tone, but nonetheless with brilliant overtones…«
In German »Der Musikalische Dialog« published by Bärenreiter Verlag, 4. Auflage 1999, p. 19.
In Croatian »Glazbeni dijalog» published by Algoritam 2008, p. 16.
Can you assist me in clarifying this issue. I would be very grateful for your answer.
Sincerely yours
brother Antun
Northern Renaissance Instruments
6 Needham Avenue, Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Manchester M21 8AA, U.K.
Proprietor: Dr. Ephraim Segerman {U.S.A}
e-mail: post@nrinstruments.demonco.uk
http://www.nrinstruments.demon.co.uk
phone & fax: + 44 (0) 161 881 8134
9. June 2008
Dear brother Antun,
I cannot imagine how Harnoncourt got the idea that mediavel lutes had metal strings. All the evidence we have is that lutes used gut strings. He is right that they were usually plucked with a quill plectrum. The only instruments before the 15th century that had metal strings (which were brass or silver) were the psaltery and the Irish harp. Both of these instruments have designs that allow string length to vary with pitch so that the stress in the string material need not to vary much. In the late 14th century, German wire drawers learned, for the first time, to draw iron wire with the aid of water power. Iron wire that was wrought (hammered to shape) had been used for a long time, but it was uniform enough for musical strings, but drawn wire was fine. Iron is stronger than brass, so using iron treble strings and brass basses allowed more string stress variation and so less length variation to get the desired pitch range. This led to the development of the harpsichord and clavichord around 1400. The first metal-strung fingerboard instrument (i.e. with all the strings having about the same length) was the 15th century Italian cetra, a modified revival of the mediaval citole (a kind of plucked fiddle), and it had an open-string range of only a fifth or sixth. The citterns of the next century were developed from this instrument.
The 16th century lute usually had 6 gut courses: the 1st single, the 2nd and 3rd unison pairs, and the rest octave pairs. A 1511 German book indicated that some lutes had brass lower octave strings. These could only have been on the 2nd and 3rd courses. At around the middle of the century, the French developed twisted brass bass strings for their citterns. Around 1580, a Nuremberg wire drawer developed a steel that was so strong that it could be tuned as high as gut. Then it became possible to have metal-strung instruments (with steel highest string, iron not-so-high strings, brass middle strings and twisted brass strings) that could tune like gut strings. The orpharion was a large cittern-like instrument that was tuned like a lute. In 1618, Praetorius reported that some people used metal strings on ordinary lutes and violins. After 1621, that wire drawer retired rather than divulge the secret of how he made his steel strings. Such strings became unavailable, and instruments like orpharion, that depended on steel strings, became redundant. It was only in the 19th century, when piano wire was developed, that a metal string that could tune as high as gut became available again.
In history, as in other type of scholarship, all kinds of things are possible for which there is no evidence to support. So I cannot say that metal strung medieval lutes could never have happened. All I can say is that there is no evidence for it.
Yours sincerely
Ephraim Segerman
Prijevod:
9. lipnja 2008.
Dragi brate Antune,
Ne mogu si zamisliti kako je Harnoncourt došao na ideju da su srednjovjekovne lutnje imale metalne žice. Sva evidencija koju posjedujemo je to da su se na lutnjama koristile crijevne strune. U pravu je da su se po običaju trzale badrljicom pera. Jedina glazbala prije 15. stoljeća koja su imala metalne žice (iz mesinga ili srebra) bila su psalterij i irska harfa. Oba glazbala imala su dizajne koji su dopustili da duljina žica (menzura) varira s visinom tona, tako da napetost žičnog materijala nije trebala mnogo varirati. U kasnom 14. stoljeću njemački su izrađivači žica po prvi puta naučili obrađivati čelik pomoću vodene snage. Čelična žica (drot) koji se vukao (kovanjem ili udaranjem čekića) koristila se dugo vremena, ali nije bila dosta jednolika za žice na glazbalima, a izvučena žica bila je fina. Čelik je jači od mesinga, pa koristeći čelične gornje žice i mesingane basovske žice dopustile su više varijacija napetosti žice, a time i manje variranja kod duljine (žice) da bi se dobilo željena visina tona. To je dovelo do razvoja čembala i klavikorda oko 1400. godine. Prvo glazbalo s tipkama ožičano metalnim žicama (duljinom žica po prilici iste duljine) bila je talijanska cetra, modificirana citola (vrste trzane fidule), a imala je raspon nepritisnutih ili slobodnih žica samo petine ili šestine ukupne duljine. Citerne (cistre ili citare, engl. Cittern) sljedećeg stoljeća razvile su se iz tog glazbala.
Lutnja 16. stoljeća imala je po običaju šest crijevnih parova struna; prva struna pojedinačna, drugi i treći par u jednozvučju (unisono), a ostali parovi oktavirani. Jedna njemačka knjiga iz 1511. godine upućuje na to da su neke lutnje imale mesingane dublje žice oktaviranih parova. To su samo mogli biti drugi i treći par. Oko sredine 16. stoljeća Francuzi su izumili opletene mesingane basovske žice za svoje citerne. Oko 1580. godine neki izrađivač žica izumio je čelik koji je bio toliko jak da se mogao ugađati visoko kao i crijevo. Tek tada je postalo moguće imati glazbala ožičena metalnim žicama (s najvišim žicama iz čelika, manje visokim iz željeza, srednjim žicama iz mesinga i opletenim mesinganim basovskim žicama) koja su se mogla ugađati poput crijeva. Orfarion je bilo glazbalo slično citerni koje se ugađalo poput lutnje. Godine 1618. Praetorius izvješćuje da neki ljudi koriste metalne žice na običnim lutnjama i violinama. Nakon 1621. godine takve žice postale su onda neupotrebljive, a glazbala poput orfariona koja su ovisila o čeličnim žicama postala su suvišna. Tek u 19. stoljeću kada je razvijena žica za piano koja se mogla ugađati toliko visoko kao crijevo, ona je postala opet upotrebljiva.
U povijesti kao i u drugim vrstama znanosti sve su stvari moguće za koje nema dokaza. Stoga ne mogu reći da u srednjem vijeku nikada nije bilo lutnja ožičenih metalnim žicama. Sve što mogu reći je to da za to ne postoje dokazi.
S poštovanjem
Ephraim Segerman
Odgovor Antuna Segermanu od 25. 6. 2008.
Antun Mrzlečki Osijek, 25.06.2008.
Kapucinski samostan
Kapucinska 41
HR – 31000 Osijek
Dear Mr. Segerman,
I thank you wholeheartedly on your reply. You have confirmed what I already thought to be a well accepted fact among lutenists. I have searched through my sources concerning strings, and it was a relief when you confirmend my opinions.
I have met Nikolaus Harnoncourt personally when I presented him a copy of his book »Musik als Klangrede« that I translated for the croatian edition. Now I wrote him a letter in which I have politely asked for a clarification his source of evidence for the statement on metal strings on mediavel lutes which appeared in his recently published second book »The Musical Dialogue« in Croatia. I hope to get a reply from him.
Many thanks once more.
Kind regards
Brother Antun Mrzlečki
S engleskog preveo: Antun Mrzlečki
Harnoncourtov odgovor Antunu Mrzlečkom od 9. 07. 2008., nakon što mu je Antun poslao pismo sa priloženom kopijom Segermanovog pisma:
NIKOLAUS HARNONCOURT
A-4880 ST. GEORGEN I. A.
TEL. 07667 – 440
Sehr geehrter Bruder Mrzlecki, 9. Juli 2008
Besten Dank für Ihren freundlichen Brief. Also zur Frage der Lautensaiten:
Ich habe aufgrund von Bildern, wo ich dünne gelbliche, bräunliche und silbrige Striche als Saiten sah, die mit Federplektrum gespielt wurden, diese Hypothese als Behauptung gesagt (denn diese Artikel stammen ja aus Seminarvorträgen). Das war wahrscheinlich leichtsinnig, und wenn es falsch ist, geniere ich mich heute dafür. – (Übrigens, die Saiten auf Psalterien sahen ganz ähnlich aus, allerdings, die Bilder weiß ich nicht mehr, das war vor fast 40 Jahren).
Der Brief von Dr. Segermann ist sehr intetessant und fundiert, und ich vertraue ihm. – Übrigens habe ich seit Jahrzehnten meine damalige (falsche) Meinung nicht mehr vertreten.
Mit sehr herzlichen Grüßen
Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Prijevod:
Mnogo poštovani brate Mrzlečki,
najljepša vam hvala na vašem ljubaznom pismu. Dakle, o pitanju žica na lutnjama:
na slikama sam vidio tanke, žućkaste, smeđkaste i srebrene crte kao žice, koje se sviraju badrljicom pera, te sam ovu hipotezu iznio kao tvrdnju (jer ovi članci potječu iz predavanja na seminarima). To je bilo vjerojatno lakomisleno, a ako je krivo danas se zbog toga sramim. – (Uostalom, žice na psaltirima izgledale su sasvim slično, doduše, ne znam više koje su to slike bile, to je bio prije gotovo 40 godina).
Pismo dr. Segermana je vrlo zanimljivo i temeljito, i vjerujem mu. – Uostalom, već desetljećima nisam više zastupao moje tadašnje (krivo) mišljenje.
Srdačan pozdrav
Nikolaus Harnoncourt
S njemačkog preveo: Antun Mrzlečki