LUNDGREN EDITION
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The Lute Calendar Reviews and personal comments
Elizabeth Kenny "Early Music News" Greet Shamp "Belgium Lute Society" Stewart McCoy "Private e-mail" Matthias Reiter "Private e-mail" Kenneth Sparr "Gitarr och Luta" Nr. 2, 2005 William T. Conklin "Private e-mail" Göran Josefsson "Private e-mail"
Get a lute, get a life Recording technology has allowed lute placers to infiltrate homes the world over while leaving theirs for only a few hours in the studio; an now with internet technology comes the online lute lesson. It is an idea whose day has come. 365 of them, actually. Stefan Lundgren's The Lute Calendar, or, the Renaissance Lute Made Easy provides a new lute piece for every day of the year (no respite for your nearest and dearest). Pieces encountered early in the course have been tactfully simplified, so there is musical interest from the beginning. You have to start on 1 December for the plan to work smoothly, and if you skip too many sessions you'll be out of tune with the weather when you resume. Still, if Lundgren corners the market and lute lessons really can be synchronized the world over, the benefits to summer school organizers would be enormous — everyone turning up in more or less the same state of preparedness. "The Four Seasons" is a marketing hook, of course, but Lundgren has pedagogical psychology on his side too. You wouldn't expect anything else from one of the instrument's best-loved and tireless teachers. Start in winter (dark outside, nothing else to do: Mr Dowland's Midnight is just the thing) with weather suiting your less-then-radient mood — will I ever be able to do this? Move to spring when it's beginning to click (I can not keep my wife at home: driven off by burgeoning lute-enthusiasm), on to a glorious summer (Lusty Gallant) and in autumn find ultimate fulfillment when the fruits of experience are there for, er, plucking. Except that the last two pieces are, worryingly, Sick, sick and very sick and Come, Heavy sleep ... The Lute Calendar is a delightful idea, beautifully executed. You can look at the contents list on Stefan Lundgren's web site (www.luteonline.de) though you'll have to order a copy direct. At € 75 for the whole course (€ 99 after 1 December 2005) that's a bargain. Thanks to Stefan Lundgren, in the whole history of the instrument a large and musically worthwhile learner repertoire has never been more easily available, and excuses for not learning the lute have never looked so feeble. Elizabeth Kenny "Early Music News"
Een echte aanwinst voor de liefhebbers die renaissanceluit spelen! De idee is heel simpel: geen paginanummering maar gewoon per bladzijde een stukje luit voor elke dag van het jaar. (Kleine opmerking, de mogelijke schrikkeldag 29 februari is vergeten).De technische moeilijkheidsgraad is zodanig dat er voor elk wat wils is: van eenvoudige Neusidler-oefeningetjes en Toys tot veeleisendere stukken. De Recercada’s van Ortiz met de akkoordschema’s en in bijlage een versie voor de melodiestem voor luit (in franse tabulatuur, zoals trouwens alle stukken) of fluit (in sol sleutel) of gamba (fa sleutel). Ook enkele bewerkingen van enkele bekende Dowlandsongs waar de melodie verweven zit in de begeleiding en waarvoor Lundgren af en toe de originele toonaard heeft gewijzigd. Hij beperkt zich verder tot het geven van algemene instructies voor de rechterhand, naargelang de periode vóór of na 1600 en voor de linkerhand enkel waar nodig, wat vingerzettingen, de aangehouden noten, en het weglaten van verdubbellingen in ongemakkelijke akkoorden. Onderaan elk stuk staat aangegeven welke luit (6 tot 10 korig) men ervoor nodig heeft. Bovendien is het geheel verlucht met originele tekeningen over luit, sommige zijn volledig opgebouwd uit fonts van tabulatuurtekens, heel toepasselijk “Fontasia” genoemd, echt knap! Een handig A4 formaat, geringd maakt het een uiterst gebruiksvriendelijke bloemlezing in 4 delen waar je jaren plezier aan zal beleven! Greet Schamp "Belgium Lute Society"
English translation by Greet Schamp. This is a real gain for all lovers of the renaissance lute! The idea is very simple: no numbering of the pages, but just per page a piece of lute music, for each day of the year. (A little remark: the possible leap-year day of February 29 is omitted.) The degree of technical difficulty is such, that there is something for everyone: from easy Neusidler exercises and Toys, to more demanding pieces. The Recerdadas of Ortiz with chord-schemes and, in enclosure, a version for the melody-voice, for lute (in French tablature, as in all pieces), or for flute (in the key of G), or for gamba (in the key of F). Included are also a few adaptations from a few well-known
Dowland songs, where the melody is incorporated in the accompaniment
and for which Lundgren has changed the key, from time to time. He limits
himself thereafter to the giving of general instructions for the right
hand, according to whether it dates from the period before or after
1600. For the left hand, he gives only some fingering, the extended
notes and the omission of doubling and uncomfortable chords. Greet Schamp "Belgium Lute Society"
A while ago I received the "Winter" of Stefan Lundgren's new collection of music for the renaissance lute, the "Lute Calendar". In the meantime I played through the book several times and found the music not hard to play. Very nicely set (although I regret that Stefan doesn't use the typographical ability so typical for his earlier editions and uses a typesetting program instead). It has no page turns and spiral binding which makes it easy to handle. Stefan gives many fingerings which help to solve trickier parts. Also worth to name are the illustrations which were done by Hendrike Bröse Lundgren. I haven't had problems playing all of the music sight reading which would make an average difficulty level of easy to lesser intermediate. Stefan has collected for this work music from the earliest beginnings of printed lute music up to the board lute book (ca. 1620/30). Sources/composers are Hans Newsidler, from the Petrucci prints, Chilesotti, Ortiz, Dowland, Mertel, Francisque, Dalza, Cutting, J. Johnson and many anonymous pieces. The required lute is from the 6- to 10-course variant. All of the music is well-chosen and invites to toy with the music and the sound quality of your lute and shows a wide range of the repertoire for the lute with a certain focus on the english repertoire. Stefan tells in his foreword that he would omit ornament signs, right-hand fingering (he gives a general instruction instead) and holding lines. This is not a big loss as general rules are given in the foreword and possibly help to develop taste and feeling for the music and help to keep the tablature legible. I was more skeptical regarding the omission of tones to get the music easier but I haven't found anything which would have seriously disturbed me. In short: I think this extensive edition is a well-done collection of interesting repertoire which provides the pupil with nice material to study and the advanced player with plenty of music to enjoy and to experiment with. What I think is greatest fun is to toy with the contained pieces by Ortiz - actually more patterns than real pieces which invite to improvisation/duet playing. How about a small competition: Make your version of a recercada by Ortiz. I would post it on my site and after while we could vote for the "best" version?
Dear List, some weeks ago I received the second book "Spring" of Stefan Lundgren's "Lute Calendar". In the meantime I've played through the book several times and am now ready to give a review. Of course the second book has a similar layout as the first book. No page turns are necessary within a piece. For every piece the maximum number of courses are given as well as the tuning if more than 6 courses are requered. The signs Stefan uses are based on the 10 course variant (that means /a = e, //a = D, ///a = C, a possible suggestion could be "Eight courses: a = F, ///a = C"). Stefan gives less fingerings than in the first book and I wouldn't follow them in every case. For example the movement on the first course of "My Lord Willobes Wellcome Home" goes c (2nd) - h (2nd!) - f (4th) - d - c. I wonder why Stefan suggests the second finger to jump to the d (tab letter h). Spontanous I used the 4th, sliding back to the c (tab letter f). Again no fingerings for the right hand are provided. A great pleasure are as always in Stefan's edition the illustrations by Henrike Broese Lundgren tastefully supporting his editions. In this second book Stefan provides melodies (tenores) to the Recercada's by Diego Ortiz for bass viol and (identically) for the flute (not all tones are available on a traverso, I assume arrangements/octavating passages or the complete Recercada is presumed). I haven't checked all of them but the settings should also work on a recorder (octavating the part for alto recorder or possibly it works on a soprano recorder without transposition). Also there is a first setting of a lute song by Thomas Campion for Solo Lute: Though you are young (for may, 31st) The music contained in this book is of slightly higher difficulty than the music contained in the first book but never goes among an intermediate level. The Solo Music in this book is from the earliest sources (Spinancino) up to the time of Dowland, Francisque, Melii. Other well-known composers you'll find in this book are Newsidler, Gerle, Elias Mertel, Bianchini, John Johnson, J.Dalza, Thomas Atkinson, Francis Cutting, Albert Dlugorai, Guedron, Ballard, Jacob Reys and of course the diligent Anonymus (from Board, Chilesotti, M.L., Marsh, Fuhrmann and other lute books). As I assumed after playing through the first book of this edition Stefan continues his trip through the "hits" of the lute repertoire with slowly raising level of difficulty. Who is looking for a collection of pieces to carry with him/her to play for friends or needs guiding material for his/her studies will find this edition extremely helpfull - and I am looking forward to what summer and autumn may bring and which pieces Stefan selected for the bright and lazy summer days. Thomas Schall "Lute Net"
Many thanks indeed for the copy of The Lute Calendar. I think it is an excellent anthology of pieces, and it's useful having them all bound together. Many of them are good old favorites, like "A Toy" for December 7th. (I'm sure that piece must be Scottish.) Many of them, of course, are less familiar. Having them graded in order of difficulty is helpful too. Stewart McCoy "Private e-mail"
Hallo Herr Lundgren, tut mir leid, dass ich Ihnen in Füssen den letzten Lauten-Kalender weggeschnappt habe, aber vielleicht sollten sie nächstes mal einfach mehr mitnehmen. Ich meine die Verkaufsausstellung fing am Samstag um 14.00 Uhr an und 14.05 Uhr waren schon alle Kalender weg. Vielen Dank nochmal, dass Sie ihn mir gleich mitgegeben haben. Ich finde den Kalender sehr gut. Es ist eine witzige Idee, jeden Tag ein anderes Stück spielen zu können. Ich besitze eine 8-chörige und eine 10-chörige Renaissance- laute und kann somit alle Stücke spielen. Und die meisten Stücke kannte ich bisher noch nicht. Viele Grüße aus Köln Matthias Reiter "Private e-mail"
För drygt 10 år sedan publicerade den i Tyskland verksamme svenske lutenisten Stefan Lundgren en imponerande antologi med musik för barockluta, The Baroque Lute Companion (recenserad av untertecknad i Gitarr och Luta 27/1994, nr 2 s.28). Den hade ett pedagogiskt syfte: att ge barocklutenisten ett stort urval av lättspelad men andå attraktiv musik. Den har nu med en lite annorlunda uppläggning fått sin efterföjare för renässansluta med olika besträngningar. Som titeln anger är den i form av kalender och uppdelad i fyra delar: vinter, vår, sommar och höst. Varje dag under detta år har fått ett eget litet (eller större) musikstycke och sammantaget finns det alltså 365 i de fyra volymerna (omfattande sammanlagt 500 sidor!). Styckenas svårighetsgrad är progressiv, men vad jag kan se är även de svåraste styckena speltekniskt överkomliga. Det musikaliska innehållet omspänner en drygt 100 år lång period alltifrån musik av Spinacino from 1500-talets första decennium till The Board Lute Book från ca 1620. Den stora spännvidden är också geografiskt: här finns musik från Italien, Tyskland, Frankrike, England. De många olika formerna som representeras återger det bred spekrum som dåtidens musik yttrar sig i. Stefan Lundgren har också arrangerat ett antal lutsånger av Dowland och Campian samt tagit med arrangemang för två lutor ur Diego Ortiy Trattado de Glosas med stämmor i vanlig notation för basgamba och flöjt. För att inte undvika en hel del vacker, men delvis svårspelad musik, så har Lundgren förenklat genom att inte ta med t ex mer avancerade variationer eller genom att "förtunna" vissa "obekväma" ackord. Lundgren har helt utelämnat de ornament som kan finnas i originalen och presenterar alltså musiken i en "ren" form som sedan musikanten kan pryda på olika sätt. Han har också varit mycket sparsam med fingersättningen. Den hittar man bara i svårare passager och fingersättning för högerhanden finns inte alls. Stefan Lundgren motiverar sina förändringar i det långa och citatrika förordet till utgåvan, som också innehåller mycket praktiska tips till den som tar sig an lutkalendern. All musik är noterad i tydlig fransk luttabulatur och det innebär alltså att det mesta av den tyska och italienska musiken har fått en ny och praktisk dräkt. Stefan Lundgren ger nästan inga kommentarer till musiken och mycket kortfattade källhänvisningar. Det är alltså ganska minimalistiskt i det avseendet. Bladvändningar har, vad jag kan se, helt kunnat undvikas. Det mest är spelbart på en sexkorig luta, men det finns satser som kräver en sju- till tiokorig luta, vilket knappas förvånar med tanke på den tidsperiod musiken omspänner. De fyra volymerna är nätt och prydligt bundna i spiralband som är lätta att spela ur. Stefan Lundgrens lutkalender är utan tvekan en av de viktigaste utgivningarna av lutmusik på mycket länge och ger den begynnande och något förfarne lutenisten en guldgruva att ösa ur. Rekommenderas mycket varmt. Kenneth Sparr "Gitarr och Luta" Nr. 2, 2005
Dear Stefan. I recieved the books yesterday. Thank you very much. It's ages since I last time bought a 'real' lute book. It's really nice that somebody still believes in old fashioned music publishing in this net age. Of course internet is really a magnificent thing but nothing can beat a real book. Your editions are really good and nicely put out. There are not many new pieces for me in the books, but it's great to have them in such a nice collection. I'm also very happy about the spiral back binding. Very practical. I wish you a nice rest of the summer. In the autumn I'll order your baroque lute compilations. I hope that some day you would publish music for the ren. and baroque guitar too.
All the best Timo Peedu "Private e-mail"
Thanks, Stefan, your book is great, thanks so much. Bill Conklin "Private e-mail"
Hej Stefan! Tack för leveransen av Lutkalendern. Det är ett imponerade arbete. Jag ser fram mot många lu(s)tfyllda timmar. Jag har inte glömt bort lutan. Har spelat under alla åren, dock mest melodier och ackord i en ensemble som heter Convivium Musicum. Spelar även med en annan ensemble (Celadonensemblen) som framför svensk folkmusik med barockstuk. Senast vi sågs hade jag nyss köpt ett sommarställe. Det har inneburit att jag blivit något av en inbiten snickare. Har byggt massor av konstiga saker, bland annat en segelbåt. På grund av detta har jag varit osynlig på allt som heter sommarkurser. Tack än en gång för Lutkalendern. Den är ett stordåd. Göran Josefsson "Private e-mail"
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