[HN Gopher] The Long-Lost Lautenwerck
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The Long-Lost Lautenwerck
Author : pseudolus
Score : 39 points
Date : 2021-03-25 11:19 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.npr.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.npr.org)
| JasonFruit wrote:
| I question the assertion that the Lautenwerck was common -- let
| alone as common as harpsichords and organs -- even in Bach's
| time. It's not broadly mentioned in written sources of the time,
| and so many practical points are not in its favor. Knowing that
| Bach had two is some evidence, but I see it as analogous to
| knowing that a particular musician owned two 8-string guitars: it
| tells us nothing but that they exist, and that one person really
| likes them. I know this is a reporter talking, but still.
|
| Also, as a violist, I have to point out that one of Bach's sons
| said the viola was his favorite instrument.
| scop wrote:
| As a Bach fan, I struggle to listen to his keyboard works played
| on piano. The fact that piano is percussive whereas the
| harpsichord is plucked results in such a change in tone! Thanks
| for sharing!
| scop wrote:
| To add a concrete example of my comment above, I am listening
| to the NPR video right now and wow at 11:54 in the video the
| instrument really brings such a beautiful sound to that section
| change.
| samstave wrote:
| It was really interesting that you could hear small pieces in
| there from other songs.. or so it seemed - but wow that
| insturment is SO beautiful! Unbelievably built.
| benjohnson wrote:
| If you haven't given Wendy Carlos' Bach a try, you may be
| enjoyable - in my opinion the historic tuning takes the
| jankyness out and exposes the melody. You do have to suspend
| the gut reaction to synthesized music.
| airhead969 wrote:
| So this was a delicate, miniature harpsichord that doesn't
| literally age well?
|
| I wonder if any plans/designs survived, if not samples.
| tgv wrote:
| Nice to hear. It does not sound dissimilar to the lute stop on a
| harpsichord (although that works by damping strings).
| teekert wrote:
| I like how I select my usual "Show choices" (wrt cookies) and
| they just immediately give up and show me a minimal site. Am I
| winning?
| HPsquared wrote:
| Lute harpsichord (alternative name for Lautenwerck) was brought
| to my attention via this recording by Gergely Sarkozy of Bach's
| BWV 997, the timbre of the instrument just goes so well with the
| music:
|
| https://youtu.be/V4ZRn6Hk8N0
| leephillips wrote:
| Wow. What a beautiful sounding instrument, and a great
| performance, too. Now I want to hear all of Bach's harpsichord
| works on this thing. Also, I encourage the construction of the
| katzenwerk, but with less cruelty--perhaps using graduate
| students instead of cats.
| rob74 wrote:
| As a German, the naming of this instrument is also interesting: -
| I guess Bach would have called it Lautenwerck, but in modern
| German spelling the "ck" has been dropped, so it should be
| spelled Lautenwerk (even the author used it three times in the
| article). - I initially thought this was about a part of an
| organ, because that's the only "werk" I was aware of in
| connection with a musical instrument...
| leoc wrote:
| There's also the hurdy-gurdyish Geigenwerk
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowed_clavier .
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