13 Titles - Viola da Gamba Society

Ithumpe' he doesn't make it clear that it should be a left hand pizzicato, and in any caseI don't think that it can mean this in Coprario's pieces. No. 4 (Almain) has the symbolover a high b flat on the first string at an unlikely melodic moment, and also at the bassof a chord where three notes are held by the fingers. The sign is either misplaced froma previous open bass note or is a confusion from the inverted comma type of ornamentsign for some form of mordent.But these are small quibbles; there was no review copy of the parts for the bass-violfantasias, but I presume they are printed to the same high standards as the rest of theedition. It was interesting to see that the part-books from Ob MS Mus. Sch. C. 92belonging to Francis Withey had several bowing marks, mostly over quavers to adjustthe bow for the next phrase; these are not included in the score but are all listed in thecritical commentary. It is nice to see a critical commentary that one can actually read,rather than pore over a list which looks like some arcane chess problem crossed with acomputer code. This is an important and well-presented addition to the Jacobeanmusical repertory.IAN GAMMIE[78-79] Thomas Lupo: The Four-Part Consort Music. Transcribed and Edited byRichard Charteris and John Jennings. Boethius Press, 1983. Score only, £ 17.60; partsonly, £12.60; Score and parts complete £ 25.60; individual part-books £ 3.80 each.It is a pleasure to welcome here the first issue of the proposed publication of thecomplete consort music of Thomas Lupo. This composer should consider himselffortunate in receiving the full treatment of score and parts before such distinguishedcontemporaries as Coprario, Gibbons and Ward. There are some who are inclined toregard him as a lesser master; he was certainly a prolific one, but it may well be thatself-criticism was not his strong point. However, thanks to the project of completepublication by editors Charteris and Jennings and the Boethius Press, all obstacles toarriving at a just and informed estimation of his contribution to the repertory arehappily in process of being removed. Enough is already known to allow one to say thatLupo composed some undoubted masterpieces.In their introduction to these four-part works the editors speak of the experimentalnature of much of the music. Would not the more appropriate word have been'original' since there is nothing particularly tentative about [78] any of the pieces,though some may be less inspired than others? Two different considerations enter inhere. The first is the unusual variety of instrumental combinations Lupo offers us; thesecond is the nature of the pieces entitled 'Fantasies' in the sources, but which in facthave much more the character of Airs. Was the combination of two trebles and twobasses making its first appearances in these Lupo pieces and do we have here the sparkwhich set Jenkins composing his magnificent collection of Thirty-two Airs for thiscombination? If Lupo was the pioneer this was a worthy progeny indeed for these threepieces.The fantasies to which the editors have sensibly attached the sub-title 'Air' give animpression of being 'general purpose' music and almost out of place in viol fantasypart-books. The music is attractive and one would not really grudge it a place in any set