Dear Med-and-Ren-Music List,
I've had the query below from a colleague who works on Spanish lyric.
I don't know the answer, but I'm sure there are those of you out there
who might know if Germany was indeed renowned for supplying fine gut
strings in the early 17thC, or whether this should rather be read as
an ironic (or ignorant) comment. The context is a poem on the
Crucifixion, in which the streams of Christ's blood are compared to
cittern strings, 'finer [finas] than those from Germany'.
Please email [log in to unmask] directly with your answer.
Many thanks,
EEL
Dr Elizabeth Eva Leach
University Lecturer,
Faculty of Music, University of Oxford
St Aldate's,
Oxford
OX1 1DP
[log in to unmask]
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Tyler Fisher <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 13 August 2009 14:34:18 BST
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: fine 17th-century strings from Germany?
>
> Dear Liz,
>
> I hope you are enjoying a beautiful summer -- and I hope you might
> entertain a musical query.
> I am working on an early 17th-century Spanish poem (1613) which
> references fine gut strings from Germany. One Spanish musicologist
> notes that Spain acquired the most and best quality strings at that
> time from Bologna, Rome, and Naples. But is there a basis for
> associating Germany with particularly fine strings in that period?
> Are there any references you could recommend me?
>
> Grateful,
> Tyler
>
>
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