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Harpsichords and Related Topics

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Subject:
From:
Isidro Castineyra <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Harpsichords and Related Topics <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 12 Sep 2006 11:57:16 -0400
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I wonder about how practical an instrument the lautenwerk was in  
Bach's times.  The copies of lautenwerks I have seen have always been  
strung in nylon.  In Bach's time a lautenwerk would have been strung  
in gut, I presume.  Now, stringing a lautenwerk in gut today would be  
expensive.  (The only instrument I can think of with close to that  
many gut strings is a large triple harp.) It would also be hard to  
keep in tune. In my limited experience dealing with gut strings they  
behaved like a weather station.  Breathing on them was enough to get  
them out of tune. Does anybody in the list have experience with  
maintaining a gut-strung lautenwerk?  Would such a beast would have  
been more expensive than a metal-strung harpsichord in Bach's time?

Thanks,
Isidro
(so far a lurker)

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