The sometimes very good acoustic performance of an original instrument cannot be replicated by an exact hand-crafted copy. Plucked instruments are highly complex, tensioned sound bodies with a flat soundboard construction as the central element of sound production from the living, inhomogeneous natural material wood. Compared to those of the replica (even if the wood species is the same), the wood(s) of the original have different physical and acoustic properties in terms of vibration behavior, sound transmission, tone, resilience, and weight. For these reasons, a replica of a good original instrument without the exact same acoustic characteristics does not achieve any extra value. To ensure that each instrument can develop its optimal sound, I focus my work on coordinating these individual material properties.
My models are an attempt to come as close as possible to the original; at the same time, they are interpretations, for which I access historical and scientific sources (plans, specialist literature, measurements, dendrochronology, photos, X-rays and computer tomography of originals, as well as historical illustrations). During production, I adhere to the respective tradition of construction.
I have been working intimately with musicians for decades, and have optimized my instruments for professional and virtuosic use in collaboration with them. In individual consultations, additional customization, optimal playability, and subjective sound tuning have been (and will continue to be) defined in order to implement personal tonal and haptic preferences on the instrument.
The priorities of my work are concentrated on a balanced mix of tone color and volume, balance of registers, dynamics and the tone’s carrying capacity, as well as easy response and playability. I tune the soundboard (the body) of each instrument optimally according to these aspects.
For the body, high-quality, air-dried woods receive special consideration. I seek out and work with woods that have not only a natural structure and color, but also a special grain. It is my aesthetic goal to bring the natural beauty of the wood to the forefront.
I have been working professionally with wood and its properties since I was 15. My first five-year apprenticeship included a thorough grounding in woodworking, materials science for wood, static, art history, color- form- and proportion theory. At 22, I began my second apprenticeship and crafted my first musical instrument. I completed it in 1999 with a master craftsman's certificate as a string and bowed instrument maker. Even during my training, I felt a great interest in the huge diversity of Renaissance and Baroque plucked instruments, their high-end craftsmanship and, in particular, their overtone-rich soundworlds. This fascination remains unbroken for me to this day. My specialization in new construction in this area took place after I received my master craftsman's certificate in 1999.
All the instruments I offer are unique. To document the respective optimizations in terms of sound and feel, I have created detailed digital plans of their internal and external structure. They are played by musicians from all over the EU, neighboring countries, the USA, Australia, Israel, and elsewhere. Many of my instruments have been purchased by the following universities and conservatories: mdw Vienna, MUK Vienna, HfMT Cologne, HfM Würzburg, HfM Munich, Mozarteum Salzburg, Kunstuni Graz – and in these institutions, they have been made available to students to practice and perform on.
As part of the conservation and documentation of the lutes of Kremsmünster Abbey, carried out by restorer Klaus Martius and Dr. Sebastian Kirsch, on the initiative of lutenist Hubert Hoffmann, I was able, thanks to funding from the Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws 2014, two-stage selection process), to carry out the most accurate possible reconstruction of the small 11-courses Langenwalder 1627 /Greiml 1678 Baroque lute after detailed measurements of the open original with the aid of dendrochronology and X-rays. Based on this, I developed a new 11-course model with a "swan neck" common from 1720 onwards and fan bars under the bridge on the spruce soundboard, common from 1700 onwards.
Left: My prototype with a "swan neck", a fingerboard baroque neck, and fan-shaped baring.
Right: A replica, as exact as possible, of the original bent-neck lute by Jacob Langenwalder in 1627 / rebuilt to 11 courses by Matthias Greimbl in Kremsmünster in 1678.
The original has "Renaissance" baring and a fir wood body. Before the rebuild in 1678, the lute probably had 9 or 10 courses.
What is extraordinary about this project is that these lutes remained unchanged for 250 years, in light of their construction tradition and marks made from playing.
(The lutes of Kremsmünster Abbey, PLV Peißenberg 2020)
In 2018, the Mozarteum Salzburg commissioned several musical instrument makers to produce exact replicas of the musical instruments in the Salzburg Museum. In this context, at the arranged of lutenist Hubert Hoffmann, I measured the originals with the aid of dendrochronology and computer tomography, and thus produced the most accurate possible replica of the 11-courses Baroque lute by A. F. Mayer (1723) – body by Michael Gartner (1524) – and the Colachon by Johannes Schorn (1688). I also reconstructed the 6-course tenor Renaissance lute by Michael Gartner (1524) for the Mozarteum Salzburg, taking historical representations into account.
Original lute by Michael Gartner (the body ist from 1524 and one of the oldest), rebuilt by A. F. Mayer (1723) in a 11 courses d-minor lute, Salzburg Museum (MI 1087)
The acoustic tuning of plucked instruments made from the inhomogeneous natural material wood, especially the soundboard including the bar construction, is a very individual, diverse and complex art and requires the senses of sight, hearing and touch. The use of acoustic measurement methods (modal analysis), which is particularly popular in bowed string instrument making, is an attempt to produce the most accurate possible acoustic "(sound-) copy" of a generally highly rated original instruments. The copy is based on the already precisely measured acoustic reference values of the originals (e.g. Stradivari, Guarneri, etc.). Crucial for the production of the copy is also the use of woods with physical properties as identical as possible to the original wood (weight, density, speed of sound in the wood). However, the internal stresses in the original body cannot be measured. The application of this measurement method in the acoustic tuning setting process is only useful for newly built plucked and bowed string instruments if the aforementioned conditions are met – namely, that very well-rated, measured instruments are available as a reference. If no reference instruments exist (no measured original lutes exist), the application of this method is of little help for new construction. To achieve optimal results in newly built plucked instruments in terms of acoustic quality with regard to a balanced mix of timbre and volume, balance of registers, dynamics and carrying power of the tone, easy response and playability, a long-term reciprocal exchange with professional / virtuoso musicians is essential.
On the original instrument, only the age of the soundboard’s wood can be scientifically determined by means of dendrochronological examination (annual ring analysis) (provided that no “old soundboard” has been newly installed). For all other components, it is not possible to determine the exact age, or a chronological classification can only be based on the construction tradition. Due to frequent modifications (lastly in guitars) or later restorations, it is not possible – or only possible to a limited extent – to determine the exact age of individual instrument parts based on construction tradition. Without dendrochronological analysis, the dating of instruments should be treated with caution.
During the heyday of the lute, instruments were produced in very large numbers using a division of labor. Italian lute makers' workshops processed semi-finished parts that were transported to Italy from the northern edge of the Alps, among other places (excerpt: Füssener Lauten und Geigenbau. Hofmeister Musikverlag, 2017, pp. 95-96). The estates of famous lute makers list the sheer quantity of semi-finished and finished parts, as well as finished lutes. Laux Maler (1552, Bologna) mentions 1,100 lutes, 1,354 soundboards (1,154 of which already had rosettes and inlays). Moise and Magno Tiefenbrucker (1581, Venice) are said to have had 335 lutes, 8 guitars, 150 lute bodies, 60 unfinished lutes, stored semi-finished products, 15,200 yew wood ribs, 2,000 soundboards, 300 bridges, 600 necks, and 160 pegs. Caspar Frei (1627, Bologna) had 522 lutes and chitarrones, several hundred guitars, and 400 soundboards.
Lutes have been among the instruments of the upper classes since the 15th century and were understood as status symbols. It had a high monetary and symbolic value, comparable to the violin family today. According to historical sources, the cost of acquiring and maintaining lutes over the same period of time was many times higher than that of bowed string instruments from the violin family. The lutenist Silvius Leopold Weiss received as much annual salary as the entire Dresden court orchestra combined.
Musical instruments are primarily utilitarian objects intended for making music and can also be elaborately crafted. Due to changes in musical aesthetics, many plucked instruments lost their utilitarian value and disappeared from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance to the Baroque period. A possible redesign ensured their continued use. As a result of the fundamental stylistic shift towards Classicism, all Baroque plucked string instruments lost their practical value around 1800. As a result, the majority of simple instruments disappeared. The exception to this development are the bowed string instruments of the violin family. They were adapted or rebuilt to reflect the changes, provided the models allowed it, and have been in continuous use to this day. The art handcrafted execution of existing Baroque plucked instruments guaranteed the necessary attention and promoted their continued existence in private collections and art cabinets at the time. Today, they can be seen in museum collections as exhibits alongside simpler instruments. This has resulted in a quantitatively distorted distribution of simple instruments in favor of elaborately crafted instruments.
The "Originalklang" movement began around 1905 in German-speaking countries. The aim is to interpret music from past eras (especially Baroque, Renaissance, and Classical) as it sounded at the time of its creation. Central to this are the use of original instruments (or copies), historical playing techniques, appropriate instrumentation, and knowledge of articulation, ornamentation, and tempi. Previously discarded original Baroque (bowed) instruments were thus put back into service. They regained their use value and at the same time their monetary value increased. The lute instruments, which had completely disappeared from the public music scene around 1800, were necessary for the basso continuo and used in other musical areas, and were gradually reactivated by interested professionell classical guitarists. Due to the scarcity of original lute instruments and their poor condition, replicas of Renaissance and Baroque lute instruments emerged. Since users and manufacturers initially knew little about the original use, playing technique, string tension, sound and musical aesthetics of the eras, they oriented themselves, with few exceptions, towards the known, then current, classical guitar construction (high weight due to excessive material thickness, high string tension). Also, the strings of the modern classical guitar - wounded strings with a silk core (cathedral sound - to long sustain) - were preferred for the basses. Over time, taking original sources into account, a very precise study of the instruments, performance practice and the wonderfully tone-producing gut string material was conducted, and good artificial strings were developed for the lutes. The modern classical guitar, widely used in our time, and its "sound world" with its 6 individual strings, its very different sound characteristics, yet very different playing style - plucking technique, feel, construction - with thicker material thicknesses, its higher string tension and a much more fundamental sound (the highest string / pitch is not the thinnest possible), still exerts a great influence on the double string "sound world" of the lute. The separation of these two very different "sound worlds" still seems difficult for many after so long time. No instrument of the "original sound" movement is as frequently subjected to so-called "improvements and renewals" with regard to volume as the lute, with the predictable result of a sound character and playing style similar to a classical guitar, or, in the case of instruments with insufficient material thickness on the body, a predictably thin, flat sound similar to a "banjo". In historically informed performance practice, such projects would be completely unthinkable on the bowed instruments used.
Everything is always driven of generating a little more volume. The loss of the instruments' "refined" tonal character is, incomprehensibly to me, readily accepted. Personally, I find these new "innovations" sonically unsuccessful, if not downright boring. I am now firmly convinced that lute instruments should be manufactured within the design scope of their respective, known, acoustically primarily effective, traditional construction methods on the body. With an appropriate string tension that allows the right hand to play close to the bridge, as was historically customary.
With the existing knowledge and skills in lute making and the corresponding playing skills of the musicians, a very good sound can be achieved in the building tradition without any loss of sound. However, it must be accepted that lute instruments (this also applies to guitars), where the strings are struck with the fingers (lower energy transfer), cannot achieve the same volume / sound intensity as instruments played with a bow or large keyboard instruments with a mechanism and metal strings. This situation has led to problems in the orchestral context since the beginning of the "original sound" movement, as the performances usually take place in spaces that are (historically speaking) too large for lute instruments and are also usually arranged with a disproportionate instrumentation (e.g. a single "quota" theorbo together with an overly large ensemble, moreover with "modern" string instruments with gut strings - big cello, a modern classical guitar for song accompaniment and a modern cittern in a staged baroque opera, etc., etc.). Consequently, for the reasons mentioned above, players of lute instruments in the basso continuo must play so close to or beyond their limits that dynamic sound shaping, let alone a good tone, is not possible. Nevertheless, they are barely perceptible to us listeners. (Basso-Continuo: A detailed study of the shared use, number, and size of the lute instruments used is still pending. Jean-Baptiste Lully's opera Alceste (1674) employed approximately 60 lute players.)
The same hearing problem also occurs during solo performances in oversized halls, especially for seats further away. Depending on the requirements, I believe there is now an acceptable solution to this age-old problem: a finely tuned, moderate, sound-technical amplification. Thanks to rapid and continuous technological developments, concert organizers and interested musicians can now produce high-quality results relatively inexpensively with the right equipment and a very good microphone. Appropriate instruction and optimization in this area (also with regard to music video production) should be integrated into educational programs.
When it comes to higher volume, I can no longer follow the arguments put forward: Structural and acoustic disfigurements, excessively high string tension, and the use of "modernized" instruments are being forced and tolerated. Apparently, many believe that in historically informed performance practice, all kinds of so-called "improvements and renewals" that lead to significant changes in sound characteristics are still permissible in the context of the lute instruments used, as long as a somewhat higher volume is achieved. However, the use of sound technology to amplify lute instruments (made according to traditional building methods) is fundamentally rejected.
The moderate use of this technology (wherever possible and necessary) would largely solve the well-known problems of existing imbalances with less sound loss and would allow all listeners to enjoy the lute instruments used in musical performances acoustically adequately even from more distant places.
I organize up to four concerts a year in my workshop to offer a place that serves as a “testing laboratory” for these occasions, which may even platform the presentation of complete programs.
Performers:
David Bergmüller, Thomas Boysen, André Ferreira, Michael Freimuth, Hubert Hoffmann, Haidl Klaus, Sven Schwanberger, Ensemble Cicchetti Musicali
