This material is plucked from early issues of the Newsletter of the Lute Society of America. Take a look and see what you missed by not being a member in the early days of the Society. To download any of these files to your hard disk for future use, select the link with the right mouse button and choose Save Target As... In most cases, you will probably achieve best results for the PDF files by printing with the Fit to page option turned off.
As is true for the other files on this site, this material is available to be downloaded and shared freely. However, we request that any further distribution also be at no cost and that the copyright notice be retained intact.
Music
- Io vorrei pur fuggir, well-known from the recording by Walter Gerwig, edited for the December, 1971, issue by Cheryl Lew (PDF, 26.1 KB).
- A Subplementum (page filler) printed by Georg Leopold Fuhrmann, taken from the January, 1972, issue (PDF, 12.9 KB).
- A pair of anonymous Canaries from the Straloch MS, edited for the March, 1972, issue by Stanley Buetens (PDF, 41.0 KB). Note that in the MS only the pitches are supplied, so the suggested rhythmic interpretation was provided by the editor.
- An anonymous Polish Dance from Gdansk MS 4022, edited by Donna Curry for the March, 1972, issue (PDF, 22.1 KB).
- Another anonymous Polish Dance from Gdansk MS 4022, edited by Donna Curry for the June, 1972, issue (PDF, 26.6 KB).
- A Phantasia printed by Matthäus Waissel, transcribed by Nancy Carlin for the November, 1972, issue (PDF, 33.8 KB).
- A Gaillarde printed by Guillaume Morlaye in his Premier livre de tablature, taken from the February, 1973, issue (PDF, 23.2 KB).
- Peg-A-Ramsey, a very easy piece by an anonymous composer, taken from the July, 1973, issue (PDF, 12 KB).
- For the May, 1973, issue of the Newsletter Suzanne Bloch provided an Etude for sliding on a pivot finger. She noted, “You can play this with any rhythm you please or break the intervals upward or downward.” When no fingering is notated, keep the same one as for the preceding note (except for open strings). (PDF, 9 KB)
- A Courante by an anonymous composer, taken from the January, 1974, issue (PDF, 32.5 KB).
- From the April, 1974, issue, Le taxi triste, an Etude written by Suzanne Bloch to help in mastering the problem of simultaneous use of fingers 3 and 4 on the sixth and first courses, respectively, most typically on the third fret. The title resulted when the student for which the Etude was written arrived for his lesson shaken as a result of an incident involving a taxi. (PDF, 16 KB)
- An intabulation by Sebastian Ochsenkuhn of a hymn tune by Heinrich Isaac, Herr Gott, laß dich erbarmen, better known as Innsbruck, ich muß dich lassen. The transcription from the German tablature was prepared by Douglas Alton Smith for the July, 1975, issue (PDF, 28.5 KB).
- Ain niderlendisch runden dantz that appeared in Hans Judenkünigs Ain schone künstliche underweisung (1523, Vienna). It was transcribed from the original German tablature for the October, 1975, issue by Ray Nurse (PCX, 90.6 KB please select Fit to page when printing).
- The Fantasia que contrahaze la harpa en la manera de Luduvico from the first of Alonso Mudarra’s 1546 Tres libros de musica en cifras para vihuela was edited for the July, 1976, issue of the Newsletter by Douglas Alton Smith. (PDF 40.4 KB)
- Der Fuggerin Dantz and Hupffauff by Melchior Newsidler, transcribed from German into French tablature by Douglas Alton Smith for the January, 1977, issue of the Newsletter. (PDF, 41.4 KB)
- Pavana The Earle of Salisbury by William Byrd, printed in the January, 1979, issue of the Newsletter. (PDF, 31.8 KB)
- Two pieces in Italian tablature that appeared as facsimiles on an insert in the January, 1979, issue.
Articles
Editions
Early in the history of the Lute Society of America, separate editions of lute music were published approximately annually. They were distributed to then-current members free of charge and sold to nonmembers. The Board has now decided to make these editions freely available here for download. Again, we request that any further distribution be at no charge and that the copyright notice be retained intact.
- Edition 2: La Bernardina by Francesco Spinacino, as a lute solo and as a duet for lutes in unison tuning – edition prepared by Lyle Nordstrom. (PDF, 70 KB)
- Edition 5: Two English Duets, A Fancy by Mr. Marchant and A Treable & Ground, compiled and edited by Lyle Nordstrom. These duets had not previously been recognized as surviving in complete form, since the separate parts are found in different manuscripts. See the LSA Journal, Volume VI, page 46, 1973, for an overview. (PDF, 106 MB)
- Edition 6: Dances from Matthäus Waissels Lautenbuch (1592), transcribed and edited by Nancy Carlin. (PDF, 112 KB)
- Edition 7: Three Dances by Joanambrosio Dalza from Intabolatura de Lauto, Libro Quarto (1508), edited by Bruce MacEvoy. (PDF, 195 KB)
- Edition 8: Six Branles from Jean Baptiste Besard’s collection, edited by Suzanne Bloch.
- Edition 9: Eight Gautier Courantes in vieil accord, transcribed and edited by Peter Danner, with calligraphy by David S. Phillips.
Non-LSA Retro-Publications
During the 1970s, at the height of enthusiasm for the revival of interest in Early Music, a number of publications came into existence with the hope of spreading the news about this exciting new field. Many of them ceased publication fairly quickly, although a few, like Oxford University Press’ Early Music, have continued to thrive. Neverthless, there were some articles of enduring interest and value that appeared in the ephemeral journals, and we are pleased to be able to provide a wider free distribution for a few of them here. In this case also we request that any further distribution be at no charge and that the copyright notice be retained intact.
- “Recommended Pitches for Lutes,” by Donna Curry, originally printed in Pro Musica Magazine, vol. 1, no. 6, p. 4 (1976), retro-published with permission of the author and the publisher. (PDF, 75 KB)
- “Do-It-Yourself Lute Case,” by Donna Curry, originally printed in Pro Musica Magazine, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 16-22 (1977), retro-published with permission of the author and the publisher. (PDF, 456 KB)
- “The Renaissance Thumb-Under Lute Technique,” by Bruce MacEvoy, originally printed in Divisions, vol. 1, no. iii, pp. 4-20 (1979), retro-published with permission of the author and the publisher. (PDF, 387 KB)