Piece of the Month - May 2008
Any suggestions, corrections or other comments will be most welcome: just email martin@luteshop.co.uk. Downloadable files are provided in Fronimo, Tab and PDF. To hear my own recording of one or more of the pieces just click on MP3 files.
Courante by Monsieur Saman
René Saman (fl. 1610-31), lutenist to Louis XIII, is
known to us only from a few courantes in publications by Robert
Dowland, Robert Ballard, Jean-Baptiste Besard, and Lord Herbert of
Cherbury's lute book. This is perhaps his best known piece, as it
appeared in Robert Dowland's Varietie of Lute Lessons
(1610). Altogether it appears in 13 sources*, in one of which it is
attributed to Mercure d'Orléans (fl.1600). I have taken my
version from the ML lute book (BL add. 38539, f.25). Its wide currency is attested by
the second piece presented here, a Volta from Michelagnolo Galilei's Il primo libro d'intavolatura di Liuto, published in Munich in 1620, which is clearly related to Saman's courante.
Downloads:
Courante by Monsieur Saman: 08051.ft2; 08051.ft3;
08051.tab; 08051.pdf; 08051.mp3
Volta by Michelagnolo Galilei: 08052.ft2; 08052.tab; 08052.pdf
Note: I have included an ft3 file because the ornaments are not so clear to read in the ft2 file. If you don't have a registered version of Fronimo 3, you should still be able to use the demo version to print this file.
To download the latest version of Fronimo go to the Fronimo Users Group site.
*I am grateful to Rainer aus dem Spring for this list: Schele, 64/1: Corante Mercurij A[nn]o 1615; Schele, 87/2: Courante; Aegidius, 99r: Courante; Basel, F.IX.53, 11r-12r: Courante; 4022, 11v/3: [Cou]rant; Aegidius,122v-123r: Courante; Fuhrmann,162/2: COurante 2.; M.L., 25r/2: Corant; 33748 I, 29v: Corandt; Turin, 5v-6r: Courente; Herbert, 65r/1: Courante Saman; Werl, 91r: [no title]; Varietie, Q2v: Mounsier Saman his Coranto. / Coranto. 4; Moy 1631, R2v: Courante